With a mind-blowing 3.8 billion people connected to the internet, you’d be crazy not to utilize this pervasive force to improve your personal brand. In a competitive environment, a well-crafted social media profile can catapult you away from the competition and help you forge powerful connections in your industry.
Not sure where to begin? No problem. We’ve put together a list of five simple tips to improve your social media profile for business.
- Post consistently
One of the signs of a healthy business or brand page is consistent updates. This tells other users that you’re still available and will be responsive to job or partnership opportunities.
Posting at regular intervals is also a good way to signpost your reliability, as letting your profile gather dust suggests you may be a flaky business risk. If you’re using a platform that doesn’t use status updates, you can still show that you’re engaged by adding topical links to your profile and keeping your details up to date, as evidenced in this Cary Kochman Crunchbase profile.
- Write an interesting bio
Studies show that users are more likely to respond positively to people and brands on social media when humor is used. Being both approachable and memorable is key. While you want your internet presence to be professional, injecting a joke or adding an anecdote can help set you apart from countless other similar profiles.
- Link your profiles
If your internet presence stretches across several social media platforms (and it should, if you’re trying to grow your personal brand), make sure that you allow them to promote one another by connecting them. A mention in your bio is a start, but many platforms have a dedicated section that allows you to link your accounts together. This will help you maximize your exposure.
- Add keywords to your profile
Another great way to improve your social media presence is to add appropriate keywords to your profile. First, identify the words consumers are using to find businesses like yours (you can do this with a keyword planner), then inject them naturally into your bio, hashtags and photo descriptions. This will make it easier for Google to discover you.
- Follow the 4-1-1 rule
Just because your social media profile exists to promote your business doesn’t mean potential customers or collaborators want to see a boring, completely self-serving feed. That’s where the 4-1-1 ratio comes in. According to the 4-1-1 rule, the most successful online marketing strikes a balance between promotional posts and content that encourage engagement and interaction.
For optimal audience engagement, you should aim to post four pieces of original content from others and one relevant retweet for every self-serving post you make.
A successful social media profile is a huge part of developing a loyal customer base and succeeding in the competitive world of online business. Using these five simple tips, you can easily transform your social media profile from dull to dazzling.