Small Business Brand Management on the Social Media Landscape Part 2

In part 1, I talked about you or your business’s brand management, and how important it is in an online environment.  I talked about building up your social brand equity and how your KLT factor can increase considerably faster in a social environment.  If you didn’t read it, please start there:
Small Business Brand Management on the Social Media Landscape Part 1

Now that you know how important your image is on the social media landscape, let’s dig a little deeper into your social profile.  Your image is what invites them in now what do they do when they’re there.  They read about you, they read your bio and a few other things I’ll get into later.

Social Networking Profile

So let’s take a look at the requirements for the bios first.  There are many different social networking sites and each one seems to allow a different amount of characters for the bios.  Some allow you to write a book for your bio allowing 1000 characters.  The thing is, people aren’t going to read a 1000 character bio.

Most social sites keep it shorter and what I recommend is you keep it to 160 characters.  The reason why is because you need to grab the attention of the people going to your profile.  Like I said, they’re not going to read a long bio.  You have 5 seconds or they’re gone.  So what are you going to say?

In my book “The Social Media Matrix” I use a scenario of Rick, who loves fishing so much he even makes his own reels and created a business out of it.  The name he chose for his social profiles like Twitter, Tumblr, etc., is RicksReels.  So with that in mind, here is what a short bio would be for Rick:

“I am passionate about fishing and make my own reels. I like to teach others to have as much fun as I do fishing solo, with friends, or family.”

Now let’s analyze that for a quick minute.  What can you gather from Rick’s 143 character bio?

First I know he’s passionate about fishing.  He’s inventive and makes his own reels, in part due to his passion.  Rick teaches others how to fish.  I wonder if he does that live or if he has DVDs or some other form of teaching.  I love to have fun, fish, and hanging out with friends or family.  I want to know more about this guy and what he has to offer.

And if I ever needed a reel or anyone ever said something to me about it, you know where I’m sending them?   Right to Rick!

It is your short bio that will get people to take the next step.  It shouldn’t be “salesy or pitchy”.  It has to be true and honest.  It’s what you want people to know about YOU, not your business.  People buy things from people, so when they know you, like you, and trust you, they’ll buy from you.

Once someone reads your bio, they are going to take an action.  They’re either going to leave, click your link in your profile to learn more, and/or “friend” you.

Build Relationships

Making a first impression is very important and your image and bio is it.

See, brand management is about those positive relationships you build.  Those relationships will grow your business more than you can measure and social media is a major way to get you there.  They say it takes seven interactions with someone before they will trust you enough to buy from you.  With social media, those seven interactions can take a matter of minutes.  That’s how you’ll build your brand equity.

Next:  Small Business Brand Management on the Social Media Landscape Part 3
We’ll talk about what happens after you make that positive impression and more!