As a business owner, you know how powerful first impressions can be. Potential clients can see your office or storefront, talk to you and read your body language before making a decision. But without the face-to-face interaction, how do you put your best face forward? Making good online first impressions can be tricky. Here are our favorite tricks and tips for starting off on the right note:
Audrey’s Favorite Blog
I recently came across this great blog by HubSpot that really made me think about the online first impressions our social media cover photos make. The cover photo is a great piece of real estate to communicate with your audience. As a business owner, you ought to be utilizing this image on your business’ pages to convey what your business is, what your values are, or even a specific message for a campaign you’re promoting.
You have a lot of freedom here. Plus, you can change it often! So if you get tired of it, the specific campaign ends, or the season changes, your cover photo can change too! You want to avoid having a stock photo that doesn’t add to the value of your social media presence. Otherwise, the options are endless. Make it something personal, unique, on-brand and attractive!
Devon’s Favorite Infographic
Recently, we retweeted this infographic from @LarryKim on the Suite 4 Twitter account. (After a quick reverse image search on good-ol’ Google, it looks like it originally came from The Visual Communication Guy.) Not only is it funny, it also shows the impact each font choice makes on online first impressions.
Everyone has knee-jerk reactions, both good and bad, for certain fonts because we all have previous associations with them. Fonts can make or break any graphic your small business uses. Some, for example, only work in a particular context (I’m looking at you, Comic Sans). There’s even a Buzzfeed quiz about font preferences, which is proof that they’re a big deal. So, before you pick the font for your logo, website or even a print flyer, think about what it says about your business and what impression you’re making.
Chase’s Favorite Advertising Tip:
Online ads have become a necessary advertising channel for nearly every business. With so many ads out there, how can you make sure your ads are being noticed? The key to attracting that online first impression is through a compelling headline. You have one line of 25 characters to make your first impressions so you should make it count.
The key to making a headline that captures your audience’s attention is making sure it’s specific to the keywords, demographic, or attribute you’re targeting. For example, if you’re targeting the keyword “lawn care in New York,” your headline should explain that’s what you do. Something like “Expert New York lawn care” says you perform lawn maintenance in New York and also highlights that you’re an expert. If you are trying to sell shoes to high school athletes, you’ll want a headline like “Run faster with Nike shoes.” This headline shows a benefit and tells the user what you’re selling.
If you start with a solid headline, the rest of the ad will follow.