Your Social Media’s First Impression

Written by: Zoe Rivet, Marketing Operations Manager

Hi, nice to meet you. 

There’s always a little bit of pressure when meeting new people for the first time. Especially when it comes to a business relationship. If it’s someone you want to impress, it’s bound to be in the back of your mind how you’re coming across to them, what they’re thinking or what else you can say to really “wow” them. 

Tell me something about yourself.

Walking into a room full of people that you’re looking to create connections with can be intimidating. You have to figure out how you want to present yourself and what you want to tell them about your knowledge, experience, or background. What’s important? How do I want to be perceived? 

Now when you leave the room, you’ll either leave confidently thinking that you nailed it or unsure, but you’re hoping it was a memorable first impression. Well, when it comes to presenting your business to potential consumers, partners or employees you want them to have a good first impression as well, right?

Positive first impressions keep people coming back. Whether it’s meeting someone new or if it’s a business that left a good first impression, those people or potential customers have a higher likelihood of coming back. You only get one first impression and it can either  draw people in or turn them away. In today’s day and age, this no longer comes from just walking into a brick and mortar store. First impressions can be your website, someone who works for your business or even your social media channels. Let’s dive into why your social media presence  can make a big impact on those first impressions.  

Tell me more. 

When someone comes to your page, you want them to stick around and learn more. Just as if you are talking to someone for the first time, you want people to have interest in, and want to learn more about your business. When it comes to social media, what are you saying that earns a new follower? What gets people to engage with your social media posts? Well, without a strong first impression, many people won’t stick around for you to tell them more about your business because your pages didn’t keep their attention. 

How can I control a first impression on social media? Let’s get into it. We encourage you to open your social media accounts when we walk through this to help you envision your first impression.  What do you see when you click on your profile? Certain items will matter more on different platforms, so let’s talk about Facebook and Instagram. This will walk you through the importance of strong branding and building brand recognition. 

First Look at Facebook.

Open up your business’s Facebook page. What’s the first thing you see? Generally it’s a Facebook header and your profile picture first, then your bio/business info and then a pinned post if you have one (which we would highly recommend having). The order of this may change depending on if you are on desktop or mobile! 

Branding is a lot more than just a logo or a look. Yes, those assets are a part of it, but your branding is your organization’s personality. The more you tap into all aspects of your business and can present that to your consumer, the stronger your credibility and brand recognition will be. When a consumer visits your Facebook page, their first impression will help them determine what your brand is to them. When they visit your Facebook page for the first time, they see your header and profile picture. There should be a cohesive personality  between your logo, brand colors and a graphic or photo that represents your business throughout those first visuals that visitors will see. Try and keep it simple, sometimes less is more. The busier your profile picture and Facebook header, the less it may resonate with your audience.

As for a pinned post, this can depend on what is currently relevant to your brand. Whether it’s an intro post about your business, an event coming up that you’re hosting or that you’re looking to hire, it should be the post you want your customers to see when they first visit your page. There’s many different avenues we could dive into for Facebook but those tips will get you startedLet’s head to Instagram.

It’s the aesthetic for me.

Instagram has always been a visual app since  it was created as a photo sharing platform. While it has recently begun to expand into the video space a bit more, first impressions are still vital on this platform. When someone heads to your page for the first time, a majority of their opinion is going to be formed from simply looking at it. 

We care a lot about these first impressions on Instagram especially. Why? Well, there’s a handful of reasons that Hootsuite can back us up on, but a couple of them are: one in two people are likely to discover a brand on Instagram, 59 percent of adults in the U.S. are on Instagram and 90 percent of users follow at least one business. 

So what keeps those users on your Instagram? Their first impression of course! When they come to your page, the first things they will see: Profile photo, bio, highlight covers and your grid. These all give a quick snapshot of your business. What would make you stay a while and tap that follow button? Once again, the cohesion of your profile photos and highlight covers are important just as the header and profile picture are on Facebook. Use your brand guidelines to create a snapshot of your business at first glance. We recommend  highlights with cover images that include  symbols and subjects that are relevant to your business, as well as  a well-balanced grid with similar tones and a balance of photos and graphics. Why? Well people will know what they’re looking at and can get a quick idea of what you can offer them. Regardless, people enjoy looking at pages that are pleasing to the eye. If it is too busy or all over the place, your audience is less likely to stick around to engage with your brand.

No pressure at all!

There doesn’t have to be any pressure with creating your first impression. It can be adapted and adjusted overtime. But keep in mind that when you’re posting to your socials it is not just about the item you’re posting, there’s more to it! Take one step at a time, find your profile photo, write a bio that is concise and speaks to your brand and ask yourself, “What do I want my audience to feel when they visit my pages?”