What makes a good social media profile?

If you aren’t taking part in social media marketing, then quite frankly you are missing out. According to data from the Pew Research Center, approximately 73 percent of adults use at least one social networking site. This isn’t restricted to just young adults, either. Nearly half of people ages 65 and older have accounts on at least one of the major sites, and the numbers keep increasing as the age groups get younger. Of course, you have to do more than simply set up a social media profile to succeed.

Here are two actions you should be applying to your social media marketing campaigns:

Leave no stone unturned

You would think that simply having a social media profile would be a good step for your business, but you must make sure your profiles look professional. For example, Facebook and Twitter pages should be outfitted with brand logos and professional, high-resolution photos. Nothing will make a page look pedestrian faster than blurry images or cellphone selfies, so go the extra mile to ensure everything looks sublime. You’ll also want to completely fill in all applicable information. You would be remiss to skip over adding permanent links to other profiles or your official blog, for instance, as well as store contact information.

The next step is to research all types of social media profiles. While Facebook and Twitter may be the two biggest, other sites may be better suited to specific needs. If you plan on sharing your content marketing ideas within a space, LinkedIn may help you reach other professionals in your field. Meanwhile, e-commerce companies can benefit greatly from Pinterest, but they must employ effective photos and landing pages to earn conversions.

Interact with consumers

Consumers can reach quality content on your site itself, so there needs to be some other reason for them to follow your social media profile. A good way to do this is to have special promotions or contests that are unique to these pages. For example, you can offer a discount code to followers or give away products to someone who helps spread the word about your brand. These promotions won’t be effective unless you are tracking them properly, however. Bearing that in mind, it is important to use Google Analytics or a similar type of system to monitor how your profiles are growing your business.

If you aren’t updating social media profile or responding to others, your consumers may think you are asleep at the wheel. Spend time answering questions, dealing with complaints and thanking loyal customers. The only thing you have to worry about is overcrowding a news feed with your actions, so make sure you are interacting directly with individuals instead of all of your followers.

Are you on social media? Follow us on Facebook and  Twitter for more great tips! Bonus: this handy social media design blueprint!