More About Facebook
Facebook is not a evil time-waster, a community just for “the kids” or irrelevant for marketers - even B2B companies. In fact, 41% of B2B companies have generated a customer with Facebook!Facebook can be a very useful tool for marketers in connecting people to others and brands they are interested in. Brands can use Facebook to directly connect with customers and prospects.
It can be difficult to figure out how to use Facebook for business activities. it can also be difficult to convince your CEO to let you incorporate Facebook or a larger social media strategy into your marketing plan. with the right knowledge and metrics, you can prove that it is highly beneficial.
What is Facebook?
Facebook is a social network for connecting people with those around them – friends, family, coworkers, or simply others with similar interests. Facebook started in 2004 as a closed community for college students(requiring users to sign up with a valid university email address). Today, Facebook is open to anyone over the age of 13. Any person or business can create a page about a particular item or a group about a specific
concept. This is where businesses are able to make pages about their company, product or service.
Not only is Facebook a valuable place for individuals to create a profile and connect with friends, family and
brands, it is also a community where brands and customers can interact and create relationships. Businesses are moving away from traditional marketing efforts, and the customer/business relationship is changing.
Facebook is on the forefront of social media marketing. Read on to learn how you can use Facebook for both personal and professional .
Business Goals to Set on Facebook
- Get found by people who are searching for your products or services
- Connect and engage with current and potential followers and customers
- Create a community around your business
- Promote the content you create including webinars, ebooks, blog articles, press
- releases, videos and photos.
- U Generate leads and cutomers for your business!
SETTING UP YOUR FACEBOOK PROFILE
Profile vs. Business Page
On Facebook, profiles are meant for people, and pages are meant for businesses. If you would like to fully engage and leverage Facebook’s features, you should create a personal Facebook profile for yourself, if youdo not already have one. when creating a Facebook presence for your business begin by creating a page. Facebook has created a great deal of functionality into the pages, specifically to benefit businesses.
BUSINESS PAGES
You can designate multiple page administrators on your Facebook page, providing you with theoption to have more than one person manage the account. Pages are public by default, allowing them to rank on both Facebook searches and in search engine results.Pages are categorized (choosen by you) which helps your business appear in relevant results. This means that the people that are on your page are actually interested in your content. Anyone can become a fan of a business page, whereas personal profiles require mutual acceptance.
SETTING UP A BUSINESS PAGE
Creating a Business Page
Business pages are similar to personal pages, but are by default, public. Users can like and become a “fan” of your page without requiring approval from page administrators. Once you are logged into Facebook, you can create a page here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.phpOnce you select the type of page you are looking to make, you can choose what category your brand falls into and your company name.
Facebook will walk you through three simple steps to get your page started.
- Select a profile picture. Just like your picture in your personal account, this is the image people will see when searching for you. Use a clear image of your logo here.
- The about section will appear below your logo on your business’s timeline/homepage. Be clear here about what your business does.
- Enable Ads. Advertising your page can be very beneficial to your business. You can enable ads here, which will allow you to later go back and set up an advertising account. For a detailed description of creating Facebook ads, you can read, “How to Create Epic Facebook Ads.
Tips for Optimizing Your Business Page Use
APPS
You can connect various apps to your business page. A few of these apps include Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter. These apps allow you to connect your social media accounts, and other applications that may be
useful for your business.
How to Promote Your Page
CREATE ENGAGING CONTENTPost a variety of content, from photos and status updates, to videos, events, and polls. Ask your audience questions and have them post their answers in the comments section of your post. Not only does this engage your current fans, it will make the post visible in the newsfeeds of your fans, thus increasing your reach to their friends who may not yet know about you!
POST CONTENT WORTH READING
This can range from blog posts you have written, to relevant content written by others in your industry.
FACEBOOK BUSINESS BEST PRACTICES
- Be interactive, fun and helpful. when people reach your Facebook page, they’re looking for ntertainment and a connection to the brand. Give advice and tips related to your product or ervice. Post entertaining content, such as short videos, user comments, case studies, and appealing photos.
- Give people on Facebook a sneak peek at new releases. Your Facebook fans are often looking for some perks for being a fan and following your brand. Give special coupons and/or discount codes for the people that are most involved with your brand and page.
- Post interesting industry news. Don’t use your page only for self-promotional use. Make it a place people want to visit, keep up to date on news and entertain themselves. Posting things going on within your industry is a great way to become a thought leader and increase your fan base.
- Like other company pages. Facebook is a social place afterall, and connecting with partners, valued customers, and vendors, can strengthen your relationship and your Facebook business page credibility.
- Focus on engagement. You’re trying to connect and get response from your community. Ask questions, post helpful tips, links to articles that your audience will ‘like’ and ‘share.’ when you make the posts about your audience and what they need rather than selling, you will develop a richer and deeper relationship with your community.
- Don’t oversell or undersell. No one likes a neverending sales pitch. By the same token, make sure you do highlight your wares from time-to-time! Use the 80-20 rule for sales messages vs. ntent/connection posts. So if you decide to post five times a week, one of the posts should be a sales message and four posts will be other helpful or fun content.
