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The Importance of Having Consistent Social Media Handles

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Let’s start with the basics, shall we? What are social media handles?

Simply put, a social media handle is a “username” used on social media that begins with the “@” symbol.

Why you should try to get matching handles?

Your social media handle is a huge part of your branding when it comes to your online marketing. This is why it’s best to try to secure matching handles for each of your social media accounts.

By having a strong and consistent handle:

  • It creates a memorable handle for your business.
  • Makes your company easier to find online.
  • Makes printed marketing materials so much cleaner.
  • And most importantly – it shows professionalism.

If your Twitter handle is @mycompany on Twitter and @mycompany1 on Facebook, it is going to cause constant confusion with your customers and clients – not to mention that it looks unprofessional.

You want all your social media accounts to have matching handles, so it’s always great to see if you can claim ALL the social media handles right away – even if you don’t actually use them right away.

Namechk is a great resource that allows you to check to see which are available and will even help you claim all the handles.

There are some things to consider when choosing your social media handles:

  1. If it’s for a personal brand, try @firstnamelastname.
  2. If it’s for another company, use the same as your domain if possible.
  3. Keep in mind that there is a limit of characters on Twitter. If you want your handle to be the same on all platforms, it needs to be 15 characters or less.
  4. Avoid using numbers in your handles (@mycompany1) makes you look like you’re unoriginal.
  5. Avoid underscores! They’re so easy to forget or mistype.
  6. Don’t abbreviate or misspell your name – it makes it difficult to remember.
  7. Keep it short! The longer the username, the harder it is to remember or write.
  8. If your first choice has been taken, add gravitas such as “HQ” or “I am”.
  9. You can also try prefixing it with friendly terms like “hello”, “this is”, “we are” or “we make”.
  10. If your account is being used for things such as customer service, you can add “ask” or “help”.

 

DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS? WANT MORE INFO?

JOIN THE #AIMSOCIAL COMMUNITY AND JOIN THE DISCUSSION!

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