Setting up a company page on any social media platform is more than just filling in a form or posting a profile picture. Managing your brand image online is a great opportunity for growth. Sharing content and interacting on social platforms is an exciting opportunity to attract prospects, convert leads, close customers and delight clients.
I have been doing in-depth research on social platforms for a client while creating a social media marketing plan recently. I realised just how crucial it is to prepare, research and test the different options out there. If you do not know what the platform offers, you may miss out on some great opportunities or features.
Focusing on five major social media sites: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube, I considered a range of factors such as the company image, the buyer personas and the ultimate goals of using Social Media Marketing as a channel.
If you're looking to set up social media accounts for your company, make your way through this handy list to make sure you've checked all the boxes.
Requirements and Considerations for Social Media Business Accounts
Company Goals and Objectives
Social media and the platforms you select to be active on will depend on the goals you are looking to achieve. Some common business objectives related to social media participation include:
- Building brand awareness by getting people to recognise your name and associate it with your product
- Generating leads by driving traffic back to your website and / or conversion pages as well as listening to industry related conversations and responding where possible
- Supporting sales by answering prospects’ questions and showing them how to use your products or services
- Delivering customer service by monitoring customer compliments, complaints or comments and providing feedback and resolution where relevant
Buyer Personas
Who are the people buying from you? Who might pay for your services in the future? Your clients and what social media platforms they use are key in this whole process. If they are younger and spend time on Facebook it would be smart to allocate a large amount of time and possibly a budget to setting up a page that would speak to these people. The language you use to post content and the way you interact would also be managed accordingly.
The Competition
Identify the following:
- What social media sites do they use?
- Who do they follow/like/have in their circles?
- How often do they post?
- If they are interacting with their subscribers/followers or not?
- Are they spending money on advertising?
Do this, not to follow in their footsteps and duplicate what they are doing, but rather to look at what they are doing right and what not. Don’t follow in any footsteps, make your own.
Support Pages
Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn have support pages especially for businesses. At this stage in the game you want information on:
- Requirements on setting up a company/business page
- Administrative roles
- Advertising options
- Advertising policies
- Tools and resources
- Tracking and analytics
- Best practices
Look out for FAQ and community forum sections. Ensure you know where to go look for answers in future.
Copy and Design
There is nothing worse than sitting in front of the sign-up page looking for the right words. Get it together in advance and streamline the process. This way you can rest in knowing that the look and feel of the page is exactly what you intended it to be.
Usually you can change the information, but getting it right from the start creates a better image for your brand.
Three main things are of utmost importance:
Company Information
Consider the category of your business. This is important as this may influence the location and other important settings of your page. On Facebook for instance, you have to be registered as a ‘local business’ in order for clients to ‘check-in’ to your address when shopping there.
What is the best way of describing your company? All social media sites expect you to write something about your company. The keywords you use are essential. Be descriptive, but clear and concise.
Design Specifications
Each social media platform has a different set of specifications in terms of design requirements.
What does the relevant site want you to upload? A profile picture, cover photo or banner? Do I need a branded background?
What are the sizes and suggested amount of pixels? Good quality photos look professional and will add to your overall brand image.
Archive Information and a Plan of Action
By the time your account is active, you want to start posting. Avoid being caught off guard by planning what it is you will be sharing and posting.
- Content: Links to webpage, copy, videos or photos. Identify relevant content from your webpage or any other sources. Consider content aggregation tools to surface industry content that you can share.
- Frequency: Decide how often you will post and whether or not you will automate posts.
Go Social!
When you have ticked all these boxes, you are good to go set up that page.
Make sure your team spend enough time controlling the quality of your page from here on out. You have a head start, keep it that way!
