If you’re like most people then you will know the importance of creating a solid brand for yourself or your business on social media. This usually consists of creating profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn among others.
However, I want to bring your attention to something so small on Facebook that many people totally overlook it or misunderstand what it’s used for – and that’s the little @ symbol that sits innocently enough on the left-hand side of your page under your profile pic and page name.
Now if you don’t see one on your page or you see @username, we need to talk. This little oversight can cost you a lot when it comes to your customers, clients, or next job finding you not to mention the fact that you’re making it hard for your ideal followers to find and engage with you and your business.
This little @ symbol combined with your name is what Facebook calls your “User Name”. This user name makes it easy for anyone looking for you to find you. They only have to search your @username to find you on Facebook.
It also makes it easier for other businesses and people to tag you in their posts. Why would you want them to do that? Well, if you’re interested in spreading the word about your business or brand then you absolutely must create your user name.
As a social media manager and writer, I frequently tag businesses and people in my Facebook posts in order to draw more people to their Facebook pages and websites as well as my own.
You see, tagging someone in your Facebook posts not only exposes that person or brand to your audience but it also exposes your business or brand to their audience. This creates an outstanding atmosphere for organic growth of your content and your brand. In other words, FREE ADVERTISING!
Now some of you might be saying, “Why would I freely give my audience to someone else’s brand?” First of all, you’re not giving another brand your audience. You’re exposing your audience to a brand that you appreciate and at the same time giving your brand the opportunity to be seen to another audience that you don’t ordinarily have access to. It’s a win-win situation.
So, now that you understand the importance of claiming your @username on Facebook, I want to you go to your Facebook page and make sure that you already have one. If not, let me show you how to get one right now.
Once you sign into Facebook and go to your business or brand page, go to ‘About’ on the left-hand side of the page about half way down the page under your profile pic and page name. Click on ‘About’.
This will take you to your ‘About’ page where you can change or add the details of your business or brand.
You will see a place under the heading ‘GENERAL’ where it says “Username”. If you already have a user name that you like then you don’t have to do anything further. If you don’t have a user name or you don’t like the user name you do have, then click on ‘Edit’ next to the user name and change it to a user name that is appropriate for your brand.
Note that you really don’t want to be clever when making this name unless it is relevant to your brand and your ideal customers will know that it refers to your business. The key is to make it easy for people to find you on Facebook. This isn’t an Easter egg hunt. You don’t want it to be impossible to find you.
Also, on occasion the name that you want as your user name is already taken. Don’t panic! Just make a little adjustment to the name until you find an appropriate user name that isn’t being used. I had this problem with my user name for the above page because apparently my name isn’t as rare as I thought it was. So, after a few variations on my name with no luck, I decided to add ‘author’ to my user name. No muss, no fuss. Now it’s easy to tell people how to find my page on Facebook.
If you don’t choose a user name on Facebook, Facebook will generously assign one to you that looks something like this: https://www.facebook.com/your-page-name-2002529566527340/. Not so appealing or easy to tell someone how to find you, is it? It also makes it very difficult for people to tag you and your business in their posts and other content.
So, your assignment for today is to go check out your Facebook Page and make sure you have a simple, appropriate @username for your brand or business. If not, take a few seconds to create one. You won’t regret it and your future followers, clients, and customers will thank you for it.
