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Increasing LinkedIn Engagement and Credibility with Endorsements and Recommendations

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17Jul
LinkedIn, Uncategorized

A large part of LinkedIn has to do with your reputation and how you are viewed by not only your peers, but also the masses at large.  Credibility and visibility are two other factors that, when paired with a solid reputation, can make for not only a killer LinkedIn profile – but also a more successful LinkedIn marketing campaign.

Two elements that help you elevate your LinkedIn reputation are endorsements and recommendations.  Here I want to give you a quick overview of these two topics and show how they can help you build your reputation on LinkedIn.

The first thing you need to do is create a list.  I know, I am always telling you to create lists, but this is the best way to move quickly through certain social media marketing functions such as this.  Your list should be made up of two categories: peers/influencers in your target area as well as those who can recommend you, your work, your company’s work.

On this list, make sure to have the person’s full name (first and last) and their current email address.

Now let’s move onto the endorsements and recommendations:

Endorsements:  One of the newer features of LinkedIn, endorsements allow you to go to a person’s profile and “Endorse” or vet them for certain skills (and vice versa).  So for example, if you go to my profile on LinkedIn here the first thing that you will see is a large blue box above my profile that says “Does Christopher have these skills or expertise?”  From this list, you can select all of them, click the x to remove, or type in another area of expertise.  When you have made your selection, click the “Endorse” button.  This will immediately let that person know that you have given them a thumbs up about their skill set.

Now, using your list, search and locate peers and/or influencers (as well as potential clients) that you wish to get in front of, visit their profiles and endorse them.  Has someone endorsed your skills?  Send them a thank you!  This is a great tool to build credibility on your profile and to begin engaging with people you normally wouldn’t.

Recommendations:  These are more familiar to LinkedIn users as they have been around since the beginning of LinkedIn.  The most straight-forward explanation of these are that recommendations are testimonials you are able to post to your public or private LinkedIn profile.  You can see how they appear by visiting my profile above and scrolling down through my experience.

Obviously, having a testimonial on your profile looks great – but why should you recommend others?

So that your picture, words and links are visible on others people’s profiles!  Just think if their profile is viewed 100 times more than yours and your testimonial and profile link are visible on their page….pretty powerful right?  While it can be a bit tough and time consuming, recommending pays off.

My only rule?  Don’t ask or write recommendations for ANYONE that you do not know or haven’t worked with.

To get started, click on Profile, then Recommendations.  This will bring you to the main recommendations page where you will be able to manage your recommendations, request recommendations and make recommendations.  This is where your list comes in handy.  Make sure that if you are going to make or request a recommendation, you choose the right relationship from the list provided.  And off you go!  All recommendations are reviewed before they are posted live, so do not worry about anything being posted that you are not aware of.

——–

These two functions, while a little tricky, can be a great way for you to not only get in front of those decision makers you are so eager to meet, but they also give you the power to pop up everywhere on LinkedIn, thus increasing your visibility!

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Is Hootsuite Right For My Business?

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16Jul
Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Marketing, Social Media, Twitter, Uncategorized

For many of you marketing your businesses on social media, you know there are many other tools you can utilize to effectively keep on top of your daily social media marketing commitments.

Third-party tools are available for free, or a small charge, and can help you do everything from schedule posts to find influential people to connect and engage with.

Hootsuite is one such tool and can be an asset to your social media marketing strategy.  But first thing, first: you need to have a social media marketing strategy in order to get the most out of Hootsuite.  My disclaimer here is that before you begin using third-party tools, you have a clear idea of the capabilities of the social media sites (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+) you want to use for marketing purposes and what sorts of activities are going to make up your overall strategy.

Having these elements clearly presented will allow you to not only look at Hootsuite more analytically, but it will also help you get the hang of it quickly.

