Why Should You Clean Up Your Social Media?
Everyone can have a social media profile for their business, but not everyone can do it well. Today we are going to discuss how you can clean up the look, information, and presence of your business on its social media platforms. We’ll provide examples of what you can update, change, or even remove from your business’s Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram profiles to help convey a more meaningful message to your audience.
A cluttered profile with inconsistent messaging and branding is a quick turn off for most potential customers. Cleaning up your social media is key to not only retaining existing interested parties but also to capturing the interest of future potential customers. Cleaning up your social media helps you to more clearly convey what your company is about, how it can aid potential customers, and why your offerings are superior to your competitors. Clean social media profiles are a quintessential part of any social media or internet marketing strategy. Remember, the beginning of your sales funnel often starts with users visiting your social media profiles, make sure that their first impression of you is the best it can possibly be.
What Does a “Clean” Profile Look Like?
A clean social media profile doesn’t have a clear definition. Rather, a clean profile exists in the absence of clutter or dirtiness. We will break down these warning signs so that you can have a better understanding of what issues may currently be present on your own social media profiles.
- Low resolution pictures or videos
- With HD capability built into nearly every smart phone, grainy and low-quality photos and videos just won’t do it. Make sure that you are only uploading these types of media in High Definition, anything else will look blocky and be a quick indication to your audience that you are not tech savvy.
- Chunky, run-on text
- Social media is not the place to leave manifestos. If you aren’t conveying your ideas concisely, then you are not conveying them well. Users should be able to quickly understand your message or the product you are offering in a few short paragraphs or less. Attention on social media is fleeting, do not put anything out that drones on or presents itself as long and drab.
- Inconsistent Theming
- Ever business must lock down its branding in order to be consistent. If your posts, logos, or designs are constantly changing you are doing little to create associations between your products. Constantly changing designs can also confuse the customer and create doubt in your company as a whole.
- Mimicry and Imitation
- When first starting out it can be difficult to determine what the voice of your company looks and sounds like. It is easy to look to competitors for ideas on presentation, as you well should. However, it can be a problem when you imitate without adapting. If your branding is relying heavily on similar designs, selling points, or voices from within your industry and beyond, it can easily be a turn off to any potential customers. Assume that anyone visiting your profile is familiar with the branding you are imitating because odds are they will see mimicry as soon as it presents itself. A clean social media profile is an original one, one that brings new ideas and original imagery to the table.
Quick Tips and Tricks
Let’s talk about how you can address each of these issues on your profile, either by updating content or removing it entirely. While reworking an image, video, or post will often work, sometimes outdated or ill-designed content must simply be thrown out entirely in order to ensure brand consistency and quality.
- Low resolution pictures or videos
- For most businesses, low resolution images are used simply because they are free. If you cannot obtain higher quality versions of these images, it is best to remove them from your profile. If these are images you have created yourself or own the rights to, make sure to reupload them in higher resolution so that they are in High Definition at the very minimum. If you are unfamiliar with exporting photos and videos from your camera, phone, or editing software make sure to take the time to learn about the export process or give those duties to someone who is familiar with the process already.
- Chunky, run on text
- Consistency is key. Make sure to keep your posts simple and clear. Do not give more information than you need to and try to keep most posts a paragraph or shorter. Even if you are quoting a blog linked to the post, keep within this narrow frame. Social media is not for in-depth reading, it is for redirecting to deeper content using flashy blurbs or quotes that give users a quick glimpse of whatever blog, article, product, or service you are offering.
- Inconsistent Theming
- Brand standards are essential when posting on social media. Whether you have a team creating social media content or you are running the show on your own, you must have clear formats, logos, and wording that stays consistent from post to post and product to product. Create design templates to help you and your team stay on the same page with each and every new image, post, or promotion that you put on your social media.
- Mimicry and Imitation
- There is a clear distinction between stealing an idea and adapting an idea. Changing the font color but keeping the same message, images, and font style is stealing. Looking at the simplicity of a design and creating something simple of your own is adapting. Looking at the types of content that your competitors generate and generating similar content of your own is adaptation. Look at what works and do it your own way, emphasis on it being your own. Users and potential customers will know instantly when you’ve “borrowed” ideas or mimicked the competition so steer clear of it.
Branding Through Clean
A clean social media profile is a branding of its own kind. Make sure to keep your posts, pictures, and promotions looking professional. Keep your messaging clear, concise, and consistent. Avoid low quality and low effort posts. Build a cohesive and consistent theme that looks and sounds original, even if it is based off of something else. Do all of these things and you can keep your social media profiles, decluttered and looking professional. Social Media is the start of the sales process, so make sure that you are putting your best foot forward on every platform.
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