By Lynn Corbitt, Account Executive

Like it or not, social media is an important part of business – of marketing. Yes, it can be a headache and a place where people like to complain from behind the anonymity of their computer screens, but it can also be a way to connect with customers, stakeholders and people who want to learn about your brand or business. When you’re creating your social accounts, you’re going to want to take time to strategize and create them with a purpose.

But what if something changes? A business name, brand mission, something else.

It’s important to keep your social media consistent, sure. It’s a very common way for the public to identify your business. But, it’s more important to keep your social media in line with your brand goals. So, if something changes, you need to update your social media accounts to match.

We recently did this for one of our clients. It’s a public works (think: roads, bridges, infrastructure) client that is kicking off a major, multi-year project soon. We transitioned their general Facebook and Twitter accounts to be more focused on this specific project. There’s a small checklist of things to do when you’re transitioning accounts, so let’s run through it quickly.

1. Update the profile name and Both Facebook and Twitter have handles. Yes, even Facebook. You’re likely more familiar with your Facebook username (or page name), but it has a handle, too. You’ll want to update all of this if you’re changing your business name (or shifting to something more specific, like we were). An important thing to note here: when you make these changes on Facebook, Facebook will likely notify some or all of your followers that you’ve changed your name. So, if you’re changing the kind of content you’ll be posting, have that ready.
2. Prepare transitional posts. Speaking of having posts ready, it’s a good idea to draft a transition-based post. Something like “You’re used to coming to this page to get information about our products. We’ve recently begun hosting some incredible events, so we’ll be sharing some information about those now, too. Make sure you follow to catch all the details.” Or, if you’d rather just focus on the future, give a brief description of what followers can expect to see now.
3. Update your bio and about information, as well as your profile and header photos. This will obviously depend on how much you’re changing your pages, but this is a good time to update your photos if anything has changed. And, if you’re really changing the purpose of your page, reflect that in your bio information.

Chances are slim that you’ll need to transition your social media accounts, but if you do, this checklist should help you get started. If you need some help or additional guidance on the transition phase (or social media management in general), reach out to us. We’d be happy to help.