As with many things, the first few seconds and first impressions count. It is no different with social media. These days, businesses are judged on their social media channels. If they’re not well kept and up to date, it’s highly likely your visitor will soon navigate away without exploring in any depth, let alone following or liking your posts! There are a number of things to bear in mind in order to remain consistent across social media platforms. Here are my top 3:
Clear company branding
Whilst it may seem obvious to add the company logo and other relevant imagery, it is important that they are clear and of the correct resolution. Don’t, whatever you do, add a background picture, see that it is blurry and think “that’ll do“. FIND A GOOD PICTURE! When making changes to social media accounts, do so from a desktop as opposed to a phone or tablet. Whilst an image may look good on a phone, it won’t when blown up on a desktop social media site. 
A consistent message
As with your logo’s and branding, you should aim to get your message out to as many people as possible. For example, if you have a presence on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, you should always post your content out to all of them where possible and not let any platform drift. Everyone has different preferences when it comes to social media platforms. By posting your message out onto more than one, you engage with more people – but make sure you focus on platforms that are relevant to your target audience If you are posting a text-only message on social media, it is unlikely to be appropriate for image-based sites such as Pinterest and Instagram. Try to add an image to go with your text and link. This way you don’t neglect the image based social media.
Tone
You will be judged on what you say and do, so it is important that your message comes across in the right way. A little light humour or fun posts mixed with your content and other industry content is often a good thing. If it is appropriate for your business, then it can be a great way of increasing engagement. Whatever posts you make, it is important that they are interesting and consistent. Conflicting messages will only serve to confuse your readers, which harms your overall brand. Regular, fresh content goes a long way to successful social media feeds.
The power of social media
In 2016, most people and businesses now recognise the power that social media can have and most are embracing it. The motivation for getting social media right for your business shouldn’t simply come from a short term desire to deliver leads and business. Whilst generating new business opportunities are always important, Social media should primarily be about developing you brand, demonstrating your expertise and engaging with your market.
