If it’s any indication when Google initially launched their social network site, which is known as Google+, businesses of all sizes scrambled to participate in their service. For the majority of companies, having an active Social Media presence is now an absolute necessity.
Ever since the service was introduced, and although Google+ may have been dragging its feet just a little when it comes to businesses being able to create pages, getting a company page established on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter is extremely easy and beneficial.
Establishing Your Company Name On The Social Media Sites
When you initially attempt to register your actual business name on one of these social networking sites, most likely, especially if it’s a common name, you may find that it may already be taken.
Facebook along with Twitter both have an “appeal” process that you can turn to. This is if your company name has already been claimed. They will look into it, but offers no guarantees of recovery.
Previous businesses who’s been through the appeals process claims that Twitter is usually a little more lenient than Facebook. Facebook’s process is a little more stringent, where they may request for your trademark, while they’ll also do their own due diligence before they’ll consider that you can use that business name.
One thing you can try is asking the current page owner to hand over their Twitter or Facebook page, but be aware that they may want some type of payment in exchange for your own name, imagine that.
If everything else fails, you can always register a variation on your company’s name, provided it remains consistent. Having one company name on Facebook, and then a differentr one on Twitter will make it hard for your customers to find you.
Also, make sure that you prepare a company tagline on Facebook’s “About” section, a company description on LinkedIn, and a bio on Twitter. The text that you use should be a simple recognizable short description of what or who your company is or does and it should be consistent.
Provided it has the proper length, your existing tagline or slogan may just do the trick. Even if you’re attempting to project a bit of humor on your social media pages, it’s best to try keeping this text as short as possible and direct to the point. The content that you post should convey your tone while the description allows your visitors to know who you are.
Selecting The Proper Image
Although you should be keeping your logo as consistent as possible on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, you may also be required to make a few adjustments as well.
All three of these social media services will automatically re-size all of your images for you to fit their space. But with each of these re-sizes, it may slightly alter the dimensions.
For example, Twitter images are required to be perfectly square and will appear in different sizes such as 25 by 25 pixels, which may distort the image if your logo happens to have different proportions.
Getting Your Social Media Presence On Facebook
Creating your own page on Facebook may be a bit more tedious, but to most should be a fairly easy process. First, go to the Facebook Pages app and then click on the “Create A Page” button. Once there, you should find a list of options.
Depending on what your business does or what you’re wanting to promote, you can choose either the local business, corporation or the brand tab. After you’ve entered your Company name and your industry, Facebook will then prompt you to upload an image of your company. Facebook is unique in that they’ll allow images in a variety of sizes. Keep in mind that it’s always usually the best to use images with approximate square dimensions.
On Facebook, you should also use the customized vanity URL of your business such as facebook.com/nameofyourcompany (provided it’s still available). Once your page is created, then you can start sharing it with your clients, customers and friends.
Setting Up A LinkedIn Business Profile
Although creating a corporate page on LinkedIn may be a tad more complicated than Facebook, it’s still pretty much an easy-to-follow process, since the instructions will keep you on track.
One requirement when creating a LinkedIn business page however is that you’ll need to use an email address from a valid domain name which is associated with your company. Then it’s just a matter of going to LinkedIn’s “Add A Company” page and then following the easy on-screen instructions.
LinkedIn’s interface doesn’t quite flow like Facebook’s does, but the steps are pretty much similar for setting up a page, it’s just a bit more detailed. For example, rather than requiring just one image, LinkedIn will ask for several images with different dimensions. If your image is too large or not wide enough, LinkedIn will just automatically resize it.
Getting Started On Twitter
Twitter doesn’t offer specific corporate accounts, but you’re easily able to establish a valid Twitter account for your business by registering your company name.
All that’s required is an email address for verification purposes. Unlike Facebook or LinkedIn, you’re not required to enter as much information for creating your business Twitter account.
All that’s needed is an image and an username along with an 140-character bio of your company. Twitter also allows you to customize the background to your company’s colors. You’re able to use either the preset themes or upload your own image for the background. Make sure that you use subtle corporate colors instead of using your logo, which is usually smaller. This is because Twitter will tile the image background across the entire page.
You now have all of the major social media accounts set up and successfully running. What’s required now is regularly updating your content to attract as well as keep your followers.