In January 2022 I successfully completed a social media rebranding project for a client. My client is a company that owns 10 social profiles on the following platforms: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Linkedin, and TikTok. The goal was to rebrand all the profiles without losing the followers. In this post, I will share with you my experience and tips on how to minimize stress and avoid unwanted surprises.
When you search online for "social media rebranding", or for "how to change your profile name across various social media platforms" like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Linkedin, and TikTok, many results show up, but it's seldom official information from each platform, and rather random bits from individuals who have tried. On top of that, a big chunk of the available information is either outdated or inaccurate because of recent changes to the policy of each platform.
In this post, I have included everything you need to know in terms of preparation and planning, but also what you can expect and how to secure an end-result that will be consistent across all social media platforms when you are rebranding.
Before we dive-in let's start with two basic and important definitions.
Your username (or @handle) is a unique name that you have on each platform and is the one that appears at the end of your profile page’s URL. So, for example, when we are referring to a Facebook page the username will be the part that follows facebook.com/this_is_your_username
The username is the tricky part of the rebranding process, which requires more research and preparation, as it is unique in each platform, so if the one you have in mind is taken, you have to go for another option. I will explain in detail further down.
Your profile name or just name, is the first couple of words that appear on your profile and is generally easier to change without problems, given that you don’t violate any of the platform’s set policies.
When it comes to branding, consistency is key, so carefully choose the best combination of letters that best describes your brand name in order to use the exact same one, on all platforms.
How to choose a new username for social media rebranding in 2022
In general, you can get creative around choosing your new username, but take into account the following if you wish to use the same one across all platforms:
Keep it up to 15 characters
If you have a Twitter account, then you already know that the maximum character length of a username is 15, so keeping your username to a max of 15 characters will ensure that you can use the same username across all platforms (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Linkedin, TikTok)
Research the username availability (preferably from a desktop or laptop computer)
Log onto every platform and use the provided search bar to test the availability of the username. During that process you will come across results that will also offer an indication of the page names that may be using similar usernames, so make a note and avoid those too.
As a second, confirmatory step, type in the platform address on your browser bar followed by the new username, hit search, and see what you get, for example, facebook.com/the_new_username. Repeat the same process for the other platforms that interest you.
Finally, run a google search for the new username and see what you get. If you get many results from the platforms that interest you, then it’s better to modify the username and repeat the process.
IMPORTANT: Even if the above steps produce no search results, and your new chosen username appears to be available, and not used by anyone, on Facebook it may be in use from an unpublished page, and that is why you need a plan B (meaning a second, acceptable version of the username, to use in such a case).
Social Media Username Character Limits and allowed characters
| Facebook username | 50 | chrs max, allowed letters, numbers, periods, and underscores |
| Instagram username + name | 30 | chrs max, allowed letters, numbers, periods, and underscores |
| Twitter username | 15 | chrs max, allowed letters, numbers, underscores |
| Pinterest profile name | 30 | chrs max, allowed letters, numbers and underscores |
| TikTok username characters | 24 | chrs max, allowed letters, numbers, underscores, and periods |
| YouTube channel name | 100 | chrs max, URL allows letters and numbers |
| Linkedin Company Page name | 100 | characters max |
SOCIAL MEDIA REBRANDING | INFORMATION SPREADSHEET
I have put together a spreadsheet file to help you organize the information you will need to have available during your social media rebranding journey, one that you can share with colleagues and use as you please. You can download the social media rebranding spreadsheet here and upload it to Google Sheets so you can work collaboratively with colleagues.
Timing considerations - Deciding on a social media username switch strategy, without losing your followers
When rebranding on social media you want to keep things confidential to avoid someone grabbing your new brand name online before you. Then, on the day of the new brand name announcement, all social media profiles should switch to the new username. When it comes to how you should approach the switch you have two options, but make sure the whole team is on board.
Option A: Do your username availability research, but leave the username switch for the last moment, without securing the usernames in advance
Option B: Do your username availability research, secure the desired usernames in advance, and release them in time for the switch.
Each option has pros and cons that should be carefully weighed depending on the parameters of the actual situation you are facing and the resources you have available:
Option A in my opinion will work best when there are very few and highly trusted individuals involved in the rebranding, and the new username is quite particular and not a combination of mainstream everyday words and/or names
Option B gives you more peace of mind that your username will be available when you want it to, but requires more time for planning and execution and a designated person to be on top of, and responsible for the whole process.
Lead times by platform when rebranding your social media profiles in 2022 (OR HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR A USERNAME TO BECOME AVAILABLE AGAIN)
Check the list below for lead times for the username switch per platform, given that a username is available and you have access to the profiles:
FACEBOOK (Admin Access required) Up to 3 days review time may apply
(Assuming that the pages don’t have limits and are NOT regional Pages that fall under a global Page.)
