WE ARE PART OF THE
FAMILY.
When it comes to creating a social media account, to some it seems like a straightforward process - but for some it can be a challenging process.
Whether it be a personal, or company account we will have you covered in this blog!
The most popular social media platform out there with 2.9 BILLION active monthly users... so it's a no brainer to have a Facebook page for your business. A Facebook page is definitely a great tool for brand awareness, a quick and easy way to get the business name out there.
Each day we see a number of friends share one of their friend's businesses like their most recent complete job - and that's how easy it can be to create new business on the platform.
Another great reason to create a Facebook page which not many people talk about are the lead generation possibilities. Users who like your page, or interact with your posts are all potential customers - all of them will have an email on their profile information which you can then contact via email, rather than not bothering to contact them at all!
Facebook requires a personal account to set up a company page. To set up a personal Facebook account you need to
2) Enter your First Name and Last Name
3) Enter your email address or phone number (we recommend using an email address because we all know how easy it is to lose a phone then not have access to the phone number again!)
4) Next up is creating a password. Make sure it's memorable and hard to guess, but meets the requirements. Facebook recommends that passwords be complex and at least 8 characters long, with a combination of numbers, letters and punctuation marks. Facebook also suggests using a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters for security.
5) Next up is your date of birth and gender, pretty straightforward process.
6) Press sign up. But to finish creating your account you need to confirm your email/phone number (whichever you created the account with).
Now we've got a personal account, it's time to create a company page!
1) Visit facebook.com/pages/create
2) Enter your page name - be aware that you cannot add LTD to the name on a Facebook page.
3) Choose a category which best represents your company, you can add up to 3.
4) Add a description about your company, it will help people who visit your page get an initial idea of what you do.
5) Press create page, then you can add a profile picture and cover picture (both optional). Following this press save.
Congratulations! You now have a live Facebook Company Page!
Undoubtedly the best social media for B2B (business to business for those unaware of the terminology). LinkedIn has almost 800 million members, with 57 million company pages on the site. Out of the 800 million users, around 65million of those are decision makers at businesses meaning it's a great tool to get to those directly at the top. Think of the limitless possibilities of lead generation and potential clients from that! The UK has around 30 million of the 800million whereas, the US has nearly 200 million of those!
Now it's time to create a LinkedIn page!
1) Join LinkedIn through this link here: https://linkedin.com/reg/join
2) Enter your first and last name - make sure you use your correct name though as it is against LinkedIn's User Agreement to have Company names and pseudonyms on a personal account.
3) Enter your email address, you'll need to confirm your account on this email later.
4) Create a password, again make sure that it is memorable and meets the password requirements then click join now!
Now you've got your LinkedIn page, its time to create a company page.
1) On the top right of your LinkedIn homepage you should see the work icon. It is 6 small squares. Select create a company page.
2) Now you will need to select what page type you would like to create from the following options: Small business, Medium to large business, Showcase page, Educational institution (high school or university/college).
3) Enter your page identity, company details and profile details.
4) You now need to check the verification box to confirm that you have the right to act on behalf of the company in the creation of the page.
5) Click create page!
LinkedIn also has great analytics for you to check out on your company page. Would you like to see a blog in the future about LinkedIn analytics? Let us know in the comments!
Now for a social platform that is becoming increasingly popular amongst businesses, YouTube. The platform has over 2 BILLION ACTIVE monthly users, a much wider reach than Instagram which only has 1 billion active monthly users. Also, YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, behind Google. Need anymore reasons to sign up?
Go on then, we'll give you one more... it's pretty quick to make an account as well!
First and foremost, you need a personal google account. A personal Google account needs your first and last name, the username of the Gmail account that you are going to create, and a password that uses 8 or more characters with a mix of letters, numbers & symbols.
Click next step. You can enter a phone number but this is optional, we do recommend adding one for the extra layer of security to your account with Google's two-factor authentication.
You can also add a recovery email address as well - either alongside or as an alternative to a mobile phone number. Your birthday and gender are mandatory. When choosing your personalisation settings there is either express (1 step) or manual (3 steps).
Congratulations - you know have a personal Google account... now its time to create a YouTube channel.
Log in to YouTube with your Gmail account, on the drop down menu you will see a create channel button.. You will need to enter your channels name when prompted, then press create channel... it's really that simple!
Now you've got a YouTube account alongside a Gmail account, it'd be a great idea to get your company listed on Google! (it helps with SEO).
Step 1) Sign into Google Business Manager. Link here: http://business.google.com/?skipLandingPage=true&gmbsrc=ww-ww-et-gs-z-gmb-v-z-h~bhc-core-u%7Cmybb
2) Add your business by simply typing out your business name, if it does not appear then you will need to click "add your business to Google" and click Next.
