5 ways to improve your social media profiles today

Social media may be the new kid on the block when compared to traditional media. However, it is unparalleled in terms of reaching and building connections with current and potential customers (cheap too!).

But with competition from other brands, constantly changing algorithms or even fake followers, it can be difficult to cultivate a thriving social media scene for your brand.

Your social media isn’t valuable if no one sees and engages with it. Yet there are so many improvements to be made which - for the most part - only take a few minutes to implement. Here are 5 ways to improve your social media profiles today:  

1. Review your bio

Your bio is one of the first things a customer sees when they click onto your site, whether that be Instagram, Facebook or another. Customers want to know who you are and what you can do for them. Make sure that what you offer or solve for your followers/clients/customers is loud and clear. Depending on the platform, a punchy one-liner is generally enough.

Then, look over your bio with a critical eye. Are any links up to date? Could your link be replaced to use a trackable link like bit.ly, linktr.ee or create your own on your website?

[UPDATE] Linktr.ee or bit.ly links are great to use since they are easy to customise and they make your landing page look good. However you are losing all that valuable traffic and all-important SEO points when you divert traffic through those sites before visitors arrive to your website. You’ll also notice that the traffic coming from these links are collected under the ‘Referral’ source in Google Analytics. If you need to measure traffic and conversions, this is a problem.

If you want to harness the data collected from traffic originating from social media, I strongly suggest you create your own landing page on your own website platform. It can even look similar to the layout Linktr.ee provides. It’s simple to set up on Squarespace, Wordpress or WIX. Or ask your trusty web developer to help you out.

As links are not ‘clickable’ in captions on Instagram, does the link in your profile take your customers to where they expect to go? Hashtags are now discoverable in your bios; have you included a few relevant key words and hashtags to help people find you?

2. Pick a theme and stick to it

Consistency is key. Choose your brand colours, tone of voice and style of imagery, and stick to it. Create the ideal lifestyle for your audience through various themes you can weave through your feed such as the food/drinks they want to consume, the social life they want, destinations they want to travel to, and fashion they want to wear - just to name a few. These themes should align with the core values of your business.

Don’t be afraid to archive the content or delete posts and images that aren’t in line with your brand. An effective engagement strategy will use frequent and consistent posts as this is the main way to drive interest in your products/services and engage followers to check your Instagram business profile for more information. On the other hand, rarely posting or posting irrelevant material will see followers walking out the proverbial door.

3. Give Instagram stories a try

Take advantage of the Instagram stories feature and enjoy better engagement and more profile views. Make sure your images are high quality and copy is free from typos, then use the platform to give your followers a ‘behind-the-scenes’ view of your brand. This also allows you to maintain a high-quality business profile.

Content such as ‘sneak peaks’ can help your followers feel more connected to your brand and help maintain awareness. Instagram’s algorithm means that users might not see all your posts, however stories are kept at the top of the platform, with new stories indicated by a colourful ring.

They are also ‘discoverable’, which means that people who are not current followers can see your posts when you tag your location, tag other profiles and add hashtags.  

Since the story vanishes in 24 hours, you don’t need to spend the time and effort to create professional looking content. Stories can be raw and relevant to that moment in time. The reason why businesses use this type of content is that it humanises their business. This allows your target audience to relate to your business and connect on a deeper level.

4. Get personal

Don’t be afraid to show behind the scenes of your business/life (see Insta Stories). This gets back to being authentic. In the end, there are people behind every business working hard to help solve problems. You need to allow your audience to see those people occasionally. Post about your team’s achievements or special events, share some exciting news and have personalised replies to customer inquiries.

5. Block the spam

This one is simple: get rid of spam accounts that follow you. It drops your engagement percentage and affects your ranking on the Instagram algorithm because followers appear disinterested in your content.

You don’t need to invest time every week for this! Spend 10 minutes every month or so review your followers and cull the ones who look dodgy or far removed from your target audience.

If in doubt, write to YOUR target audience!

*Hint: ‘everybody' is not your audience, if you think an account might be spam, it probably is. Just block it.

That sums up our key points for improving your Social Media. We’ve only touched the surface with this list and have more tips on the best apps to help take your social media to the next level. To find out more, feel free to send us a message HERE.

Can you think of any tips we might have missed? Share some of your own pointers in the comments below.