Having a social media profile is one thing, but successfully implementing a strong social media management strategy is a different story for a business. And that’s even more true in a market that experiences rapid growth and constant change.
In this blog, you will learn actionable steps to create an irresistible social media profile for your business.
Table of contents
- What is a social media profile?
- Why building a strong social media profile is important in 2023?
- 9 Benefits of optimizing your profile smartly
- 9 Proven strategies for an irresistible social media profile
- 9 Mistakes to avoid when creating your social media profile
- How do you handle social media profiles for any sort of business size?
- FAQs on social media profile
- Boost your business with a 5-star social media profile with Birdeye
The only social media software for multi-location businesses
Want to see the impact of Birdeye on your business? Watch the Free Demo Now.
What is a social media profile?
A social media profile is your online presence on a social media platform.
Your social media profile amplifies your brand and your brand’s purpose. It also includes your business’s logo, profile picture, contact information, photos, and news updates.
Personal vs. professional social media profiles – what works best?
You can’t rely on a personal social media profile alone if you are building a brand or business.
We recommend not using personal social media profiles to build your business’s online presence.
Because your brand will have a set of personalities and characteristics unlike yours, it’s better to separate yourself from your business.
Why building a strong social media profile is important in 2023?
Your potential customers are doing more on social media platforms than sharing cat memes. They’re checking out brands, researching products, and joining groups.
Their social media platform plays a big role in their purchasing decisions. You want to be there with a social media strategy that puts your brand front and center.
Assess these reasons why building your authority in one of the social media platforms is important:
1 – Get ahead of the competition with a social media presence
Half of small businesses still do not use a social media strategy. That’s good news for you because you can get ahead of the pack simply with a profile picture and some social media management.
You can splash with an up-to-speed social media strategy on the best marketing methods to reach potential customers.
Creating social media goals, being able to write an entertaining social media post, and having a presence on several social media platforms will put you lightyears ahead of the competition.
2 – Build relationships with potential customers
All your potential customers are active on at least one social media platform. That gives you a golden opportunity to reach out and build relationships with them.
Creating an emotional connection with your customer base is easier than you think. Just answer to them and make them feel heard.
3 – Sell more with social media marketing
There’s a lot of value in having a brand-centric social media site. Potential customers use social media platforms to research products before purchasing.
Your business may struggle to grow if you don’t have a professional social media account to develop trust and rapport with these users.
9 Benefits of optimizing your profile smartly
Below, we list the top 9 opportunities your business gets by optimizing a proficient social media strategy.
1 – Increased brand awareness
Increasing brand awareness goes hand-in-hand with building relationships. It’s making your brand the one people think of first when they’re ready to buy. You become a household (or conference room) name when people encounter your brand multiple times.
The “Rule of 7” is a valuable benchmark and states that consumers need to encounter your brand about seven times. After that, your brand will likely come to mind when they’re ready to buy.
Many people use their social media profiles to share their weekend photos. Increasing brand awareness puts you at the forefront of their minds when they’re away from social media and reaching into their wallets.
2 – Attract new customers
People spend more time on social media every year. Your business’s social media profile attracts new customers more effectively than television. Targeted ads, groups on social media, and hashtags put your brand in front of your ideal customers.
3 – Higher engaged customers
Your brand’s social media profile is the ultimate interactive marketing strategy. You’re turning a passive audience into an engaged force of potential customers by increasing followers, collecting likes, and responding to comments.
4 – Improved customer service
Social media plays a bigger role than ever in how businesses handle customer service. Unhappy customers will beeline for your brand’s social media profile when their efforts through other customer service channels fail.
But increasingly, customers are going straight to their preferred social media site for customer service issues.
5 – Garner more partnerships and collaborations
Everybody is on social media, and that includes other brands and influencers. You can collaborate with any number to expand your reach and increase your authority.
Influencer marketing, especially, can outperform other social media management marketing methods by up to 50%.
6 – Helps in talent acquisition
Your potential customers aren’t the only ones checking out your brand on social media. Top talent will investigate your online presence to determine whether you’re a company they want to work for.
Prospective employees look at everything from your reputation, values, and ratings before accepting a job offer.
7 – Aids during crisis management
Having an established presence on at least one social media site will be a lifesaver when a crisis occurs. You can quickly pivot to damage control by responding appropriately to negative news through your social media profile.
8 – Get customer feedback and market research
The immediate nature of social media also makes it a great place to get customer feedback and perform market research. You can use your business’s social media account to conduct surveys. Or use insights and benchmarking to learn more about your market.
9 – Build social proof with authority
We’ve already mentioned that customers and potential employees will scope your social media profile.
What they’re looking for is social proof that you’re an authority within your industry. Building a following through sharing informative content on social media is one way to build social proof.
