Having an online presence is imperative in this technology-centric era, but with all the available platforms, where do you begin? To help you boost your online presence, we’ve compiled a checklist to jumpstart your social media and digital marketing plan today. You’ll be asked to fill out profiles for the following pages, so we recommend preparing a company bio in advance and having a logo and/or photo(s) handy. We highly recommend claiming and creating your business pages for these networks/outlets:
Social Media Pages to Create:
Facebook requires you to have or set up a personal Facebook page; to set one up, click on the above link, or while on your personal page, click the top right-hand arrow and select “Create A Page” from the menu. Facebook provides a setup wizard of sorts to step you through the creation process. Here you will see a variety of page categories – select the one that best suits your business and follow the instructions to set up your business page. You will become the administrator of that page and you will be able to delegate other members of your company to also act as administrators.
Your Instagram account will need to be set up on a mobile device and can be linked through to your business Facebook page. When you’ve created your business profile on Instagram, from your profile, select the cog next to “edit profile”, and then the “switch to Business Profile” button and follow the wizard to complete the process.
LinkedIn Personal + Company Page
It is important to maintain both a personal and company page on LinkedIn. To create a LinkedIn Company Page, select the Work icon at the top of the screen and from the pop-out side, menu select the Create a Company Page button at the bottom of the menu and fill out the requested info. You will need to verify that you are the official company representative to get started.
Setting up a Twitter profile is simple: just go to the page and fill out the short contact form to get started. Twitter will then take you through a series of steps to set up your profile and build your following list.
Business Listing Pages to Create:
Google Places serves to place you on a map – it uses GPS tracking and Google Maps to pinpoint your business’s location so you can create a listing that customers can find. To set up a Google Places listing, visit the link and follow the instructions. Before the listing goes live, a PIN will be mailed to your address to ensure only genuine businesses are being created. Your Google Places listing will also be synced in with your Google + Business Page.
Setting up a Yelp business page is easy, but it is important to make sure that you are setting up a business page rather than a personal page. Visit the provided link above and follow the steps to set up your Yelp business account.
Go to the site and follow the steps to set up an account. If you don’t claim a Foursquare page, it’s possible for your listing to be set up by someone else with information that isn’t entirely accurate.
Social Media and Business Listings are always optional in the grand scheme of things, however, one thing to bear in mind is that if you aren’t claiming your business pages, someone else can and can cause misinformation about your business. It’s always a solid investment to claim the pages even if you don’t plan on using them.
