This is our next to last spring cleaning blog and today we are tackling your social media. Follow these steps to make sure your social media is cleaned up and working for you.

 

Check Your Profile and Cover Photos

 

It would be a good idea to do this twice a year. Make sure your headshot is up to date. Check it across all platforms to make sure you are using the correct headshot and that it looks professional and represents you well. Check the cover photo on your personal profile as well as your business profile and make sure it’s up to date. This is the first thing people see so it’s a great place to get started.

Bonus tip: If you do videos regularly, check your thumbnails. Make sure your mouth isn’t open and that you’re not making a weird face. While you’re recording try to take a moment and pause with a smile so that you can use that pose for your thumbnail.

 

Complete and Edit Your Facebook and LinkedIn Profiles

 

Go through each of these accounts and make sure every section is filled out. On LinkedIn especially, there is a space right below your name where you have the option to put your job title. Nobody wants to know that. They can find that in your work history. What they really want to know is what’s in it for them. Right below your name should be your “what’s in it for me?” statement. 

 

For Facebook, make sure that the business you are linking to from your personal profile is your own. For instance, if you are a realtor, link to your own page not the national page for the company. They don’t need your traffic. You do. Also, don’t leave it with a generic label, like self-employed, that goes nowhere. Utilize that space.

 

Check your contact information on both profiles. Make sure you aren’t accidentally showing information you didn’t intend to share. Also, make sure that if someone wants to contact your business that it’s as easy as possible. Make sure all your contact information is current. If you’re ok with your business number being there, add it. You definitely need an email and a website listed at the minimum. 

 

Use this opportunity to check your privacy settings. One example is having your birthday listed on Facebook. Showing the day is fine but hide the year. Nobody needs that information and it can be a security issue. No one needs your home address either. Be smart with what you allow to be shown. 

 

Check the “About” Section on Each Platform

 

This is different than your bio on your Facebook profile. This is on your business page. It’s your LinkedIn summary. On Instagram, it’s your bio. It’s the tiny bio on your Pinterest account. Check all of them and make sure your messaging is consistent across the board. Wherever possible, keep your branding consistent. 

 

On LinkedIn, this section should begin with your “what’s in it for me?” statement, followed by a bit of background on you. Then list out your services or specialties in bullet points. No one wants to read one big chunk of information so make sure your summary is visually pleasing. You can also make sure to use plenty of your keywords to make you more searchable for people who need to find you.

 

Check Your Hashtags

It’s probably time to redo your hashtags. Many are seasonal. Pull up your profile and click on every single one of your hashtags. This will show you if someone is squatting on your hashtag, if another meaning has taken it over, and if it’s working for you. You might click through and find out this hashtag isn’t even used for the same industry. That one isn’t working for you. Replace it with a more relevant one. Aim for a nice mix of hashtags where you have some that reach in the millions, some in the thousands, and some in the hundreds. 

 

Review Your Insights and Analytics

 

How can you know what you need to be doing if you don’t know what’s performing well? You need to know what works for you. It may be different on different platforms. Some of the results may surprise you. You may think something is working that isn’t performing well at all. A great example of this is that images with faces do so much better on Instagram than they do on Pinterest. 

 

This will give you the perfect opportunity to assess the platforms. Unless you are a social media company or have a team of people working for you, it is very difficult to be on more than 2 platforms. 3 is really pushing it to maintain quality and consistency. Don’t get overwhelmed. Let the analytics tell you what is working the best for you and focus on those platforms. Google Analytics will tell you where your traffic is coming from. Those are the places you need to put your energy into. 

 

Review Your Content Calendars 

 

Now that you’ve looked at your analytics and figured out what works and what doesn’t work for you, it’s time to go into your content calendar and make those edits. If you know testimonials are doing very well for you and you’re only doing them once a month, you may want to bump it up to twice a month. You have to do what works for you so check your content calendar and make sure it reflects that. 

 

Scope Out the Competition

 

Generally, we aren’t big proponents of scoping out your competition. No matter how big or successful they are, they don’t bring to the table the same things that you do. It can cause imposter syndrome or make you feel overwhelmed trying to do what your competition is doing. It can actually push you in the wrong direction. Don’t waste time worrying about others. It didn’t work in high school and it won’t work now.

 

What you need to do is check out your industry. Look at companies that do what you’re doing but in other markets. If you are a plumber, don’t look at local plumbing companies. Look at plumbers in other states just to get a  feel for what is trending in your industry. Don’t spend too much time on this step or check it constantly. It will only get you off course.

 

Clean Up Your Follow List

 

Review all the accounts you are following and clean up your list. I don’t mean sit and go through every single person you follow. You can go through and purge some of the groups you follow The ones that when you get a notification from them you think “ugh” and immediately delete it. Take a quick glance at who you are following and if it’s not serving you, unfollow. If you don’t have enough industry accounts on your list, follow some of those. Unfollow any hashtags that aren’t working for you.

 

Check the Social Media Icons on Your Website

Periodically, you need to check the social media icons on your website and make sure they work. If you don’t have social media icons on your website, you need them. Don’t make it hard for people to find you. Make sure the social media icons are embedded on every page of your site, not just the homepage. 

 

Post Consistently

 

Just posting consistently will usually put you head and shoulders above your competition. Making yourself available and consistent long-term is how you stand out. It shows people that you are reliable. Consistency is a big deal. 

 

You Have the Plan, You Just Have to Execute

 

Now that you have the steps, you are ready to spring clean your social media. If you need help or would like an audit of your online presence, we would love to walk through the process with you.