Here are some reasons why Hootsuite could be good for your marketing strategy…..does this sound like you?:

  • “It is impossible to keep up with posting daily updates to our social media profiles!”  This is definitely one of the areas where Hootsuite excels as you are able to schedule your posts to go out on your chosen social media networks whenever you want.  It allows you to do both the date and time, allowing you with lots of flexibility.  I am not saying that social media marketing all comes down to scheduling posts to go out via Hootsuite and waiting for the wonderful results to roll in.  Scheduling posts helps you stay consistent when you have to travel, have a busy week ahead, lost a member of staff, or even if you are just starting out and need to use a bulk of your time researching your new social networks.  Scheduling really can be a help at these times.
  • “My company has 4 social media accounts, how can I keep up with that?”  You are able to add multiple social networks to Hootsuite and manage your accounts from one place.  While it doesn’t take the place of on-site visits and daily check-ins with your audience, it is wonderful to be able to post and see the news feeds for each of your networks added.
  • “I have no idea how many people are clicking my links!”  There is a reporting area on Hootsuite which will track links from the accounts you specify.  Then a report will be generated and emailed to you showing how many total clicks your links received as well as which links were clicked.  Of course, it will only track the links that you schedule through Hootsuite, but still it is handy to check and track the effectiveness of your campaign!
  • “I want to share things instantly or I’ll forget to do it later!”   There is a wonderful plugin for Hootsuite called Hootlet.  Once installed into your internet browser bar, when you are reading a story online that you want to share with your audience, you simply click the Hootlet button and a popup window will appear with the link shortened and a title.  Just customize this as needed and share instantly….or schedule it to go out later.  Another great way to share your knowledge in real time.
  • “I want to get my email blasts in front of more people!” Currently there are free plugins that Hootsuite provides supporting Mail Chimp and Constant Contact that enable you to share your email blasts with your social networks by a click of the button.  A great way to get that email blast to go the extra mile and increase your exposure by the size of your network reach.  This is one of the lesser important functions, but there are many other plugins that you will want to explore that can support other areas of your online marketing plan.

While Hootsuite has many wonderful features, there is no tool out there that does everything.  Hootsuite is best utilized as a tool in your social media toolbox.  Using Hootsuite does not mean that you will never have to log into Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+ to interact with your audience, answer questions, post discussions and build your network.  Social media marketing is not down to one solution, but having good solid tools in your toolbox makes it all the more simpler!

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What You Need to Ask Before Outsourcing Your Social Media Marketing Campaign

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15Jul
Facebook, LinkedIn, Marketing, Pinterest, Social Media, Twitter, Uncategorized

(This blog has been reprinted courtesy of Doctor’s Life Magazine CLICK HERE TO VIEW IT ONLINE).

In my last two installments of “Your Social Media Prescription” we discussed “Social Media 101” – getting your online marketing efforts up and running, and “The Cost of Social Media” – showing you the pros and cons, as well as the true costs associated with social media’s ‘free’ usage.

In this issue, we’ll discuss what you need to know if you decide to refer your social media marketing campaign to an outside provider!

As in your practice, there are several reasons that you may refer to a trusted specialist. Sometimes you need a second opinion. Other times the needs of your patient may fall outside of your scope of practice.  Maybe you may not be taking on new patients at the time, so you look to other professionals to help out, or take over those tasks.

The same may be true for your social media marketing. If you are finding that you, or the person that handles your social media in the office:

•    logs into your Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter account and just doesn’t know what to say several times a day, or…
•     scratches their head trying to figure out how to get your current and potential patients and referral sources engaged, knocking on your door or calling for appointments…
…then you may need to outsource! This is exactly what social media marketing firms do! Not only that, but a properly executed campaign:
•    puts you on the leading edge ahead of your competition;
•    highlights your expertise in the field; and,
•    places you in direct communication with other thought leaders – giving your practice a wonderful boost!

Think about it another way, if you wanted to create a TV commercial, billboard or print ad, you wouldn’t try to do the entire thing in your office, would you? You would hire the experts to listen to your ideas and goals, and then using their expertise – allow them to come up with a campaign that you will love! Social media is no different.

