With a new year comes new ideas, new products, new branding, and other exciting developments to your small business. It's a great opportunity to evolve or refresh your brand, and that means doing some housekeeping on social media.
You'll want to make sure you've optimized your social media bios, deleted any outdated content, and updated your images and branding as needed.
Keep reading for a New Year refresh guide for your Facebook business page, Instagram business account, and Twitter business page, as well as some general social media clean up tips.
Refresh your Facebook business page in the New Year
Your Facebook business page is one of the first ways potential new customers will learn about your small business, so you'll want to keep it up to date all year long. Do some clean up for your Facebook business page in order to start the New Year off with a fresh presence on social media.
If you don't yet have a one, now is the time to set up and optimize a Facebook business page for your small business.
Read on for ways to refresh your Facebook business page in the New Year.
Revisit your profile image on Facebook
Your profile image should always be up to date. If you've made some changes this past year, replace your profile image with the current version of your business logo or an up to date headshot.
Update your cover image on Facebook
This is the largest image at the top of your Facebook page. Update your cover image to a photo that is representative of your company for this upcoming year. A quality shot of your office, exterior building, or team would work just fine.
Update your "about" section, operating hours, and contact information
The about section on your Facebook business page is where potential customers will look to learn more about your business and to contact you. It's important to keep this section updated all year long, so it's worth revisiting on a regular basis. Make sure your business description and "story" is up to date, as well as your hours of operation and contact information.
Add a call to action button
A call to action button sits just under your cover photo on your Facebook business page. Add or change your action button so that it's relevant to your business. There are a bunch of different call to action button options, like "book now", "shop now", or "sign up".
Make sure you've set up a vanity URL
When you first set up your Facebook business page, Facebook assigns you a random combination of numbers and/or letters as your profile URL. It looks something like this: http://www.facebook.com/pages/your-brand-name/937492874291?ref=ts.
However, you can set up a "vanity URL" that is easier to navigate to and remember, like this: https://www.facebook.com/ripl/.
In order to do so, you'll need to claim your username and set up your vanity URL.
Check your content
Review the content you've posted over the past year and decide whether you'd like to keep it all. If there's something posted that's no longer relevant to your business heading into the New Year, consider deleting it.
Do a feed and follower clean up
The New Year is a great opportunity to do some clean up of your pages, groups, and what shows up in your feed.
If there are personal profiles or business profiles you no longer want updates from, unfollow them or unlike them. You can do this by searching for their page in the search bar and unfollowing them, or by finding them in your news feed and navigating to their page to unlike or unfollow them.
Think about what Facebook groups you're a part of. Leave any groups that are no longer relevant. You can do this by navigating to the group page, clicking the three dots at the top right of the group page, and choosing "unfollow group".
Consider cleaning up your follower list. Navigate to your Page Settings, then to "People and Other Pages", where you can find all the people and pages that like your page. From there, you can remove them from your page likes or ban them from your page.
Change or add a pinned Facebook post
Facebook allows you to "pin" one of your published posts to the top of your feed on your Facebook business profile. This is a good way to keep an important post at the top of your feed, even when you continue to publish new content. If you have an existing pinned Facebook post, determine whether you'd like to keep it pinned to the top of your feed or if you'd like to unpin it. Unpinning a pinned Facebook post will not delete it, but it will remove it from the top of your feed. You can also pin a new post to the top of your feed by finding your published post, tapping the three dots on the top right of the post, and choosing "pin to top of page".
Refresh your Instagram business account in the New Year
Make sure your Instagram business account is up to date for the New Year by refreshing your bio, profile, posts, and followers.
If you don't have a business Instagram account, learn how to convert your personal account to an Instagram business account or set up a new Instagram business account.
Optimize your Instagram bio in the New Year
To edit your Instagram business profile, tap "Edit Profile" while on your profile page. Here, you can edit your profile image, Instagram bio, and website link. You can also add a call to action button, a category for your business, and contact options. Learn more about optimizing your Instagram profile here.
Update your profile image on Instagram
A best practice for Instagram profile images is to use your business logo. The profile image shows up on the smaller side in follower lists, notifications, and on the main feed, so using a photo for your business profile image is not recommended (unless your brand is your face). Update your profile image with the latest rendition of your business logo for the New Year.
Do a follower audit on your Instagram page
Tap your followers at the top of your Instagram business profile and do an audit of your follower list. Remove any inactive or fake accounts.
Do a following audit on your Instagram page
Similarly to a follower audit, consider auditing Instagram pages that you follow. Tap "Following" at the top of your profile and do an audit of the pages you follow on Instagram. Unfollow any pages that you're no longer interested in. Alternately, you can also "Manage Notifications" or "Mute" pages on Instagram by tapping the three dots to the right of the "Following"/"Follow" button in your following list.
Instagram makes it super easy to audit your following list by showing different categories, such as "Least interacted with" and "Most Shown in Feed". Go through these categories first when conducting your audit.
Delete or archive old posts on Instagram
Comb through your past posts on Instagram and decide if any of them are outdated or no longer applicable to your business. Delete or archive posts by tapping on the post, selecting the three dots at the top right of the post, and tapping "Delete" or "Archive". You can view your archived posts on Instagram by navigating to your profile, tapping the hamburger menu at the top right of your profile, and selecting "Archive" from the drop down.
