1. Creating a Page
Setting up your business Facebook page is a relatively simple affair. A lot like a personal page, it involves sourcing imagery and inputting relevant information. However, in this instance your business Facebook page is all about your brand.
A Facebook business page should reflect the look, feel and tone of your business while providing additional insight or information that your clientele will not find elsewhere in your digital profile. This keeps people coming back to your page while also feeding them through to your website.
Logos and branding – Use your business logo as the primary photo for your page to ensure consistency of your branding and to enable your audience to readily establish a mental link between your Facebook page and and your website and promotional materials.
Then pick a relevant, attractive image as your profile picture that reflects the ethos of your brand or what your business does. If you’re looking for resources, consider Pixabay – a site for royalty-free images. If you’re looking to add text, Canva is another great and simple design program where you can import photos and specifically create a Facebook banner.
Profile information – Next comes the profile information. This should comprise short, sweet and snappy descriptions that sum up what you do. You’ll need to create an easy and memorable website address, while your page will appear as www.facebook.com/”yourbrand”.
2. Share the Facebook love
Facebook is all about followers – the more, the better. So, once your page is up and running start sharing it with your existing relevant social network who might be interested in what your business does.
If you have a website, ensure you link it to your Facebook page. The main principle is to have different types of content streaming on both. While your website might be formal with regular blogs, your Facebook page will be about relevant content that could include sharing stories, links, tips and additional insights that complement your brand
At this point building a Facebook following becomes all about content, content, content, which needs to be topical, relevant and of interest to your audience.
3. Content
Facebook content is different to traditional website content in that it is short, visual and frequent.
It can range from memes that include an image with a topical quote, to links to your website blog posts, news snaps of information relating to your industry, and quick images of something your business is doing like attending an event, manufacturing a new product etc.
Visual posts often elicit the best response and short videos are a great way of harnessing this power – whether it’s a quick tip, how to or explanation of a product.
Posts you create will immediately pop up on the feed of people who have liked your page.
The content that is most often shared and drives the most likes is short and snappy. Finding the right content style that caters to this takes a little time but there are a host of Facebook tools to assist.
These include the insight information in your admin section, which allows you to see how many people have viewed your page over a set time, how many people viewed a specific post and how many people have liked or shared your content.
Use this information to your advantage, planning promotions and posts based on what information has previously driven people to engage.
Make connections
As Facebook is all about connections, they offer a range of further tools to enable you to build an audience, along with organic strategies to increase followers.
These include:
Boosting post – Available in your admin section, “boost post” enables you to market a specific post to a relevant audience for a minor fee. You can set the demographics and location. The aim is to obtain likes that ensure your future content and therefore knowledge of your products and services reaches a greater audience.
Build audience – This sections enables you to invite your personal friends to like your page or to import your email contacts to like your page.
Leverage friends of fans – Due to its social nature, Facebook allows friends of people who like your page to see their interaction with you. Remember and use this, ensuring you respond to post engagements, likes and comments.
Cross promote – Meanwhile, do not overlook the power of your existing clientele and the way you already market. Ensure your Facebook URL is on your email signature, your marketing materials, stationery, advertising and website.
Facebook check-in – Facebook has this nifty little feature where people are notified when a friend checks into a physical venue like a cafe or store. By encouraging check-ins through discounts for people who do so, you help drive your reach to a wider audience.
Join like-minded industry groups – By joining groups where your services are likely to be sought you increase your opportunity to promote products, services or offers.
But it’s important to remember Facebook has an etiquette. You need to give as much as you receive by commenting on others’ posts, providing advice and liking their pages.
