9 Tips for Professional-Looking Social Media Profiles

Social media is like a cocktail party – before you talk to somebody or they talk to you, they only see how you look. These simple steps will give your social media profiles a professional look and encourage new conversations.

1. Don’t bite off more than you can chew

It’s easy to start an account on every social media site you can imagine. The hard part is to post a reasonable amount of content regularly. What if you have time to publish just one blog post per month or visit Twitter only once a week? You can’t re-post the content of others forever. Consider these issues before you start another social site:

• Do I have time for this? If not…
• Do I have employees who can create content for this site? If not…
• Do I have the budget to hire a social media agency to take care of this?

There’s nothing wrong with having only one or two social media profiles, if that’s all you can afford. Fans appreciate regular posting and good communication, not dozens of abandoned profiles.

2. Tell your story via profile info

Browse through your social media profiles and fill in all required fields. For example, Facebook requires two fan page descriptions – short and extended. Enter appropriate copy for both.

People are less likely to click links with no description, so leaving them with just your website address won’t work. Give your visitors information about what you do, where to find you, and what you stand for.

3. Adjust your profile pictures and cover photos

Social media is a very “visual” space. The first things your visitors will notice are the profile picture and cover photo. A number of large company pages share amazing-looking pic combos all over the Internet. This website helps you create awesome profile pictures and cover photos step-by-step.

Last but not least – you must own the copyright to pictures you use. You don’t need copyright infringement scandals on your fan page, do you?

4. Check out plugins and applications

Social media marketing goes beyond fan page options — you can integrate useful plugins and tools into your profile. For ideas, take a look at the Facebook toolbar. Add social media plugins to let your fans visit you directly from the fan page, or add a GetResponse web formapp to grow your email list instantly.

5. Think mobile before desktop

It’s possible that you moderate your fan pages from desktop. But the thing is, many of your fans view with mobile devices. This changes their point of view completely. Remember this when posting. Use short copy and quality pictures with large details that are easy to view on small mobile screens. You’ll see your engagement grow!

6. Address your followers’ needs

That’s a hard thing to do. But when you think about it, it’s the essence of social media. Your fans and followers are looking for information you have. Your task is to give it to them — preferably in an easy-to-digest, entertaining form.

Not sure where to start? Look at top-performing competitors or trending hashtags. It’s a quick and simple way to get useful insights.

7. Post a reasonable amount of content

As you browse social media profiles, you’ll notice content that carries no practical information – such as morning coffee, I hate Mondays, or Thank God It’s Friday posts. Of course, that’s an easy way to do two posts a week … but think about it: would your potential customers decide to buy your product because your I-hate-Monday post was funnier than your competitors’? Doubtful. So don’t make this common mistake. Instead publish something useful. Always.

8. Take time to proofread

Every day, our brains are bombarded with tons of information, images and words. More and more we’re exposed to not-so-high quality language that influences our own copy. Sometimes you may not notice mistakes until after you post, and that’s too late. How to avoid this trap? Hire a copywriter or language specialist to review your copy, correct small mistakes and come up with ideas for catchy new posts.

9. Plan your posts

Trying to think of a new post every day can leave you feeling more stressed than satisfied. The solution is a social media calendar. Plan your posts at least a week ahead, so you don’t have to worry about writer’s block. If you need to publish an up-to-date post, you can push the earlier one to another day. Facebook and Twitter offer post scheduling, so you can set your posts in advance and do other things while social media works for you. Simple yet effective.

Based on your experience – would you add any other tips to this list? What works best for you?