Everyday more business owners are jumping onto the social media bandwagon after realizing the importance of using social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. With social media you can put your business in front of your target audience in the comfort of their own environment and on their own schedule.
Even though this sounds all good, it is really not as simple as just signing up and achieving success. To be successful with social media marketing does take time and effort, but the rewards can outweigh all the energy you put into your strategy. All your social media profiles that you create and use should remind your audience of who you are and it should clearly reflect your business brand. An easy way to do this is to view your social media profiles as an extension of your website.
There are thousands of good social media channels that you can use in your social media journey, and the best ones to use in your campaign will all depend on where your target market spends their time online, but in this post, I will cover three of the biggest social media channels – Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. Find below a 3 tips on branding your social media profiles to be an extension of your website.
On this microblogging channel, make your profile logo a photo of yourself and not just a brand logo. In my own opinion, unless your are Apple, Microsoft, or Google, I want to see a photo of a real person. I am my business, and my clients know me by my name and so I want them to see my photo and information about me. See your name as your “personal brand”. People like doing business with real people, not some robot with automated responses. This personal connection you can establish on your social media strategy is often overlooked in utilizing social media for your business. Also, match the background of your Twitter page to look the same as the background of your website.
Facebook is a great way to brand yourself and your business. With cover photos on Facebook, you can continue to use a photo of yourself, but you can use your business logo as the cover photo. The cover photo can be an amazing way to bring in some personality to your profile, and it is really worth the investment to design one.
YouTube
Your YouTube channel can be branded in the same way you have branded your Twitter profile, with a background image and profile picture. Use the same background that you use on your Twitter profile to add consistency between your profiles.
It is very important to have consistency between your social media profiles, your website, your blog, and your business. You will notice that I use the same profile photo on all the channels that I’m using, and it matches the photo that I use on my microblog, blog, and digital business card. It makes it clear that it is in fact “Anton Koekemoer” and consistency is key in every part of social media. You can also use the social web for personal branding which I will cover in a future post.
Hi Anton,
Truly – Branding is one of the most important aspects of business and the way you are perceived
and related to by customers. Using a brand that users can relate to across
multiple social channels and marketing channels (Digital and Traditional alike)
is key to having a universally recognised brand, content, product and or
services related to the specific business or product.
Indeed Byron. Consistency is key!