Social media may seem like a task that you should hold off on until later—especially if you are just starting out and you have a dozen (or two dozen) other things on your mind.
However, even if you are not quite ready to use social media to market your services or advertise products on a regular basis, you don’t want to neglect it altogether. In fact, claiming your social media handles as soon as you have committed to a business name is one of the first steps you should take in order to enhance your overall branding strategy.
Social media handles—the usernames that start with the “@” symbol—are used for all the major networks: Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. For YouTube, users select a channel name and SnapChat and Pinterest also require a username that is, more or less, like a social media handle. These handles and account names are scooped up by companies, agencies and individuals on a daily basis, which is why there’s an urgency to act now, even if you’re not sure what sort of social media strategy you’ll implement later down the road. Plus, there is no risk or cost to establishing a new social media profile or page.
The most important reason to claim a matching social media handle for your company early is that it enables you to cultivate brand consistency that pays off for years to come.
Claiming a unique, consistent social media handle or username as early as possible reduces the risk of competitors interfering with your digital presence. If you’ve only claimed a handle on Facebook, and then a different company or individual claims the same one on LinkedIn, it creates confusion and inconsistency that can negatively affect your branding efforts. Worse, you have no control over what the other user posts. If it’s unprofessional or goes against your messaging, that could potentially detract from your business image—even though the account isn’t yours.
Social media can be a powerful promotional tool for any small businesses, regardless of industry. You may be unsure how you will use it in the future, but it’s a smart move to go ahead and secure a consistent, matching username as soon as possible.