With that being said, use caution! Obviously, as in any business, not everyone out there that claims to be an expert in the field always is. To avoid wasting time, money and getting a bad taste for social media in general, there are several questions you must ask when choosing a firm to represent your social media marketing campaign. Don’t trust this public relations, brand awareness and relationship-building effort to just anyone. Make sure that they know what they’re doing, have a proven history of success, and that their own reputation, platforms and online following are in line with what you would like for your own.

You need to protect your reputation and to help you do so, we’ve provided 12 questions you may want to ask a potential social media marketing partner…

1.    First, look at their online profiles (the links should be available on their website). Do they have at least daily activity on each channel of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.? Do they have a decent number of followers? Is their brand aligned with the services that THEY provide? Once you get this data, bring it to their doorstep and ask them about the infrequency/frequency of their posts and the quality – will this be what you are going to do for us?
2.     Ask what sets their company a part from other social media marketing firms?
3.    Do they work with medical or healthcare related clients now (or in the recent past)?
4.    Do they know how to deal/work with the healthcare industry, including rules and regulations, patient privacy and HIPAA, to name a few?
5.    Will you be allowed to view and approve all final work before it’s sent out to your audience?
6.    Is all of their work done in-house, or do they work with partners during the delivery process?
7.    How much of the marketing work on the accounts is automated? Can they give you a percentage?
8.    How many people will be working on your account and have access to your passwords?
9.    Will they be monitoring your brand through the social media channels they are using?
10.     Will they share 3-5 past/current clients that you can speak with about their services?
11.     Will you have access to your account(s) during and after the campaign?
12.    What happens to your campaign if you stop working with them? Who owns it?

These questions should get you off to a great start. Obviously you want to also ask questions about the campaigns (and how they work), but the questions above should enable you to figure out how credible that potential partner is. Remember – go with your gut. Choose someone you trust or have a good feeling about. If you have distinct reservations, beware.

Remember, social media marketing campaigns can be extremely beneficial in getting the word out about you, your brand, your services and your ‘WOW’ factor!
Should you have any questions about why the above points are important to ask, or have any other questions – be sure to give us a call or send us an email!

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Twitter Lists: How to Create and Populate Them

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11Jul
Social Media, Twitter, Uncategorized

One of the best features of Twitter, but little used by Twitter newcomers, is the Twitter Lists function.  If you want to get the most out of this popular site, this is a great way to target your marketing efforts while shaving valuable time off of your daily onsite work.

Before you create your list – you need to figure out what the list will be all about.   This is where the planning comes in.  How would you like to use your list?  Some of the most popular way to use lists is for prospecting, following power users, keeping abreast on a specific topic or keeping tabs on the competition.  Whatever you choose, create your list accordingly and then start adding members.

Creating your first list is simple.  Here’s what you will need to do:

  1. Login to Twitter
  2. Click on the “Me” button on the top black tab
  3. Then on the menu on the left, click “Lists”
  4. On the right, you will now see the main Lists page.  It will show you the Lists you are Subscribed to and the Lists that you are a Member of.  Next to that, you will see a button that says “Create List”.  Click this.
  5. This will pop up a little window where you can create your new list.  First name your list.  Here you want to choose an identifying name that will help you quickly reference the list.
  6. Then write a description.  Here you want to describe what the list contains in 100 characters or less.
  7. Then choose if you would like to make your list Public or Private.  Basically, if you do not want ANYONE to see the list, keep it Private.  But if you are creating the list so that its members know they have been added, keep it Public.
  8. Click Save list.

Now….you need to start adding people to the list.  This is fairly simple as well.  While logged into Twitter, find the person that you want to add to the list and go to either their main page or profile summary.  There you will see a little button with the outline of a person.  Click on this button and a dropdown menu will appear.  Choose “Add or remove from lists…” and a window will pop up where you “Include @person in:” the list of your choice.  Tick the box next to the list that you would like to add them to and click the x on the top right to save and close.  Then…move onto the next person!

