Social Media 101 For Accounting Professionals
Social media can be a fun and rewarding experience.
Yes, I said fun.
It can also be immensely educational.
“You are what you call up in the universe. If you call up positive experiences, not only will the universe deliver, but your social media feeds will as well.”
Enough of the universe stuff. Here’s a quick list to get you started on creating a positive social media profile.
First off, you need to create a brand identity.
Branding
Define who you want “to be” in terms of what are you trying to call into your realm. Include a few personal elements and professional beliefs.
“I am a runner, skier and dog lover who believes in the mightiness of cloud accounting technology.”
Create a brand identity folder and bookmark it.
Have a headshot done by a friend or professional and put it in the folder.
Get a Canva account.
Create a brand identity of 3 colours and 3 fonts you like in Canva.
Pick a few images that represent who you are and what you do, and add them to your Canva brand - these will be your backgrounds for your social media headers.
Create a few social media images using the templates in Canva - maybe a few favourite quotes or client testimonials, for starters. And definitely header images for your profiles.
Download them to your branding folder.
Create a branding doc in your branding folder and copy the Canva hex colour code of your brand colours into the doc.
Search for similar fonts outside of Canva and type them into your brand document; use their name when typing them in (for example, type the word Playfair in the doc using the Playfair font). I mention this because a font in Google, on your website or Canva may not have the same name.
If you are up to it, create a logo. Again, in Canva - they have templates to get you started. Not game; send off your brand identity elements to a designer and have one done.
Create a tagline. It’s a quick way to position your values and purpose.
I have 3 business models, so I have 3 taglines. My template sales one is “The hardest part of going for a run is putting on your shoes.” My coaching one is, “Change is hard. Not changing will be harder.” My bookkeeping one is “Relentless organizers.”
Now you need to control your social media.
Social Media 101
I personally love social media.
I have met many “friends” there. Once we meet at live events, I already have a baseline of their values, lives, and accomplishments. Often the only thing I don’t know is how tall they are :-}
I also have found a peer network that is collaborative, smart, funny and engaging.
You do not need to be on every social media platform. Pick the one(s) you enjoy and start there.
Also, safeguard one or two for your own enjoyment, more on this below. Once you start to join accounting groups and create “friendships” with your peers - your outside interests will be pushed out of your feeds (this is the “calling of the universe” I spoke about earlier - it’s really the algorithms, but that’s not as fun a term as “universe”).
For example, Instagram is my “happy place.” I love my Australian Shepard, alpine and water skiing, and cooking feeds, so I protect this one ferociously as my personal social media platform.
And the number one rule to enjoy social media, create boundaries on negativity.
Do not follow the crazies, the dissidents and those whose values don’t mesh with yours.
Do not “doomscroll.”
Do not be a “post-hole” - people often post a controversial view and then get angry when others reply with differing opinions. This draws the drama into your social universe. If you don’t want to listen to others’ opinions, stories and viewpoints, keep your contentious posts to yourself.
The more you participate in social media content that is not in line with what gives you joy - the more ugly the algorithms/universe it pulls into your feeds.
It is unlikely that people need a social media time out as much as they need to skip the crap that corrupts the sheer fun of engaging in social media.
Lecture over.
On with creating a professional digital footprint…
All your professional social media profiles should be consistent.
This is where your headshot, Canva images and “who you want to be” come into play. They all allow for profile and header pics, short bios and more detailed information. Consistency is key to creating a solid social footprint.
Pick a platform or two for references to live.
It’s fine if random accolades come into all of them but pick a few to build up a library and share the links when you ask for testimonials (you ask for testimonials, right?).
I highly recommend that one of the platforms is Google My Business, and the other is where your target audience hangs out.
Define why you are on social media professionally.
Is it to learn, to network with peers, to find new clients?
Refrain from “over-sharing” when using your professional social profiles.
Have you ever seen posts by someone and felt like a voyeur into a life or situation that was none of your business? Or felt like someone was screaming for attention and thought, “They need a real friend?” Don’t be this person.