Page name and Username (used for URL) changes can be requested on the spot, if available (in our case the change was instant even though we received an “up to 3 days review” notification)
If you hold a username and plan to release it: It takes 30 days to delete a profile. After that, the profile and the content are deleted and the username is liberated. During the 30 days if you re-login the profile is reactivated (so the username will remain reserved for longer, until you delete the profile again).
If a username is available, you can make the change instantly (up to 3 days review times may apply)
If you hold a username and plan to release it: It takes 30 days to delete a profile. After that, the profile and the content are deleted and the username gets liberated. During the 30 days if you re-login the profile is reactivated.
Contrary to what many websites and blog posts state, deleted Instagram profile usernames DO NOT become available after 14 days, but only after 30 days!
According to official Instagram instructions: “Keep in mind that if your account reaches a lot of people, your username change may need to be reviewed. If so, you'll be notified when we've completed a review. If not, your username will change immediately if available. Your followers may be notified of your username change.”
Also: “If a username you want is being used by an account that seems inactive, you can choose an available version of the username. You can add periods, numbers, underscores, or abbreviations to help you come up with a username that's not already in use.”
TWITTER - Instantly
Released handle names become available immediately
Username/handle changes are effective immediately
LINKEDIN - Up to 3 days
For Linkedin I do not have information how long it takes to delete a company page in order to hold a username and liberate it after deletion..
According to official LinkedIn instructions: "If your organization is being rebranded and your LinkedIn Page and Showcase Page(s) require(s) a completely different name, contact us with a publicly shared press release indicating the name change as well as the reason for the rebrand. We’ll provide next steps after reviewing the provided materials."
My experience was different. I asked the company that was rebranding to make me a super admin of their company page. On the day of the announcement I made all the changes and they got immediately saved and appeared on the rebranded page. We did not need to contact Linkedin with a press release. (the company page had less than 10K followers)
PINTEREST - 14 days for reserved name/handle or Instantly for available ones
A name change can be immediate if a username name is available.
Deleted usernames require 14 days to become available (according to reports, I did not have the chance to confirm that one myself).
YOUTUBE - Immediate for available usernames (or 30 days due to custom URL option availability)
Renaming can be instant if username and URL are available. Merging channels is not an option. So there is no way to retain followers if you create a new channel.
In case you decide to create a new channel and not rename the current one:
According to official YouTube instructions: “To create a custom URL for your channel, your account needs to:
Have 100 or more subscribers.
Be at least 30 days old.
Have an uploaded profile picture
Have an uploaded banner image”
Keep in mind that YouTube will offer custom URLs (username options) for your channel, based on the name you choose for your channel. The text part is automatically derived from the chosen name and you can only modify adding numbers at the end.
In our case, the channel name had the “&” symbol but we wanted the URL to read “and” so what we did was the following (example)
We entered the channel name as “Nick and George” and hit save and exit edit mode.
Enter edit mode again and now that the custom url option appeared as /nickandgeorge we selected that and hit save.
Now we changed the channel name to “Nick & George” and hit save
In case you don’t see custom URL options maybe one of the above-stated requirements is not met.
Image Asset Dimensions by Platform for Social Media rebranding in 2022
Changing the name is part f the rebranding process. You will then need to upload new image asset and update the About/Bio information in every single profile. Below is a table with profile image and cover photo or banner image official dimensions so you can plan your assets for social media rebranding.
| PLATFORM | PROFILE IMAGE (logo) pixels | FILE SIZE | COVER PHOTO pixels | FILE SIZE |
| 182x182 | sRGB JPG file that's 851 pixels wide, 315 pixels tall | Recommended for faster loading less than 100 KB | ||
| 320x320 | N/A | |||
| 400x400 | max 5 MB | 1500x500 | max 5 MB | |
| 300x300 | max 4 MB | 1128 x 191 | max 4 MB | |
| 165x165 | max 10 MB | N/A | ||
| YouTube | 800x800 | 2,048 x 1,152 (the safe area for text and logos: 1235 x 338 px. Larger images may get cropped on certain views or devices) | 6 MB or smaller | |
| TikTok | 200x200 | N/A | ||
| File types JPG, PNG work for all | ||||
CONCLUSION
The final decision is yours. Securing a handle, and deleting it in time for the change, is an option for Twitter, Pinterest, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook and will ensure that the username will be available when you need it. However, I feel that if the name is unusual, and chances to be taken until the rebranding day announcement are slim, you can opt for the direct change on the rebranding announcement day.
Ideally, you should have admin access rights to all platforms at least a month before the announcement and a contact person you can be in touch with to receive the verification codes shall this be needed.
© 2022 Apostolos Mintzis | APOSTOLOS MINTZIS CONSULTORIA EM MARKETING LTDA