If you ever want to reference your lists at anytime, repeat steps 1-4.

Happy List making!

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What the Tweet?! A Quick Rundown of Twitter Terminology

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9Jul
Social Media, Twitter, Uncategorized

If you are new to Twitter, you will understand almost instantly that the Twitterverse has its own language and lingo.  Even the fact that I used “Twitterverse” in that first sentence speaks volumes about the learning curve for newbies.

To help you climb this terminology mountain, my team and I have assembled a quick glossary of the most used and important Twitter terms that you should come to terms with as you navigate your way through Twitter.

Tweet(s):  This is the Twitter version of a status update.  They must be no longer than 140 characters in length. So concise and impactful is what you are after.

Follow:  This is the act of connecting with someone on Twitter.  Once you “follow” someone, their tweets will appear in your main Twitter feed.

Followers: These are all of the people that are following you and get your tweets hot off of the press.

Unfollow:  This is the act of removing a person as a Twitter connection.  You physically go to their account and click “Unfollow” and will no longer receive their tweets and in turn they will no longer be able to send you Direct Messages (DMs).

Interactions:  This term is used to define any interaction anyone has with your account and covers, follows, mentions, retweets and favorites.

RT or Retweet:  This term is used to define the art of sharing someone’s tweet.  So if you choose to share one of my tweets, you RT it to your audience from your Twitter account.  (Example: “RT @chrisgoagency What is the best time to Tweet in your opinion?”)

Embed a Tweet:  This is if you want to add a Tweet directly to your blog or online site.  When you click on this (next to the original tweet), Twitter will reveal the code that you need to add it to your site.

Favorites:  This is when you or someone else bookmarks a tweet for reference later or shows support for a tweet.  There is a button on Twitter next to tweets that enable you to do this and when you favorite a tweet, a Star symbol appears next to the Tweet. All of these can be viewed in the “Favorites” section of your “Me” page.

#:  This is a hashtag and is used to categorize your tweet and is usually attached to a keyword (for example, #socialmedia or #medicare)

@:  The at symbol is used to hyperlink your tweet to another users profile.  Meaning that if you type “Great radio show @chrisgoagency, will be listening more! #socialmedia”  this tweet will not only appear on your feed, but also on the chrisgoagency feed.  The @chrisgoagency will be clickable directly to chrisgoagency’s profile.  If your account is the one with the @ in front of your username, this is called a MENTION.

Reply:  This is responding to a tweet that has been sent to you publicly in the main feed.

DM or Direct Message:  This is a private message sent between you and one of your followers.  These cannot be sent to you if you are not following the other person, and you cannot send a DM to a person if they are not following you first.

FF or #FF:  This literally means “Follow Friday” and is a regular occurrence on Twitter where a user thanks all of their best tweeters.  They usually look like this “Thanks to all my great tweeters this week @chrisgoagency @thegoagency @agingcarefl #FF.”  This gives them all a public shout-out on your profile and links it to their Twitter feed.

Avatar:  Your profile picture that appears next to all of your outgoing Tweets.

Geotagging:  This is a function on Twitter that allows you to add location to your tweets.  If you like people to know that you are a globetrotter or constantly traveling to different cities, this would be a great function to use.  But if you like to keep it private, don’t.

Lists:  These are basically a user-created group of people that are all connected in some way to a specific topic.  These can be broad or uber specific, depending on the user’s purpose.  These are a great way to keep a group of people together for quick reference.  (For Example the list can be of “Social Media Marketers” or more specific with “Social Media Marketers Florida”).  You can create a list, subscribe to a list, or be a member of a list.

Activity:  This refers to a page in the #Discover section where you can see all of the activity of members of your network.

Trends:  This is a box that appears on nearly every page and refers to what the top hashtags and topics are on the ENTIRE Twitterverse at that moment and are constantly updated.

