Here are three simple things you can do today to optimize your social media efforts:
Delete Inactive Profiles
Before creating social media accounts for business development purposes, it’s important to consider the time investment required to keep these accounts active. If you aren't willing to set aside the time, don’t create the accounts. Potential visitors want to see activity on your accounts. It’s like visiting a store that doesn't have any stock – what’s the point? The only exception to this rule is reserving your firm’s Twitter name or your personal name on Twitter.
Ensure Information is Correct
Have you moved firms in the past year? Perhaps you've created more social media accounts or started a blog? Spring is the time to check each social media account and make sure the following information is correct:
- Your full name, email address and credentials
- Your firm’s website, name, phone number and address information
- Your professional picture
When it comes to LinkedIn, set aside some time to update your summary and headline. Include relevant keywords as these areas are searched and ranked by Google as well. Add your employment and education history as well.
Another area I see IP professionals fail to update is their Twitter Bio URL. Add a link to your LinkedIn profile, your law firm website bio or your blog. You want to make it as easy as possible for people to connect with you.
Broaden Your Horizons
Spring is the time to test out new social media platforms and transition new social media styles. Social networks such as Facebook continually upgrade features and pages. It may seem like a hassle to test out new features but it’s important to stay up-to-date to appear innovative and on the cutting edge. If you haven’t tested out new social networks such as Google Plus or Pinterest, create an account and dedicate 30 minutes per day learning the ins and outs. You’ll never know how successful they might be unless you try.
By Samantha Collier