It’s sometimes difficult to organise your social media accounts and use them to the best of your abilities. Although we tend to think of social media as our private, personal hub, there are hundreds of benefits to using these accounts to promote our work and connect with employers. The internet has become an invaluable tool to connect people with companies, and make people aware of entrepreneurs, bloggers and small shop owners that they wouldn’t necessarily have discovered before. If you’re unsure whether you’re using your social media accounts to their full potential, read on – here’s our guide to self-promotion and organising your social media.

#1 Facebook
1.39 billion monthly active Facebook users
4.75 billion pieces of content shared daily (Source)

Tips for personal use: Make sure your page is private, with an appropriate profile image attached that can be seen if you’re searched for, employers won’t admit to social media stalking you but it’s a simple trick to keep your online reputation safe. Half of employers admit to rejecting potential employers based on their Facebook accounts according to the Telegraph, and 66% of hiring managers said they’d hold poor spelling and grammar against candidates.

Tips for business use: Make sure your page or account is regularly updated and is in keeping with the aesthetic of your business. Check online for Facebook marketing tips and tricks and don’t be afraid to try new incentives to get fans. Pages have great features such as targeted ads and the ability to ask your followers a question, The English Cheesecake Company reported that they gained 4,500 likes through their primary sponsored stories campaign alone. Don’t treat your page like a personal account, by all means post content featured on other social media but also make sure there is some exclusive content that ensures followers of your multiple platforms don’t get spammed with the same stories.

#2 Twitter.
284 million monthly active users (Source)
70% of small business are on Twitter
85% of followers feel more connected with businesses because of Twitter (Source)

Tips for personal use: Again, be wary of your image online, but also be aware that a public profile is more desirable for Twitter as others can retweet your tweets and you can directly interact with companies, celebrities and public figures more easily. Twitter is a great way to promote yourself and stay in-the-know about the people you admire, with the added bonus that you might even get a direct response from people if you ask for advice or tweet something witty and inoffensive. Twitter is also good for finding employment, make sure you follow the organisations you’re interested in and that your account shows your professional credentials. Follow accounts like @ukfashionintern and @mediamuppet to keep up to date with fashion and media jobs and opportunities around the United Kingdom.

Tips for business use: Hootsuite is an invaluable tool for scheduling social media posts and is regularly used by companies to schedule Twitter posts. Make sure you use business appropriate hashtags and monitor similar hashtags to participate in conversations with other users. Keep your followers in the loop with recent things you’ve been doing but also engage them in conversation, retweet the things that they’ve been saying about you and be gracious for their time and feedback. Post original thoughts, and aesthetically pleasing photographs that others will retweet – and host industry chats or join lists relevant to the kind of business you’re involved in. For bloggers, check hashtags such as #lbloggers, #fbloggers and #blogchat, and keep up a conversation with other bloggers and creatives.

#3 Pinterest
70 million users
500, 000 business accounts (Source)

Tips for personal use: Pinterest is a visual moodboard, and can help you find a wealth of inspiring and creative images. You can create a board for just about anything, things you want to try, travel destinations or cute pictures of cats, and it’s great for keeping up with what’s cool at the moment. The capabilities of Pinterest are endless, use it to gather recipes or see what the Pinterest elite such as contributing editor of Vogue Lauren Santo Domigo are pinning. Did you know, Pinterest is also great for freebies? Searching for ‘free printables’, ‘free social media icons’ or ‘free desktop backgrounds’ will bring up tonnes of offerings from talented artists, designers and bloggers for your own personal use.

Tips for business use: Create boards with content from your business alongside visually appealing images and things that relate to your own content, popular boards include content that users want in their own boards. Make sure the front covers of all your boards contribute to the overall image of your business, it’s a small tip but when people initially click on they will look at the aesthetic of your profile, a good example of board cohesion is Beth Kirby of Local Milk, she makes sure the front cover of her boards work together and link in with the overall aesthetic of her website. Posting catchy titles and links to your work in the blurb underneath a picture is a great way to get people to click on, while tracking pins from similar companies or competitors is a good way to see what works and what you want to avoid.

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Social Media Food by Daryna Kossar