Blocking:  This is the act of preventing someone from being able to connect with your account and see your tweets/content.  You can do this by visiting the person’s profile and removing them.

Report for Spam:  To be used sparringly, this is tagging an account for harmful or obscene content.  This should be used if the account is sending you endless promotions, sexual material or other offensive unsolicited tweets or DMs.

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“Hey, Your Links Aren’t Working!” – How to Avoid This and Other Social Media Pitfalls

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8Jul
Facebook, LinkedIn, Marketing, Pinterest, Social Media, Twitter, Uncategorized

There is nothing worse than being called out by your target audience for a broken link, mis-spelling or grammatical mistake on one of your social media updates or profiles.  The obvious way to avoid this would be to proof-read and double check all of the links and content before you post.

But what happens when some of the changes are out of your control?

This is commonplace in the ever changing world of social media marketing.  Sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are constantly evolving and enhancing their onsite offerings.  To stay competitive, each of these sites is in a constant state of change and improvement.  While this is good news to users, if you are a passive social media marketer (like many businesses out there), you can put yourself at risk of looking out of date and unprofessional.

In order to keep your branding and content looking top-notch, at LEAST once a month, run the following check on all of your social media profiles.  Depending on your content it could take a little while, but it is very much worth it.  Just think of how many business pages on Facebook that you have seen without a cover image.  This is because these companies STILL don’t know that Facebook has changed into the “Timeline” layout.  Even more embarrassing?  Some of these companies are multi-million dollar juggernauts!

Here are my top suggestions for places to check when auditing your social media accounts each month/week:

1.  Layout:  Each of these sites has gone through major layout overhauls during the past year.  So if you are reading this, have profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, AND haven’t logged in during the past year…log in immediately!  Look at how your public profile appears to your target market.  Remember, having a profile is more than just creating it and waiting for people to come.  You need to keep it current.  If you are not updating it, that doesn’t mean that people are not going to find your inactive page when searching.  Make sure that your branding is on point, as well as your pictures, video and other branded elements.  Ensure the logo and images you are using are aligned with what your company is currently utilizing for promotion.

2.  Links:  This is a big one as well.  Many sites have been switching up how they use links, and this can result in links being broken.  So painstakingly go through each of the hyperlinks in your profile, click on them, and ensure they are going to the correct corresponding location.  If not, update, remove or replace.  Also, perhaps you have added a landing page or another online profile since your last update.  Add these while you are checking through your profiles.

3.  Content Display:  This is another important one.  So many people are trying their hand at using third party posting tools, but never check to see how these tools actually posted to their profile(s).  Sometimes these tools have an issue with site permissions and NEVER post your content.  We have seen prospective clients complain about not getting any traction on social media, when in the past 30 days nothing they sent out via their Hootsuite account was posted.  So go through your profiles to see if the content was posted, if the links work, if the right picture or video was shown and if the description was accurate.  Then you can refine your postings going forward.

4.  Spelling/Grammar:  This is a no-brainer, but you should do a quick run-through of your description.  While you may have already done this before, writing your description once and never changing it doesn’t make sense.  What if you win awards, get press coverage, add products, add services, change your operating basis, etc?  All of these need to be updated when you do your audits.  If you make sure to look at these at least once a month, you can constantly tweak them so that they are 100% current and reflective of where your company currently is. Also, if you have a few people posting comments and replies, make sure that they have mastered that art of spelling and grammar.

5. Comments/Likes/Shares:  Many busy marketers use email updates to let them know that someone interacted with their social media profiles.  The only problem?  These emails don’t always cover everything.  Go into your profile and look through your updates, discussions and tweets to see if you have missed any interaction points.  After all, this is why you are doing social media marketing in the first place!  These interaction points are gold.

