By now everyone knows that to have a successful online marketing strategy you need social media pages dedicated to your business or brand. However, not all pages are created equal. Have you ever gone on to a business social media site and really felt like they put together a great page? I can tell you first hand that this effort plays a big role in overall success. Below primarily talks about Facebook and Twitter as example social media platforms, but remember that you can apply these concepts to whatever relevant social pages your business works with.
Before You Get Started
Before we dive in to the critical features of your social page design, there are a couple of things you need to keep in mind. First, if you are a new business and have not yet had graphic work done for your company (logo, website design, promotional pictures, etc.) then you want to go work on that before you work on this. Those virtual materials will be essential in designing your social media pages. In fact, if you are just starting out and need to develop a social media marketing plan, take a break from this article and check out our social media marketing company to help you create more of an overall strategy for social first before diving into the tips mentioned below.
If you are not just recently starting up and you have this set in place (and you are happy with the way that they look and represent your company), then you’re ready to go.
Extra: Also keep in mind that if you ever want to use photos on any of your webpages that are not directly created by your business or you do not have the rights to them, then you should not post them (it’s actually illegal). If you want to use any photos of generic things, scenes, or people you can buy the rights to use them on a stock photo site such as Shutterstockor one of my personal favorites, 123RF.
Keeping that in mind, let’s cover five key features to a successful business social media page:
1. The Banner Photo
The banner photo is literally one of the first things that people see when they land on your social media page. However, it is also used in other parts of certain platforms. For example when users scroll over the name of your business in a comment or on a post you make, they are also going to see your Facebook banner (see the screenshot below):
So not only does the banner photo you choose impact your actual page, it follows you around wherever you post (so-to-speak). Of course, you also want it to look good on your actual page as well. This means that you want something that contrasts well with your profile picture. I personally like what the Chicago Blackhawks have going on with their page:
Here are some things to keep in mind when you are choosing a banner for your page:
- As always, choose something relevant to your brand or business
- Make sure it compliments/contrasts well with your profile picture (more on that next)
- Make sure that it looks good both on desktop AND mobile—banners can look different on mobile devices, and you want to make sure it is sharp on any device!
- Make sure the image is high quality, no one likes a pixel-ly banner
Also don’t forget that when it comes to a banner image, change is good. Shake things up by changing the photo from time to time. You want to remain consistent, but a banner photo is a great place to make small changes to keep viewers engaged.
2. Your Profile Photo
This section is going to be short and sweet. In most, if not all cases I can think of, your profile picture is best served as your business logo. There may be exceptional times if you are trying to promote a big event (and thus want to post the flyer as your photo), or if there is a social movement that is going viral on Facebook and you want to support it. Other than that it is better to always have your logo as your primary picture. Remember every time you post, that is what people are going to see. You want them to be able to tell it is your company or brand with just a glance.
3. Page Information
You want to give people that visit your social media site all of the information they would find on your website in an “about us” section, but condensed. Both Facebook and Twitter (as well as other social platforms) provide a space for you to write a short bio, link a website, and provide your location. While Facebook will actually post a map of your location in the overview section, Twitter at least lets you post your general city and zip so that people can more easily find your location. On the left hand side you can see the location and main website on Twitter:
On Facebook, the Overview page shows a map of your location, along with the address, phone number, and website. On the “page info” tab directly below it you can see a lot more detailed information as well.
4. “Shop Now”
If you are an e-commerce site, I cannot stress this new Facebook feature enough. This new design feature gives your visitors a call to action button right on the banner section of your page. Note in the example below, Nike has a “shop now” button embedded on their banner that directly links to their retail site. This is both convenient for customers and smart for your business. If people visit your page because of a post or referral from another user, you want to make it as easy as possible for them to show with you and visit your full business site. So as Nike would say, “Just Do It”, add that ‘shop now’ button to your page, which you can learn more abouthere.
5. Get Creative
One of the best things that you can do when considering how to design your social media pages is to get as creative as possible. Do you have graphic design content or video content that you have really wanted to utilize? Creative graphic pieces can serve for wonderful banners or promotional photos to make into posts so that when users use their infinite scroll on your page it is as colorful and interesting as possible. As I was looking around at business sites, I also saw that many successful pages are now embedding promotional videos into their “about” section that is visible on the main page. Notice Nike does this nicely with their website just below.
The Takeaway
There are a lot of different ways to approach designing your social media pages. Make sure it is creative and that all of the visual elements (and wording for that matter) that you use are your own. If there is one thing that seems to be very consistent across beautiful designed social media pages, it is definitely having the logo present as a profile picture, along with an eye-catching banner. Successful pages also make good use of the information spaces they are provided. Remember that social media sites are putting out new features all of the time, like the “shop now” e-commerce feature, so stay on top of trends so that you can take full advantage of what is available to you.
Do you have ay thoughts on social media page design? Are there any “don’ts” that should be mentioned? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
from Darlene Milligan http://ift.tt/1MrP9qt via transformational marketing
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/1O84BdT
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