Essentials to Include on Business Social Media Pages
Just like your website, word-of-mouth, and marketing efforts, social media is one more important way that potential customers can learn about you. As a marketing tool, social media has so many advantages. To list just a few, it is free (unless you decide to promote your posts or page), it has global reach, and it already has niches and communities that you can take advantage of to reach large groups of people who would benefit from your products or services.
Clearly, social media is a powerful tool. Now that so many businesses have cultivated social media profiles, not having one – or having one that says the wrong things – can be detrimental. That’s why we’ve prepared this list of tips.
Which Business Social Media Pages Should Every Company Have?
There are a few different social media profiles that every single business should have. Each social media platform offers the possibility of accessing a new and different set of people (and customers). However, if you’re just starting out and feel overwhelmed by establishing and posting from many different profiles, it may be best to start with just one and grow from there. That’s why we have listed the four most important profiles for businesses to have in descending order of priority.
Google My Business – The Most Fundamental Business Social Media Page
The one key business social media page that every business must have is a Google My Business profile. While this isn’t necessarily social media in the traditional sense, it’s Google’s way of providing a free platform for businesses to advertise their services and make sure people can find them. When you search “restaurants near me” or “tire shops in Lincoln Nebraska,” what you likely see first is a list of Google My Business profiles.
It’s easy to see why a Google My Business profile can be key to your growth, but in case you need more convincing, here are some stats – 84% of all searches focus on discovery, not on a specific brand or business. The people who are seeing GMB results are looking for new service providers or retailers to provide what they need, and you could be the one who benefits from their searches. Furthermore, mobile searches focused on purchase intent with words like “near me” and “where to buy” have increased more than 200% in the past couple of years alone. Google My Business is vital to give you both visibility and credibility.
After setting up a Google My Business page, Facebook should be next on your list. Although some corners of the internet would have you believe that Facebook has fallen out of favor, the number of active users is at an all-time high, with over 36% of the global population using Facebook at least once a month. To show up and be visible in the current market, it’s essential to have a business Facebook page.
Depending on your line of work, LinkedIn can also be a very helpful platform to have access to. A LinkedIn profile will generally give you more credibility, and it does double duty as a staffing tool and customer outreach tool. If you work in a service-oriented business or offer any outsourced services, LinkedIn could be your ideal platform because it helps you niche down into connecting with the clients who will be most interested in your offerings.
In the past, because Instagram was so photo-focused, it wasn’t always the best social media option for all businesses. However, with the introduction of videos and reels, it has become a key tool for businesses of all types and sizes. Because of the way the platform is set up, Instagram creates the perfect environment for more people to notice your business and appreciate the value of your content.
What information should be included on business social media pages?
Depending on what your business does and what stage of the lifecycle it’s in, your posts and social sharing might be vastly different! But there are a few basics that are a good idea for absolutely everyone to include. We’ve listed these elements below with an explanation of why they’re so important.
- Your business hours and address – this probably goes without saying, but the most critical piece of information to have prominently displayed is how customers can visit you! This may seem simplistic, but adding and regularly updating your hours ensures that customers will never be frustrated by not knowing when you’re open, or worse, try to visit you only to find your doors closed. Ultimately, having correct hours prominently displayed is a trust measure that builds your credibility and gives your customers the information they need to feel confident in you. It’s especially important to remember to update your hours for holidays or other events when you might not be open at your normal times.
- Your unique value proposition – social media doesn’t always allow adequate space for you to give the perfect pitch for your services. Fortunately, it is set up to allow you to summarize your offerings and your unique value proposition. Most social platforms offer a small text area for you to introduce yourself, like the about area on Facebook or Google My Business or the headline section on LinkedIn. These areas have small character count maximums that only allow for a sentence or two, but this is a perfect spot to put your UVP. Do you need help developing a UVP? Read our guide here.
- A call to action and a way to reach you – Any time you have your customer’s eyes, you want to be sure you have a call to action. Depending on the platform, introducing a call to action isn’t always easy, but it’s so important! In recognition of this, some platforms, such as Facebook, have begun offering call to action buttons that you can add to your profile. Even if you have to do some creative thinking, it’s worth it to place a call to action somewhere prominent on your profile and list multiple options for contacting you. Ideally, you want to have a phone, email, and website listed so that people can find out more about your business and contact you easily.