3) Add your location. If you have a physical location where customers can go and visit then select Yes and add the address, you may also be asked to to position a marker for the location on a map. If you don't offer a location that customers can visit then you can select certain areas that your business serves. Select these from the list of service areas.
4) Enter your contact information. This includes your business phone number, and website address so that potential customers can contact you. You do not have to enter a contact number if you do not want to be reachable via the phone.
5) Verify your business. To do this you will need to enter your real physical address - but do keep in mind that this will NOT be displayed on your Google business profile, or shared with the public. Once you have clicked next, if you have registered as a physical business meaning that customers can visit your address, then you will need to verify this address via a postcard which is sent to the address. If you are a service based listing then your listing can be verified through an email address. You will receive a 5-digit-code via the selected method and you will need to enter it on the next page. If your code is posted to you then you will receive instructions on the postcard.
6) Now it's time to customise your GoogleMybusiness profile, tutorials are available once you get to that stage.
Now you're fully set up on YouTube AND you have a Google business listing!
Did you know there were 11.7 million downloads of Twitter on the App Store in the first quarter of 2019? Or that 75 percent of B2B businesses market their products and/or services on Twitter?
Don't you think it's about time you took advantage of Twitter as a marketing tool?
Here's a quick walk-through of how to create a Twitter account.
First and foremost, visit twitter.com and you'll get brought onto a loading screen, click the sign up button. You will need to enter your full name, email and password - as always ensure that your password meets the requirements set by Twitter.
You can also set up an account via a Google account by clicking the sign up with Google button. This will use the details you have for your Google account.
There is also a sign up with Apple button - Twitter will use your Apple ID details to sign you up for the platform, personally I think that the Google and Apple sign up options offer a far more streamlined way of signing up which benefits users and will encourage them to make an account if it is an easy process.
The final social media platform we are going to talk about is Instagram. Instagram is vital for getting your business image out there, but in all honesty, it is definitely more effective for businesses that sell products. 72% of people surveyed by Retail Dive said that they have made fashion, beauty or style-related purchases after seeing something on Instagram.
So how exactly do we create an Instagram account? Let's find out!
To create an Instagram account you will need to visit instagram.com or if you are looking to create one via smartphone you can download the Instagram app via the chosen App store of your smartphone.
When creating an Instagram account you either have to sign up with an email address / phone number or alternatively sign up with an already active Facebook account. As Instagram is owned by Meta you can use your Facebook account to create an Instagram account, and you can also post photos from Instagram onto Facebook which could be a handy tool!
If you create an account via email / phone number then you will be prompted to create a username and password - make sure that both of these meet the requirements set by Instagram. After this your account will be created, add your profile features and you have a fully working Instagram account!
To make your account a business account, go to settings on your profile, press 'Account' (the icon is a head with no face), Then press 'Switch to Professional Account'. Pick a category which best describes your business then select Business. Your account is now an Instagram business account!
Why select an Instagram business account though? Well...
1) You get access to Instagram analytics, vital to tracking how your posts are performing with statistics like what audience it has reached compared to last weeks posts and how many impressions it has, but the most important from those is how many interactions the post has - this is how you determine who is actually interacting with your content rather than those just scrolling past. You can also see your follower activity and audience insight. Whilst it is a good tool, it is somewhat basic compared to other social media analysis offerings - but it still offers a basic insight into how your content is performing.
2) This ones for those with 10,000 or more followers... Instagram stories are becoming more and more popular, a recent study shows that there are 500 million accounts that use Instagram stories every single day. Those with over 10,000 followers can add links to their stories for viewers to 'swipe up'. For those with under 10,000 I'm afraid you've still got to stick to the 'Link in Bio' posts!
3) You can use Instagram advertising. Instagram ads are created through Facebook ad's manager so your Instagram business page must be connected to your Facebook page in order to create advertisements and push promoted posts. See how to connect the two accounts in the next paragraph.
4) You can schedule your posts ahead of time, which is great for those of you that are always busy and might let social media posts slip past their minds on a regular basis. If you use third-party scheduling software to post on one or more of your social medias and you are wanting to link it to your Instagram account then once again you will need an Instagram Business account.
5) If your business sells products on a website, then you can tag the said products in your post with a link directly to that product on the website - a widely utilised tool by fashion companies.
"So how exactly do I link my Instagram business account to my Facebook page?" I hear you ask. Well...
1) Go onto your Facebook page and click 'Settings'.
2) Click on the 'Instagram' button, then where it says 'Connect account' press that button.
3) Allow access to Instagram messages to go in your Facebook inbox... it's helpful to have all messages in one place. Press continue.
4) Enter your Instagram account's Username and Password. Then press login.
Time to wrap up the blog now. Thank you for reading this far if you have... we know it'll be a blog that will just concern one section for the vast majority of visitors.
Do you have any further questions about any of the account set-ups? Don't hesitate to contact us we'd be happy to help via our social medias or leave a comment below in the comment section.
