How to Optimize Your Social Profile Bio
Let’s start with a question: Does your social profile bio matter? In most cases, people make a decision to follow you based on three factors: your content posts, the quality of your posts, and the frequency that share content. So why waste time writing a bio at all?
Your social profile bio serves three major functions: tell people who you are, set expectations for what you provide, and give them a clear call-to-action (CTA). So let’s talk about how you can optimize your social profile bio to capture and create new followers for your brand.
Anatomy of Your Profile Bio
Profile Photo
As a photographer, a lot of the portraits I make are used for social profiles. A great profile image creates intrigue for people to visit your profile. For brands that require interpersonal interaction, it’s optimal to use a professional headshot. No-photo only works when your brand is faceless or has too many faces to be just one. So, spend the time to create a professional headshot that is consistent across all of your profiles.
Profile Username
Keep your profile username as close to your business name as possible. This reinforces your brand. It makes your branding more memorable. Plus, it makes it easier to find your content off-network through search. Search engines collate all content published with the same name. Additionally, this increases your search ranking. Consistency is your ally.
Profile Display Name
Most profile display names are just repeats of the username. However, I’ve seen display names that have little to no connection with the username. This disconnect creates an unnecessary mental hurdle for your audience. The question is: do you want them to think about your display name or start connecting with you? Final note on display names, think local or target audience in your display name. Put your service area in your name. If you serve a specific audience, put it in your name. This will help your audience find you when they aren’t specifically looking for you.
Your Profile Bio
Every profile limits the amount of characters you have for your bio. So, cut to the chase. You can be witty. However, I recommend that you tell people what you want. Give them a clear call-to-action. For business profiles, CTAs are essential to measuring the effectiveness of your content marketing. There’s no point in acquiring followers that don’t act upon your content.
Your Website Address
Use a web landing page to complete your CTA. Landing pages can be timebound, offer-specific, or audience defined. However, you can only use one website address. Savvy influencers leverage that one address to do more. Some social media marketing firms enable you to create a new single address that you can associate with each post you make. This costs money and can dilute your branding. Yet, it’s measurable and effective. I recommend using your own website to create a landing page to serve your audience. It’s cheaper. In fact, you can create a different landing page for each platform and the type of content you publish. From a business measurements perspective, landing pages enable you to see what platforms are most effective for your content marketing and why.
Why Optimizing Your Social Profile Matters
Social media marketing is a balancing act. You must thread the needle between meeting customers where they are and getting them to leave. This challenge is made more difficult as social networks are adding features to keep clients on their networks longer. The longer they stay, the more ads they can monetize from their attention. However, you really need your buyers spending their time and attention, undistracted on your website.
There’s a temptation to leverage all of the resources of social networks and conduct all of your business in their space. That’s the equivalent of allowing someone else to set the rules for your business. With your own website, you set the rules and standards. Use your content to attract followers. Afterwards, you must use your profile to convert those followers to your website for purchases. This is the virtuous cycle that must be maintained.
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Your Social Profile Reflects Your Brand
In the end, you need to give your audience an incentive to break their passive consumption and actively engage with you. It takes practice and discipline to build your brand. Your strategy is crucial. Don’t develop content without a ultimate purpose. Don’t promote yourself with every post. Entertain them. Educate them. Give them something of value. Facilitate a mutually-beneficial exchange. This is the secret to creating desire for your brand.
We know you have questions. DM me for photography and branding inquiries. Let’s figure out what you need and make it happen.
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