9 Proven strategies for an irresistible social media profile
Now that you know all the ways a social media account will help your brand, implement these strategies to have an irresistible social presence:
1 – Create your account on relevant social media only
Of the dozen big social media sites, your target audience is only active on a couple. You can be sure that you’re on the right site when you know the demographics for each platform.
The following statistics from Pew Research will help.
2 – Consistently add information across all the accounts
Consistency is key when it comes to branding. Make sure each of your social media accounts contains accurate and complete information, even for multiple locations. Use the same profile picture, and don’t forget to link to your website.
3 – Create an engaging bio
People will want to learn more about you as your brand awareness grows. They’ll click on your About page to find it. Write an interesting, engaging bio that will inspire trust and confidence. Don’t forget to use keywords and a call to action.
4 – Leverage visuals to make your social media profile stand out
Visuals supercharge your content and social media posts. Consider these statistics from Search Engine Journal:
- Visuals increase views by 94%.
- Tweets with visuals get about 30% more retweets.
- Facebook users watch 100 million hours of digital videos every day.
5 – Showcase your best content
Social media is where your content shines. Create a mix of informative and entertaining content. And never, ever be too salesy.
6 – Utilize highlights and features on different social media platforms
Pair your content with the best social media platform. What works on one social site may flop on another.
Below is a quick reference list of what type of content works well for each social media account:
7 – Run contests and giveaways
Nothing will engage your audience faster than contests and giveaways on your social media profile. For example, a photo contest that gets the win-through votes will encourage users to share your social media profile with their friends.
8 – Make your audience feel heard by engaging with them regularly
Social media marketing is a two-way conversation. You create an emotional connection with your potential customers when you listen and respond to them.
9 – Track your analytics to understand customer behavior
Like everything else in your business, data should drive your social media management strategy. Track and understand important benchmarks and key performance indicators (KPIs). Then, use that data to adjust your social media strategy.
9 Mistakes to avoid when creating your social media profile
Knowing what not to do is as important as knowing what to do. Below, we’ve listed common ways companies botch up their social media strategy.
- Not having a clear purpose. Instead, create SMART goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
- Not posting relevant industry news or blogs regularly. Instead, posting regularly will keep social media users interested and keep your social media posts visible.
- Not using relevant hashtags. Instead, be part of the conversation and expand your reach by using hashtags smartly.
- Not being authentic. Social media users can spot a fake. Instead, be genuine and show empathy.
- Not having a plan. Instead, create a roadmap to achieving your SMART goals.
- Relying solely on automated responses. You’ll come across as spammy and cold. Instead, use the human touch to connect authentically.
- Ignoring or responding defensively to negative feedback. Remember, your potential customers are watching. Instead, always be polite and professional.
- Bombarding your audience with too much promotional content. Social media users don’t like advertisements. Instead, show your worth with informational, thought-leading content.
- Not using social media platform-specific features like Stories and Reels effectively. Instead, make the most of your social media profiles by diving deep into what each platform offers.
How do you handle social media profiles for any sort of business size?
Social media platforms level the playing field for businesses leveraging their online presence. Big corporations can become relatable, while small businesses can expand their reach.
Handling social media profiles for a multi-location
Social media marketing gets tricky if you have more than one location. Birdeye Social can help you keep location-specific information updated.
Handling social media profiles for a small business
Small business owners have their own set of challenges when managing a social media account. For example, you may need to get in front of locals, not social media users on the other side of the globe.
Optimizing your profile for local searches can help. You can also use paid advertising to target social media users in your area.
FAQs on social media profile
You never want to argue on a public forum, including social media. You can turn a negative comment into a positive brand image when you respond politely and professionally.
Each social media platform offers some kind of on-site analytics. But you can go deeper with more complete data for your social media profiles on one screen by using Birdeye Social.
Social media profiles can help your website rank higher on Google results pages. Use keywords in your profiles and posts. And increase inbound links by sharing blog content. Don’t forget to include your website.
Contests can up your follower count quickly. But they were expensive. Sharing informative and entertaining content is a tried-and-true social media strategy to collect followers.
Being authentic and showing empathy is a surefire way to improve your social media profile. Besides that, complete your information with a profile picture and an engaging bio.
Stay away from controversial topics on your social media profile. Also, steer clear of questionable humor. And always be on the up and up by never being disrespectful.
Small businesses have the most to gain from social media marketing. You can market alongside the big corporations without busting your marketing budget.
Boost your business with a 5-star social media profile with Birdeye
Social media profiles are among the most effective marketing tools out there. It’s a wonder more than half of businesses don’t use social media platforms to connect with potential customers.
You’ll be leaps and bounds ahead of the competition. But you’ll shine if you adopt these strategies for a winning social media profile.
Birdeye Social can help you pull it all together. Ask us how today.
Originally published