Facebook Pages for Businesses

Part 1. Getting Started

Why should you have a Facebook page for your business?

Simple! Much of the web is based on a ‘pull’ method. You are constantly trying to pull people to your website, for information, pictures, sales, etc. Facebook allows you to “push” updates to where people are already spending much of their time, and as a result becomes a marketing tool to pull people back to your website for more information(where you have full control of the site, and your customers experience), if you already have a site.

Isn’t Facebook just something for young people/nerds/(not you)?

Actually, Facebook’s demographic’s span the entire gamut from young to old(whatever your definition of old might be!). In fact right now, Facebook’s fastest growing demographic is people between the ages of 45 and 55. Hardly just your college students anymore! It’s a marketer’s dream come true, practically every demographic represented, with an easy, low pressure way to connect with them.

Can’t I just create a regular/personal account for my business?

Short answer: Yes, you could, and no you shouldn’t. Facebook fan pages present a much more professional approach to putting your business online. Fan pages are much more public, and easy to join. They also protect the members of the page from businesses. Businesses don’t see as much of their members profile, thanks to greater privacy controls. This means that more people will be willing to join a fan page, than might want to join a personal facebook page used for business, and risk exposing their contact information to overzealous marketers. With Facebook fan pages, you still have the ability to contact your members, but you simply do it within the structure that Facebook has setup(more on that in a future article).

If Facebook is really so great, then why do I need a website?

Having your own website gives you more flexibility over how you present information to your clients. It also allows you to present a custom website to your clients, which helps to re-enforce the legitimacy, and professionalism of your company, as well as re-enforce your brand. A combination of a good Facebook page, pulling people back to a good website, can be one of the most effective online marketing tools for creating top-of-mind awareness for your company.

It’s all a matter of creating trust. Anyone with a few minutes can create an excellent looking Facebook page for their fly-by-night business, but few can or will invest the time or money into creating a great professional looking website for the same company.

How to get Started

Setting up a Facebook fan page is actually very very easy. I would recommend that if you don’t already have a personal Facebook profile, you should create one, and use it for a couple of weeks, to familiarize yourself with Facebook, and begin adding friends. Then once you’re familiar with the interface, and familiar with how others are using Facebook, then go ahead and create your business page. You’ll thank me later!

Creating a Page

Click on the following link to go through the page creation form. http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php It is extremely simple to use. Just select the type of business you have, type in the name, and type in your full name as a “signature”. Once you click “Create Page”, you will be asked to either sign in, or create a personal account from which to manage your page’s profile.

Adding a profile picture

Once your page is created, you will see a placeholder on the top left of the page for a profile picture. Mouseover that image and you will see a link pop up over the image that says “Change Picture”. Click on the link to be taken to an upload form, or to select a previously uploaded image.

Adding your information

Click on the Info tab, and then click on the “Edit Information” link. (I told you this was pretty easy!). Make sure to add your phone number, address, hours, and your website.

You can also upload picture, and even videos by clicking on the appropriate tabs at the top of your page. If you have videos on youtube or a similar video site, you can share those on your page by simply pasting the link to the video in the Share box.

Adding Events

You can simply announce an event through the Share box, or by clicking on the “Add Event” link in the left column of your page.

That’s all for today! Part 2 will cover some Best Practices for maintaining your page, including the do’s and dont’s on content. Part 3 will cover tips and tricks for getting the most out of your page, and a few plugins, and applications to enhance your page’s content.

Part 2 will arrive on Wednesday, and Part 3 will be available on Friday, so stay tuned!