6.  Inbox:  One of the forgotten aspects of Facebook and LinkedIn is checking your inbox (and with Twitter, your Direct Messages or DMs).  This is another case of waiting for a message that never comes.  Sometimes setting the message settings on your social media accounts (like above) can be tricky.  So double check your inboxes (and DM inbox) to make sure that you haven’t missed any communications. If you have, consult the email settings on the corresponding social media site to ensure you are able to get all of the communications you want to follow.  I’ve seen people miss opportunities due to the lack of focus on keeping current with their inboxes.

These 6 ports of call are helpful in not only keeping you current and your branding on-point, but also in helping you see where you need to spend a bit more time going forward.  One glaring point is where the email updates are concerned, and this is something that you need to keep track of.

This process is much simpler when you have a consistent social media marketing schedule, and more difficult if you don’t even have time to login to Facebook even twice a week.  If you want to be effective on social media and do not have the time, consider outsourcing this work to a professional firm or agency that specializes in social media marketing for businesses.  Your reputation is too important to risk, and if you take your eye off of the ball – the only thing to get tarnished is your valuable professional reputation.

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Using Advanced Searches on LinkedIn: 7 Areas of Focus

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3Jul
LinkedIn, Social Media, Uncategorized

As you get more familiar with social media marketing, you will find that you want to find new and exciting ways of finding information – in a quick and easy fashion.  Beyond this, you want to be able to find the EXACT results you are searching for, not a bunch of unrelated information.  Of all of the social media sites, I find the search engine on LinkedIn the most robust and accurate.

But what should you search for?

The answer is, it depends on what you are after.  To best explain, first I want to show you how to get to this search screen we are going to discuss here.  Once you login to your LinkedIn account, you will see a white search bar with a magnifying glass on the status bar towards the top.  Leave the box blank and click on the magnifying glass.  This will take you to the Search screen and all of its options.

Now that you are there, let me explain the different basic search categories that you can choose to search with:

1.  All:  quite simply, this searches all search criteria (People, Jobs, Companies, Groups, Updates and Inbox).  This is the broadest search and many times can turn up mostly jobs on the first few pages.  If you want to dive in deeper to this search, you can use the left column which will give you more advanced criteria to refine your search such as Relationship, Company, Location, Date Posted, Salary, Job Function, Industry and Experience Level.

2.  People: this searches everyone on LinkedIn and is the most powerful search if you are prospecting or looking for specific people to link up with.  This also comes with more advanced options such as Relationship, Location, Current company, Industry, Past Company, School, Profile Language, Groups, Years of Experience, Function, Seniority Level, Interested In, Company Size, Fortune and When Joined. If you click on “Advanced” right under the word “Search” near the top left corner of the page – all of these options will open up in a more easy to use box.

3.  Jobs: this category will enable you to search all of the available vacancies that are posted on LinkedIn by companies and recruiters.  It will give you the option of refining your search in many ways.  Refining your search in this category is very important, as there are a plethora of jobs posted on LinkedIn, so if you are job searching you want to be as exact as you can.  The extra search refining options are Keywords, Company, Title, Location, Country, Postal Code, Relationship, Date Posted, Salary, Job Function, Industry and Experience Level.  If you click on “Advanced” right under the word “Search” near the top left corner of the page – all of these options will open up in a more easy to use box (similar to that you will find under the “People” category).

4.  Companies: the Companies category will enable you to search all of the REGISTERED companies on LinkedIn, which means all of these companies have corresponding LinkedIn Company Pages.  The advanced search section here allows you to filter by Relationship, Location, Job Opportunities, Industry, Company Size, Number of Followers and Fortune.

5.  Groups: this is a search that I have taken you through on a couple of previous posts.  Here you will be able to find the memberships groups available on LinkedIn that pertain to your search criteria.  You will be able to refine your search through Relationship, Categories and Languages.

6.  Updates: this is a terrific, and little used, search by newcomers to LinkedIn.  This allows you to search all of the status updates that are made on LinkedIn.  These include  profile updates and status updates. This gives you refining criteria such as Network, Company, Location, Industry, Time, School, Group, Topics, Seniority and Update Type.

