Today we are going to talk about how to retire a social media platform. Let’s say you have a profile that you no longer use. I think a really good example is the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. If you’re not using it anymore, should you delete it? I have a better option. Stay tuned to this episode to find out.
Step One: Log In Information
Today we are talking about how to retire a social media platform that you no longer use. We have four steps. The first is to go to the platform and login. Make sure you know your username and password, along with any other associated information like email address and phone number. Write all that information down and keep it in a safe place. I use an online password protector. You will need to log in for the next step, but you will also need this information in the future if you ever decide to come back and use this profile.
Step Two: Update Your Info
Make sure that your profile photo, your cover photo, your bio, and website link are up to date and match your other social media profiles. It might seem like an obvious step, but I had a client whose website link was an article that was 7 years old instead of their business website. So go ahead and make sure the profile that you are retiring has accurate and up-to-date information and imagery.
Step Three: Create a Post
Using our example of Twitter, you are going to create a post that says, “hey, thanks for finding us on Twitter. We no longer post here often, for the most up to date information, visit us at” and list the social media profiles where you are active with links to those profiles.
If you have a more defined social media strategy and do different things on different platforms, you can say, visit Facebook for event information, visit YouTube for video tutorials, and visit our website for the latest service offerings, as an example.
The one post should also include a graphic along with the text. Then you are going to pin this post to the top of your profile. But you are not done yet, we have one more step.
Step Four: Stop Sending People There
It’s time to review your marketing collateral, website, and other places where you may have linked to this profile. We don’t want to drive people there anymore so please remove any links. It takes a lot of work to get prospective customers to your website, you don’t want to drive them away to a social media profile you no longer use.
If you have the profile listed on printed collateral or business cards, just make a note to leave that information off the next time you go to print.
Where else might you have linked to this profile? Check your email signature, your other social media profiles like LinkedIn or platforms like Google Business. Remove the retired platform from everywhere you can think of. And that’s it, that is how you retire a social media platform.
What About New Platforms?
I use this same process for new social media platforms. If you listen to my last episode titled “Should I Use the Latest Social Media Platform?” I share my 5-step process for determining if a NEW platform is right for your business. In Step 5, we decide IF we are going to start using the new platform. If the decision was “no, not at this time”, then you want to retire the platform.
If you followed my advice in that episode, this should be easy.
- Step 1 – record your log in information
- Step 2 – the logo, bio, website, etc. should be accurate because you recently set it up
- Step 3 – create a post and pin it to the top of your profile
- Step 4 – since you just started to evaluate this platform, I hope you haven’t linked to it anywhere yet but if you have, remove that link.
A good example of a platform that might fall in this category now is Threads from Instagram. If you follow this process and I find you on Threads, I’ll know you are not posting there but I can find you other places. However, since social media platforms tend to evolve, Threads may become important down the road and your profile will be ready for you.
I hope these tips will help you make sense of the ever-changing online world. Did this process give you some peace and a plan to retire a platform? Let me know in the comments.
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