Perform a Quick Maintenance on Your Social Media

Regularly scheduled maintenance is important in a variety of facets of life – car maintenance, health check-ups, home maintenance, etc. Though these things can be cumbersome sometimes, it’s important to keep things regularly maintained. If things are left untouched for too long, it can cause larger problems than anticipated. Just like your regular car maintenance, it’s important to keep up with your social media. Haven’t looked at it in a while? Now’s the time to go back and take a look at your social media profiles. Here’s our checklist of things to make sure are maintained on a regular basis.

1. Profile images

Make sure your profile images and headers are consistent across all platforms. This helps increase recognition and sets brand standards. If you update one, update them all!

Also make sure your profile images and headers are the correct size. Each platform adjusts its interface every once in a while, and with interface adjustments sometimes come new sizing standards.

A great resource to use that keeps up with all platforms is Sprout Social. Check this when you’re looking at your profile images and header images. Also make note of any updated sizing for posts, links, etc. that you would add to your feed. Below is the link to access this resource:

https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-image-sizes-guide/

2. Profile handles

Make sure your profile handles are also consistent across all platforms. This will make it much easier for followers to find you on different social networks. It will also increase the chance of followers tagging/mentioning your brand if they’re able to find it quickly and easily. Again, this also creates brand recognition and emphasizes brand standards.

3. Review your tags and mentions by followers

The whole point of social media is to be able to connect with one another, share stories, and build relationships. It’s important to engage with your audience, and it’s also important to stay informed on what your audience is saying about you.

Go through all your tags and mentions, and delete any bad or inappropriate posts you’ve been tagged in. Having those follow you around makes your brand look unprofessional.

Another good practice is to check your photo tag settings. Depending on the social network, the settings may differ from platform to platform.

4. Review your followers and who you’re following

This is similar to checking up on mentions and tags. First, check your followers list and weed out any accounts that are inappropriate, harmful, or offensive. Then, check your followers list for any new followers that you may want to follow back. Next, check who you’re following to see if there are any accounts that might not be worth following anymore, and follow anyone new you think might be a good account to show your interest in.

5. Make sure your profile is 100% complete and uses good keywords

Leaving empty spots in your profile could keep your profile from getting noticed. Make sure your profile is filled out completely! It’s also a good idea to review the profile information during your maintenance check, in order to confirm everything is still valid (bio, location, brand statement, contact information, etc.). When reviewing your profile information, also make sure it includes good keywords that are popular and “searchable,” yet specific to your brand. This will help increase your chances of being discovered on social media.

6. Reach out to customers, clients, followers, etc. to see if they will give you a review

This step is beneficial to your brand for a few reasons. For one, it shows that you care about your audience, and increases engagement on both sides of the equation. It also allows you to share customer experiences to people who do not know much about your brand, and simultaneously allows you to generate more content onto your social accounts. And, it allows you to take a look at reviews from your followers in order to continue to grow your brand. Feedback is always a great tool for building the best brand and social presence you can.

7. Test out any links you have

Do you cross-promote your social platforms and website across your various profiles? You should. And, you should test out the links to make sure they all work! If they don’t work, you could be missing out on potential viewers and followers.

8. Speaking of cross-promoting…

It’s important to cross-promote your brand on your social networks. For instance, you can add multiple website fields on to Facebook, you can add your Twitter account to your LinkedIn profile, and Pinterest allows you to connect your profile with your Facebook and Twitter accounts. Cross-promotion increases your chance of new followers and engagement across all of your profiles.

Keeping your brand as relevant as possible is important, especially on social media. It makes your brand seem trustworthy, intelligent, and interested in building/maintaining relationships with followers. Because social media content is continually pushed out from millions of brands on the daily, it can be difficult to stay on top of the clutter. However, creating (and sticking to) routine maintenance plans for your social media sites can help overcome those boundaries. Just like starting a fitness routine, the hardest part is getting started and being consistent. After a while, it becomes second nature and stops feeling like a chore.

Is your social media presence lacking? Contact us at ocreations. We can make sure your profile is optimized for each platform, and create consistent posts to make sure your profile is not left in the dust. Let’s get creative, let’s get social.