7.  Inbox:  this is the final area where you are able to search on LinkedIn in this section.  This will enable you to search your inbox for any messages that are relevant to your search term.

And finally one last search tip: when you are using the LinkedIn search function, use it the same as you would Google, Bing or any other search engine.  So, with that in mind,  if you search for social media Florida, you will get the results for each of the key terms (social, media, Florida).  But if you type in “social media Florida” or social+media+Florida – you will get EXACT results in any category.  This will help laser focus your search.

Happy searching folks and if you have any questions – fill in the form below and I will cover them in a future post!

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“Ugh! How Do I Change My Twitter Settings?!” We’ve Got You Covered…

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2Jul
Social Media, Twitter, Uncategorized

Once you have created your Twitter account and tried your hand at branding your profile picture, cover image and background – you will need to come to terms with the administration panel on the backend of your Twitter account.

While the words “backend” and “admin panel” can make be a bit off putting, in reality it is very straightforward.

Your admin settings can be found by clicking the cog icon on the top bar, next to the bright blue box.  This will give you a drop down menu of options, click on “Settings”.

This will bring you to the main settings screen of your admin panel.  If you have read my piece on making sense of your Facebook admin panel, you will see it Twitter’s is very similar in format.  The tabs for the different pages run down the left hand side and when you click on them, the right hand side of the page will show the content for that page.  Now let’s go through what you need to pay attention to in each of these tabs and what they mean to your marketing your business on Twitter:

*Account:  This tab shows all of the baseline information on how your account is setup.  Here you can change your username (if you choose to do so at anytime), change your email, and choose the settings for how your tweets and account will be viewed at large.  My advice here is to check if your information is correct, add the correct language and timezone.  The other settings have to do with personalization and privacy.  Each of these settings are very self explanatory – so read through them and set up your account accordingly.  Also here, you will be able to “Request your archive” – this can be very useful down the road if you want to have a full record of the tweets that you have put out on Twitter.   Once you are done, click “Save Changes”.

*Password:  This tab simply allows you to change and update your password.  This is handy if you need to increase security at anytime.

*Mobile: Do you want to enable Twitter to be used on your mobile phone?  Click this tab and enter your phone number.  Only downside is that every time it alerts you, you will be charged for a text if used OUTSIDE of an application – so keep that in mind!  My suggestion is to not use this feature and download an approved or highly rated Twitter app to your mobile device/phone and use that to Tweet….free of charge!

*Email notifications: This tab will enable you to decide what information Twitter will keep you up to date on via email.  Choose wisely – as if you choose all of these options, you could be receiving emails from Twitter constantly….to an annoying level.  Keep the noise to a minimum by only choosing a few options and changing them as you go.

*Profile: We discussed this tab previously when we spoke about branding on Twitter.  Here you will be able to change your Profile Image, Header, Name, Location and Bio.  So if at anytime you need to update these aspects, this is where you would do it.  Also, you are able to connect Twitter to Facebook here.  Use this feature with caution, as in time it can be a bit off putting to your Facebook audience as your content may look like Tweets, rather than status updates.

*Design: We spoke about this section in detail in the branding yourself on Twitter article as well.  Here is where you will be able to change your background and link color on Twitter.

*Apps: Very simply, this tab shows you all of the third party applications that you have allowed to access your Twitter account.  In layman’s terms, if you are using Hootsuite to send out tweets, it will appear on this list.  Also, if you login to Pinterest using Twitter – Pinterest will appear in this list.  My top tip is to check in with this page every so often and “Revoke access” to any application that you are no longer using.  This will keep your account safe from hackers and spam.

*Widgets: Have you ever seen a Twitter box showing a company’s Twitter feed on their website?  Chances are that it could have been created here in the Twitter Widget page.  Simply add the information that you would like to add to the widget and click “Create widget” – and there you are.  In this step you will need someone with website design expertise in order to have the widget integrated into your website.

These 8 tabs will help you manage your Twitter settings so that you account is full branded, up to date and safe.  These are all important factors because of the speed of Twitter.