I’m not suggesting you need to be perfect or a closed book - you can still be authentic. I’m just saying think before you post, consider what you are hoping the outcome of your post will be.
Do! Not! Inbox! Spam!
It’s disingenuous and super annoying. There’s no quicker way to irritate people.
LinkedIn is particularly known for this, but I see it more and more on other platforms.
We are not mass marketers, and we need to ensure that prospects fit our ideal client profile, and inbox spam defeats this calling entirely. We are supposed to be collaborating, trusted business partners. Starting out and not even checking a profile before hitting someone up with your offering is self-defeating.
And did I mention it’s disingenuous and super annoying?
Learning and networking - it’s easy to call up this universe on Facebook.
Join a few groups, participate in the conversations, and develop new knowledge and a network in no time.
I love four Facebook groups: QB-HQ, The Bookkeeping Side Hustle, The Workflow Wateringhole and the Xero Mastermind Group.
Finding clients - you need to go where they live.
What platforms are they on that you are willing to create a profile in?
Join groups that their industry network has created or your Chamber of Commerce/BIA group. Find out what their hashtags are and use them.
Speak their language in your posts - use their industry terms, post photos they can relate to and provide solutions to their issues.
If you enjoy your Facebook/Twitter/Instagram… personally, create professional profiles.
Facebook especially will magically give you the option of an account “switcher.”
If you have already created a personal profile and have built up a peer network, you can create personal ones.
Again, Facebook makes this simple - it will recognize you and suggest all the “friends” you had and make a super slick pick and choose processes for you to invite only your personal friends to your new account.
Either way, I highly recommend 2 accounts in the social media you personally love, so accounting doesn’t become the sole topic in your feeds.
Accounting professionals love Twitter.
They are all over it. It’s a fun peer-to-peer network.
I love it when events are on or there is a hot topic. I view my Twitterverse as a “here & now” platform.
Start by searching the hashtag #TaxTwitter, and you’ll find all kinds of witty, engaging people to follow happily.
LinkedIn can be a terrific educational resource.
It can also simply be a cloud “resume” that anyone can check to verify your credibility. This platform allows for a whole host of skill sets and employment details.
I will say Instagram is a great place to tell your story visually.
Quotes that radiate your values and testimonial images are two great starters - using your Canva images, of course.
Social Media 201
Facebook and LinkedIn, when you post a link, wait for it to populate and then remove it. The URL in your post is not visually pleasing, but the link image below your text may well be.
You cannot post a “link image” and a photo, though. So pick which will draw the most engagement. If you have photos you really want to showcase, leave the URL in the text.
I use Bitly often for my links to customize and shorten them and track metrics for when links are posted to multiple platforms.
Facebook, create a Page for your business.
Populate it so it is easy for prospects to contact you.
Often Messenger for your Page will send queries to secret places, so make sure you set up an autoresponder asking them to follow up with you by your favoured method if you don’t reply to them.
LinkedIn, when you create a post, you can choose to post to both Twitter and LinkedIn.
This makes it easier to get your message out to both platforms and link back to LinkedIn if the post is longer than 280 characters allowed in Tweets.
You can create “Shops” on Facebook and Instagram.
How about consulting, training or file reviews? Easy and free live where it is easy for you to update.
Instagram, you need to have the same services on your website to be approved.
Facebook, you can add them to your Page no problem even if you don’t have a website.
Many apps can post to multiple social platforms in one fell swoop, and you can schedule them. Or auto post from your blog. Hootsuite, Zapier, MeetEdgar and SocialBee are four that come to mind. But I would start simple and implement these apps once you are comfortable with your footprint.
As I mentioned, I love social media, but I manage it tightly.
I don’t have any notifications, so it’s not running my day.
I limit my time on it.
It can be fun and engaging.
It can draw traffic and prospects.
It can elevate your brand.
So run with my simple tips above, and I hope to see you on social sometimes, enjoying it as much as I do.
Socially yours, Kellie
::Shameless Call To Action::
I sell cloud accounting templates, standard operating process handbooks and client guides.
