Tuesday, April 15, 2014

5 of the Best Examples For Optimizing Your Social Media Profiles


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Have you recently set up your social media presence and are waiting for people to like or follow your company, but no one is following? You might be questioning life and sanity if you thought setting these up meant instant followers. Well, we’re here with one simple tip to help you out—it really helps to make an engaging bio. Now we know Twitter only allows a certain amount of characters for your bio, but it is not difficult to make it engaging. You have about two seconds to grab a follower’s attention; so get rid of just inserting something like your phone number (don’t be a cheapskate!) and start thinking witty thoughts. We’ve decided to help you out with five awesome examples of companies already doing this!

According to Search Engine Watch, elements such as branded headers and profile photos, continuity between social media platforms, and linking to your main site are key in optimizing your profile. While it is important to have these features on your profile, you need to make sure it is engaging, creative, witty, or sassy, as well as informative.
It isn’t very difficult to achieve this, and the following examples are great at illustrating just how it is possible.

5 Awesome Companies that Nail Social Media Profile Optimization

1. NASA. NASA is a great example of having an eye-catching header photo, using a familiar logo, and creating a unique bio. They also illustrate the importance of having social media sites look similar to each other as you can see:
Nasa Twitter
NASA Facebook
They have used the same header, their well-known logo, and the phrase, “Explore the universe and discover our home planet with NASA.” This creates continuity for followers and fans, but each site offers a different view of NASA, their news, and their photos. You also know what exactly you will be getting by following their social profiles; you will be exploring the universe and earth.
2.  5 Pound Apparel.  5 Pound Apparel does something that catches the attention of viewers, while appealing to certain elements of the audience they wish to reach. In this case, it is college age and Millennial Missourians. Their logo states their name in a crafty way, utilizing elements that are popular with many Millennials, as well as appealing to state pride. (In fact, they’ve created a whole line of clothing called “Missouri is Awesome.”) Everything about their profile is creative, shows off their brand, and is sarcastic. “Missouri is Awesome. We know.”
5 pound apparel
3. Starbucks Coffee. Here, Starbucks uses a play on words in their biography. Their tweets are “freshly brewed” by three baristas from the company. By telling you who is tweeting, Starbucks adds a personal element to their updates. They use their logo as a profile photo and a header that uses elements of their brand. This is a great example of keeping the profile branded to the company.
starbucks
4. Lifehacker. Every aspect of this profile speaks to the audience Lifehacker targets. Instead of explaining what service they provide, they use a witty one-liner to grab people’s attention, “Don’t live to geek; geek to live.” Their target audience is one that already knows the services provided by Lifehacker, so why describe it in their bio?
 Lifehacker
5. Neil Gaiman. While not a product or company, Neil Gaiman is a best-selling author, award winning screenwriter, and a producer. He represents his novels, along with the different films he supports. This page is both personal and professional, which is what his main audience looks for. He appeals to the sense of never wanting to grow up and makes a sarcastic joke that one day he will find a real job. This greatly appeals to his audience, as many feel similar. His profile photo may seem personal, but it is, in fact, branded to his latest publication, “Fortunately, the Milk.”
neil gaiman

Twitter and Facebook Bios are Not the Only Elements to Optimize

You can find numerous ways to do this on varying social media sites. Each site is tailored to different aspects that another overlooks. Most sites provide hashtags, or ways to tag your post under a specific title. This makes it easier for people to find your site when perusing the tags.

Two tips on hashtag usage:

#dontcreateahashtagthatwontbeseenbyalotofpeople. Those tags are mainly for personal use, and those who use them are being sarcastic. Plus, it is hard to read a full sentence when all the words mashed up together.
Don’t #hashtag like this. It is #annoying, #breaks up the #sentence, and just looks #sloppy. Choose particular keywords to hashtag and use the tag sparingly.

A Few Simple Reminders

Optimizing your social media profile is not only what your bio says, the branding used in your images, and the content you share, it is also about how easy it is for customers to remember your profile name. Facebook is easy in that you can name your site after your company, but Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest all require your handle to be a little more creative. Come up with a unique, easy to remember handle and you will find people are more likely to stop on your profile and follow. Utilize what you have learned in these examples, as you create engaging and captivating social media profiles!

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