Remove old stories from your Instagram story highlights
Go through each of your story highlights at the top of your Instagram feed. Tap "More" at the bottom and "Edit Highlight" to remove or add any stories to that highlight. Also be sure to update highlight cover images as needed, and add any new story highlights if you find it necessary.
If you don't currently use Instagram story highlights, we highly recommend you start! It's a great way to keep important stories on your page indefinitely, since stories only last for 24 hours.
Refresh your Twitter business page in the New Year
When was the last time you did an audit of your Twitter business account? Enter the New Year with a fresh social media presence on Twitter by cleaning up your followers, reviewing your permissions, and utilizing Twitter lists.
If you don't have a Twitter business account yet, learn how to set one up and optimize it here. Otherwise, keep reading for ways to refresh your Twitter business page in the New Year!
Revisit your Twitter bio
The bio on Twitter has a limit of 160 characters, so you'll need to find a way to efficiently tell visitors who you are and what your business is all about. If you made changes to your business that require a social media bio change, or if you find that it's simply stale, you'll want to update your Twitter bio. Consider adding emojis to draw the eye and any brand hashtags if you have them.
Update your profile image on Twitter
A best practice is to use your company logo as your profile image on Twitter. If you've recently updated your logo, be sure to add it to your Twitter profile.
Update your banner image on Twitter
The banner image at the top of your profile is one of the first things people will see when they navigate to your Twitter page. Choose an image that is representative of your business, such as an image of your place of business, a high quality shot of your team, or a professionally designed banner for your brand.
Audit your tweets
Go through your past tweets and determine whether they are still relevant to your business. If you've made some changes to your business branding or model, you might want to consider deleting any tweets that are no longer relevant. Similarly, if you find that you have some tweets that might spark controversy or seem tone deaf, delete those as well. We are always learning and moving forward, and it's no different for your small business!
Trim down your followers and those who follow you
Take a look at your follower list and the list of people or brands you follow. It's always a good idea to be on the lookout for fake profiles, so delete any of those if you run across them. Additionally, unfollow people or brands you are no longer interested in. You can also "mute" them instead so their tweets no longer show up in your timeline.
Consider using Twitter lists, or update your current lists
Create Twitter lists to organize followers or pages you want to keep track of. Navigate to your profile, tap "Lists" on the left hand side, and then create a new list by tapping the page with a "+" at the top. You can make a list private or public.
If you currently have lists on your Twitter business profile, do a quick audit. Are there any that are no longer relevant? Consider deleting them. Are there some you need to add or delete pages from? Give them an update.
Review your permissions and settings on Twitter
It doesn't hurt to visit the settings section of your Twitter account and make sure everything looks the way you want it to.
See which apps are connected to your Twitter account by navigating to Security and account access > Apps and sessions > Connected apps. Delete any apps that you no longer want connected to your Twitter business profile.
Change your notification preferences by navigating to Notifications > Preferences.
Manage your Twitter activity and Data Sharing options on your Twitter business profile by navigating to the Privacy and Safety section of your Twitter settings.
Change or add a pinned tweet
Twitter allows you to "pin" one of your tweets at the top of your profile. This is a good way to keep a super important announcement or other pertinent information near the top of your Twitter page. If you have an existing pinned tweet, consider whether it's still relevant. Otherwise, unpin it or add a new pinned tweet by choosing one of your existing published tweets and clicking the three dots on the top right, then choose "pin to your profile".
Additional social media refresh tips for the New Year
Cleaning up your Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter small business social profiles is totally necessary, but we've also compiled a few general tips for you to use when refreshing your social media in the new year.
Consider focusing on a "hero" social platform for your small business
Do you feel like you're spread a little thin across all your social channels? If there is one that is performing much better than the others, consider focusing on that channel alone. Some channels just don't make as much sense for different types of businesses. For example, an e-commerce boutique is going to be able to gain much more traction on a visual platform such as Instagram, rather than a news and customer service focused platform such as Twitter.
Take a look at our guide on four major social channels and what you need to know for each to help you decide which channel or set of channels are best for you to focus on.
Keep an eye on what your competitors are doing on social media
It's always a good idea to scope out the competition on a regular basis. Check out what your competitors or peers are doing on social media, and use that as inspiration for your own social media presence. See what's working for them, and find a way to implement a similar strategy on your own social channels. Similarly, take note of what's not working and avoid those practices on your own channels.
Update passwords and permissions for your social pages
If you've had some changes in team members throughout the year, consider changing your passwords and permissions on each of your business pages. Even if you haven't had team member shifts, changing your passwords regularly is still a good idea to keep your accounts secure.
Set new goals for your social media pages
Here at Ripl, we're always advocating for setting goals for your social media. We're also heavy proponents of the SMART goal method. You can learn more about the SMART method in our post about how to prepare a marketing plan for your small business.
When setting goals for your social media pages this year, consider what has worked best and what's been underperforming. Analyze which areas need improvement, and detail a plan with strategies to improve those areas. Perhaps that means brainstorming new types of content, posting more often or at more regular intervals, or doing more community management on your social media channels. Determine goals tied to these strategies, and be sure to revisit them on a regular basis throughout the year to keep yourself on track.
With these recommendations, you can start the New Year off with a fresh social media presence for your small business.