Take a moment now to login to your Twitter account and review the “Settings” administration page.  Going through it once and understanding what your options are is powerful and will help you easily manage these functions of your Twitter account effectively in the future.

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Twitter Branding Setup: How to Create Unique Branded Visuals on Twitter

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1Jul
Social Media, Twitter, Uncategorized

In may last post I shared with you the best ways to first setup your Twitter account – including registering your first account, choosing your unique username, filling in your bio and authenticating your account with your email address.

Now I want to move onto the next topic: getting your branding and visuals in order.

When you first go to do this, you will quickly see that the parameters for the design aspects of your profile are not always straight-forward on Twitter.

Here I want to explain three aspects to you, one old and two new, that will help you adequately brand your business’s Twitter account.

1.  Profile Picture: This is extremely important in order to brand yourself on Twitter.  Your Profile Picture is found in the Settings-Profile section of your account.  This will be the avatar that shows up next to EVERYTHING you do on Twitter – so make sure  it looks good, is easy to read and of a high-resolution.  You should make sure that your Profile Picture is your logo and is 81 x 81 pixels in dimension.  Using the design program of your choice, I would suggest opening a blank design doc within these dimensions and importing your logo into this file – and then get creative.  As you can see from the dimensions above, it is a perfect square – so if you have a rectangular logo you will either need to “stack” it or use your brand image, but only if it is well known enough to be instantly recognizable. Stacking a logo is not a bad idea, especially if you are new to the Twitter world.  Remember: this is not set in stone and can change later as you grow on Twitter.

2.  Header Image: Also found in your Settings-Profile section of your Twitter account, this is yet another way for you to properly brand yourself on Twitter.  The dimensions of this image are 520 x 260 pixels.  This image will lay beneath your Profile Picture AND your bio, so do not have it laden with sentences, weblinks, or any text in general.  I would suggest choosing an arresting image from your Website or branding collateral and add it there.  My top tip would be using the main image from the homepage of your website.  If you do not have access to this image, use a free tool such as Skitch to take a high resolution screen snap and add it up.  It is very easy to change as well – simply click on “Change header”, then “Upload photo” – size it to your tastes and there you go!

3.  Background Image: This is the tricky one out of the bunch.  Creating your own custom Twitter background can be challenging, especially if you are not a design genius.  There are many firms and designers out there that carry this service (such as The Go! Agency) so if you are not a design wizard, you may want to choose one of them to save time.

You are able to change the background of your Twitter account by going to Settings – Design.  You will see that Twitter provides you with over 15 different  pre-made background themes.  The only problem?  With millions of Twitter users, the chances are that millions of people are using these themes – so no point of differentiation for your business.  Twitter also offers you the option of using Themeleon – which is a free service that connects with your Twitter account and allows you to try your hand at design.  If you want to go for a more intense design (such as the ones that we do) you can search the internet for “Twitter background template” and there should be many free templates that you can use to try your hand at design.  Whenever you choose your design, click “Change background”, then “Choose existing image” and then click your alignment of choice (which depends on the file).  If after uploading you wanted to tile your image, check the box under your upload that says “Tile background.”  I think that this can work is some cases, but can look a bit quick and nasty if not done correctly.

Also, while you are on this page, there is a box under Background position that says “Link color”.  I would suggest changing the preset Link color to one of your branded colors.  As you can see from the account above, our key color is green – so our links appear green.  You can do this simply from clicking the preset color and mousing over to your color (or if you know the HTML color code, simply type it in the box next to the color).  Click “Save changes” and you are done!

While branding your Twitter account can be a little tricky (especially when deciding on a background) it is important to be able to carry over the imagery, message, and branding of all of your marketing collateral – especially your website.  With all of your social media profiles, you need to be consistent so that your audience never feels confused when they move from your social media profiles to your online points of sale.

Happy branding!  Up next: your Twitter admin panel and how to use it properly.

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