Everyone loves storytelling. Let us begin this blog with a story of Akbar and Birbal. Akbar loved to assign difficult and tricky tasks to Birbal. One fine day, Akbar got curious about how people can be foolish. In order to know how many fools, he has in his kingdom, he assigned Birbal the task of finding him fools. Birbal was puzzled at this unusual demand however, following his majesty’s demands, he went out in search of fools.
An entire day went by, but he couldn’t yield anything. On his way back home, he saw a man searching for something in the light. Birbal approached him to know what he was up to. The man replied that he was searching for a gold coin that he lost. Birbal asked him when he lost it to which he replied that he lost it 3 days back. The next question which Birbal asked was, where had he lost the gold coin to which he replied that he had lost it in the other part of the street. Amused by this man’s answer, Birbal asked him why he was searching for something in one part of the street when he had lost it in the other part. The man replied: “Oh, I am not a fool. Why would I waste my time searching in a dark area where I cannot see? There is light here, I should search here”
Birbal went home smiling as he had accomplished his task of finding fools for the day.
Although we have narrated just half part of the story, there is a marketing lesson learned from this part. Searching for something at a place that seems comfortable doesn’t mean you will get expected results. For business growth, you have to target the right audience, at the right time, at the right place. In digital marketing, there are numerous platforms available, just like the man in the story having different streets to search on. Identifying the right social media platform which suits your business, classifying between “what to post where” is the key to efficient social media management.
Before diving into the technical details of the social media platforms, let us first guide you through creating social media accounts.
Social Media Account Creation: Facebook Account (Personal)
Step 1: Go to Facebook.com
Step 2: Click on create account
Step 3: Enter the details asked i.e. name, address, email, phone number, gender, date of birth, and password
Step 4: After entering all the required details on the page, click on sign up.
Step 5: The last step would be the verification step. You will have to verify the phone number and mail address entered.
Step 6: Facebook will guide you for the further steps required like putting your display name, profile picture, cover image, etc... The process will be self-explanatory and the steps could be skipped and edited later as well.
Setting up social media page: Facebook page (Corporate / Business / Public Figure)
Step 1: Once you have your Facebook account, you will be easily able to set up your Facebook page. For making a Facebook social media page, log in to your Facebook account and then click on Facebook Pages.
Step 2: You will be asked to choose the type of page you want to create.
Options that you have are:
Local Business or Public figure
Artist, band, or public figure
Company, organization, or institution
Entertainment
Brand or product
Cause or community
Choose the option which represents your business.
Step 3: After this, you will be asked to enter the company’s information. Review the terms and click on the ‘get started button.
Step 4: You will be directed to a page having 4 tabs which are:
About
Profile Picture
Add to favorite
Reach more people
Fill in the details as per your needs Step 5: After you have entered data in each field (within each tab), save the information by clicking on ‘Save Info’
You are all set! Put on the profile picture, enter the necessary details like location, address, logo, cover image, etc... And you can start posting your content!
Creating social media account: Instagram (Personal / Corporate / Business / Public Figure)
Step 1: Download the Instagram app on your device or click on instagram.com
Step 2: Click on sign-up with email or phone number and enter your email or phone number both of which will require a confirmation code to set up your account.
Step 3: After you have entered your details, click on next. You can connect your account with your Facebook by signing up with your Facebook account. (Avoid sign up via Facebook while signing up for your company’s account)
Step 4: While signing up with an email or phone number you will be asked to create a username and password. Fill in your profile information and click on next.
Setting up your social media page: Instagram Professional Account
Step 1: After you are done setting up your Instagram profile and the details required, you are set to start with the business page. Go to settings and click on account. Step 2: Click on the switch to a professional account. Step 3: You will have 2 options here
Creator account
Business account
Choose the category which seems like the right fit for you.
Step 4: After this, you will be asked to choose a category of your business from the following:
Artist
Musician / Band
Blogger
Clothing
Community
Digital creator
Education
Entrepreneur
Health/beauty
Editor
Writer
Personal blog
Gamer
Restaurant
Product/Service
Video creator, etc…
Step 5: Once you choose the category which perfectly describes you, you will be asked whether or not you want to display the category in your profile. Switch to your preference and click on done and ok.
Creating social media account: LinkedIn (Personal)
Step 1: You can open an account with LinkedIn by clicking on in.linkedin.com
Step 2: Fill in the details asked i.e. First Name, Last Name, Email, Password, and click on agree and join
Step 3: LinkedIn will start asking for your data like Country, Province, City, most recent job designation, Company, Industry, etc… Keep on filling in the details asked and at last, click on agree and confirm. Your home page will open there.
Step 4: Later, you can fill in the details like Headline, Education, Featured, Location, inserting a cover image and profile picture, etc…
There will be self-guided on completing your profile and connecting with people you know and establishing your network.
To optimize your LinkedIn Personal account, you can read our blog:
Setting up your social media page: LinkedIn Page
Step 1: There is a work icon in the top right corner of your LinkedIn home page (from Chrome / your internet browser on PC or Laptop). Click on the work icon
Step 2: Click on the ‘Create company page’ option
Step 3: Choose the category to which your company belongs i.e. small business or medium to large business. (Depending on the size of your business)
Step 4: After this step, you will be asked to enter the details of your company like page identity details, company details, and profile details. Fill in the details and click on create the page.
Your business/ company or institution LinkedIn is all set up!
Setting up your social media account: Google My Business
Step 1: You need a Google Account for setting up a Google My Business page. So, open a new Google account or log in to your existing account.
Step 2: Go to google.com/business
Step 3: Click on the manage now button
Step 4: You will be asked to enter your business name.
Step 5: After you have entered your business name, there will be self-guiding fill-up detail like entering the location of your business, street, address, city, etc… Fill those up and check or uncheck the checkbox which asks you whether or not you deliver goods to your customers and whether or not your address should be visible to your customers.
Step 6: After completing the above step, you will be asked about your service area and business category. Fill in the details as per available options.
Step 7: After this, you will be asked to choose your business category e.g., perfume store, retail store, plant supplier, etc… Enter a category that suits your business the best and click on next.
Step 8: Add your contact details and website URL.
Step 9: Complete your verification (the code might take up to 12 days to reach your office/showroom/workplace) and your Google My Business Page is all set up!
Setting up your social media account: YouTube Channel
A Gmail account by default gives you an account to use for all Google products including YouTube. As a consumer, you can use the Google Account (i.e., your Gmail account) itself to use YouTube to watch videos.
Step 1: First of all, sign in to your YouTube account with your Google account. (It can be on laptop, PC, iPad, or cell phone
Step 2: click on your profile picture on the top right corner, it will open a drop-down menu, from there you can create a Channel on YouTube.
Step 3: Fill out the details asked in your channel like your business/ channel logo or icon, artwork, channel description, featured channels and activities, etc...
Step 4: After you are done filling in all the required details asked, verify your account and then click on done to create your new business account.
Now that you know about these Social Media Platforms, it is important to choose which platform works best for your business as there are different audience on each platform. The type of content shared in each of these platforms is also very different. What works for one wouldn’t work for the other. Therefore, you have to be “a jack of all and master of one”. We are here to help you with just that. Through us Master Class On Digital Marketing, you will not only learn digital marketing in 24 hours but also master the art for your business!
The blog is compiled and written by Ms. Vidhi Thakar who is a content contributor on our website. The views and opinions presented are of her. If you have any questions or feedback, kindly please write back to us.