If you're not using Facebook for your business, you're missing out on one of the most powerful marketing tools available.
In this article, I'll show you everything you need to know about setting up and optimizing your Facebook business page so that it's effective from day one.
Why Your Business Needs Facebook
Facebook is the world’s largest social media platform. With over 2 billion monthly users, it has the largest user base of any social media site in the world.
In addition to having more than double the number of monthly active users that Twitter has, Facebook also boasts twice as many daily active users as its closest competitor Twitter. This means that you have a much better chance at reaching your target audience when advertising on Facebook compared to any other social network.
However, even if we only look at numbers alone, there are many more reasons why you should use Facebook as an advertising platform for your business:
- People spend more time on Facebook than any other platform (35% of all digital time spent) - this makes it easier for brands to get their message across!
- Users are highly engaged; they spend an average 50 minutes per day on their newsfeeds – compared with just 8 minutes on YouTube!
- You can target specific groups based on demographics like location and interests (and yes… gender too!).
Getting Started with Facebook
If you're new to Facebook, take a moment to familiarize yourself with the basics. Learn how a Facebook account works and how it's different from a personal profile.
If you already have an account, go into your settings and review what information is available publicly. You can also review your current privacy settings and adjust them to suit your needs. You'll want to make sure that you're sharing with the right audience, so you might have to review each post before posting it.
You can create a free business page for any brand or product that has its own website or brick-and-mortar location (even if it's just a pop-up shop). Then customize the page by adding:
- photos and videos of your products or services
- links to your website or blog
- upcoming events
- customer service information
- fan testimonials
- tips & tricks articles
- call-to-action buttons like "Shop Now"
- calls to action that tell customers why they should engage with you on social media ("Get Design Tips" could lead them directly into subscribing).
In order to measure success on Facebook, look at two different types of metrics: engagement rate (the percentage of users who interact with your post) and reach (the number of people who see each individual post).
Don't just focus on one type over another. You'll need both in order to understand which posts are most effective at reaching new audiences while also keeping existing fans engaged.
Setting Up Your Facebook Business Page
When you first create a Facebook Business Page, there are several steps you can take to help make sure it's optimized for the best possible results.
First, check that you have a profile photo and cover photo.
Second, edit your About section by adding in information about your business.
Third, add some basic information about your business as well as links to other social media accounts (Twitter and Instagram).
Fourth, fill out contact information including phone number and email address so customers can easily find ways to reach out if necessary.
Fifth, post some content immediately after creating the page so that people start seeing activity right away!
The step-by-step rundown:
- Go to Facebook.com and create a business page by clicking the Create Page button at the top right of the screen, or click here.
- Choose a name for your Facebook business page that describes your business without being overly long (no more than one line). This name will be visible in the search results on Facebook and Google when someone searches for "your company name" or similar queries related to your business. For example: “John’s Pizza Shop” is good; “Best Pizza in Town” is bad because it uses too many words.
- Choose an image as your profile photo that is recognizable as belonging to you so people can easily remember who they're seeing when they look at your page later on down the road (or if they happen to see it while scrolling through their newsfeeds). This image should be no smaller than 180px x 180px and no larger than 500px x 500px (or 510px x 510px if you want to show off what kind of camera you use). You can crop this photo once uploaded so as not to include any private information such as credit card info...just make sure everything looks clean!
Customizing Your Facebook Page
Once you have your profile set up, go ahead and take a look at your page. You'll notice that there is quite a bit of information already displayed on the page. There are tabs for "About," "Photos," "Videos," as well as other icons that represent pages you manage or events you've been invited to attend. These aren't anything new if you've been using Facebook for awhile but it's important to know what they are and how they can be used for your benefit!
To customize your business Facebook page, you can:
- Change the cover photo
- Change your profile photo
- Change your username (if you want to)
- Change your Facebook Page URL (if it's not automatically linked)
- Edit About section text, add a website link, or change other details about your business information by editing the About section of your Page
- Add contact info like phone number and email address in two places: at the top of the "About" tab and in an embedded form that appears when people click "Contact" on your page (this is where we recommend adding it)
How to Measure Success on Facebook
One of the best features of Facebook is its ability to measure your success. You can keep track of how many people are liking, commenting on and sharing posts and how much money you're spending on ads by using Insights.
There are a number of ways to track these metrics:
- Facebook Pages Manager helps you keep up with all your business' pages so that you can respond to comments and messages quickly
- The Pixel lets advertisers view analytics about who saw their pixel, what they did while they were on it, what they clicked next. This information helps them optimize their ads for better targeting within Facebook's algorithms
- Facebook Live (more on that below) is another great way to engage with customers because it allows businesses to share live video content that customers can then interact with instantly in real-time via comments or direct messages (DMs).
Live Sessions on Facebook
Live sessions on social media are a great way to engage with your audience. You can use it to answer questions, share news and updates, promote products and services, share tips and tricks and more.
It’s also the best way to get real feedback from your customers on what they want from you.
This is a great opportunity for small businesses who don’t have the resources of larger organizations or brands, but still need help connecting with their customers in an authentic way.
This is a great way to connect with your customers and build trust. It also allows you to give them real-time feedback on their products and services, which helps you improve them over time.
Live social media sessions are also a great way for small businesses and entrepreneurs to connect with influencers and industry experts who can share valuable advice, tips, tricks and more.
How to Make the Most of your Business Page
When you’re ready to start using your business page, here are some steps you can take to make the most of it:
1. Create a custom URL for your business page (i.e., https://www.facebook.com/yourbrandname). This is important because it helps build brand recognition and allows users to easily find their way back to your page when they want more information about what you do or how they can get involved.
- Drive traffic to your website by creating a Facebook tab that links to your website. This will appear on your business page when someone clicks on it and can help increase traffic to your site.
- Add value by sharing relevant content with your followers. Use Facebook Insights to see what types of posts are most popular among your audience, then share similar content that will resonate with them.
- Drive traffic to your social media profiles by including links in your email signature, on your website and in your marketing materials. You can also drive traffic by sharing links on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn with the hashtags #socialmedia or #marketing.
- Use Facebook to drive traffic to your blog by creating a Facebook page for your blog. You can also use Facebook to drive traffic to your website by creating a post that links back to your homepage or other pages on your site.
- Use Facebook to drive traffic to your email list by creating a post that links back to your email signup form.
- Use Facebook for video content by creating a video that links back to your website or blog. You can also use Facebook for lead generation by creating an offer that asks people to provide their email address in exchange for something valuable (such as an ebook).
Conclusion
We hope this guide has helped you get started with Facebook and understand how to use it effectively for your business. It’s easy to get overwhelmed but remember: You don’t need to do everything at once. Focus on one thing at a time and keep it simple (and fun)!
At our next Event Planner Expo, we’ll be talking about how to use Facebook for event marketing. Make sure you click here to register for our next event so that you don’t miss out on all the great tips and advice!
