Creating An Effective Twitter Profile

You may have noticed that when it comes to creating a profile for your small business brand the social media sites don’t give  you a lot of characters to play with do they?

So it’s important that you take time to create something which will capture your brand.  If you have read my earlier posts you may recall me talking about the need to have a single sentence that conveys what your business is about. Let’s take a look at how you can maximise the opportunity that the social media site profile offers for building your brand online.  I am going to focus on Twitter but the same guidelines apply on the other sites.

When you first create Twitter account, one of the first things you are offered the opportunity to do is to create a profile. Your profile is going to be the only thing that potential followers are going to know about you and will often be the thing that encourages them to follow you.

So you want to make sure that you take the time to develop an effective profile and not just stick in the first thing that occurs to you! Of course if you already have profiles on other sites you can copy or adapt them to suit Twitter or whichever site you are creating an account on. But each time you create a new account somewhere it’s an opportunity to review your existing profiles to ensure they are as great as they could be.

Let’s take a look at the various things that make up your profile.

Your Picture or Avatar

Your avatar is the picture that will show each time you tweet. It’s important that your avatar is of a good quality. You shouldn’t use images that are either grainy or out of focus. Remember that there are many millions of users on Twitter so you want your avatar to stand out. Make sure that it isn’t overly busy or cluttered, nor should it be overly simple which means that whilst you might love the default Twitter Egg it’s a definite no-no! Try using a a simple image but one that stands out. Again if you have accounts on multiple sites then ensure that they all show the same image so that your current and potential customers recognise your business wherever they come across you.

If you have a clear and uncluttered business logo or image then you may want to use that. However, remember that Twitter and indeed the other social media sites are about making a “human connection” or “person to person connection.” So on that basis many people, including me, recommend that for a small business in particular your avatar should be a picture of your face. It then gives your followers a sense of connecting with someone rather than a faceless business.

Your Profile Information

So let’s now take a look at your profile information. This covers both the information that it contains and the visual impact.

Visual Impact

You will want to customize the background on your Twitter page through the design area within setting. To start with you will want to choose colors which are consistent with your business branding. However, I would recommend that you ask the people who have designed your website or other branding elements to design a simple  background that matches your branding more precisely. As customers or potential customers we are used to being able to spot a business that we know through their branding. So you want to make it easy for them don’t you?

Completing The Profile Information

This is where you will need to ensure that you are targeted and clear. This is what potential followers will see when they look at you on Twitter. You therefore need it to say a lot in just a few characters. Make sure to choose your words carefully so that they have an impact. Don’t use boring clichés, tell people how old you are, tell them your cat’s name or other trivia which has nothing to do with your business. But instead aim to make it unique, succinct, and compelling so that people want to know more about your business and what you do.

If you already have a profile on Twitter or indeed any of the social media sites could you make it even more effective?  Now is the time to go and make the change!