Facebook for Businesses: The Basics
Congratulations, you’ve started your own business! While there are countless ways of letting people know about your business, one of the least expensive branding tools to reach the most people is social media. Let’s go through the steps of creating a Facebook business page!
You are required to have a personal Facebook account to create a Facebook business page, even if you do not intend to use Facebook personally.
What’s the difference between a personal Facebook page and business Facebook page?
A personal page is just that – personal! It’s all about you, your interests and activities, and you can make it as private or public as you like. While some people use their personal page to build their business, Facebook will shut down a page if it is used too much for business purposes. On a personal page you can accept and request friends; a business page is “liked” by others. A business page is allowed to have paid advertising through Facebook’s platform.
There are several ways you can create a business page. Here is one:
- Start with facebook.com/pages/create.
- Choose between business/brand and community/public figure.
- Fill out the information entirely. Accurate information will enable your page to be shown in more search results.
Yes, it’s that easy!
Optimizing Your Business Page
A business page is only as good as the work you put into it. Take the time to truly optimize your page for people to find you. Use your business name in the @ page name; that will make it much easier for you to point people to your page. For example, if you search Facebook for @MarkThomasMedia, you’ll quickly find the correct Mark Thomas Media Facebook page.
Fill out the description and about sections, along with the website, address, and phone number for your business. If yours is a service-based business, include some of the popular services your business offers. Include a profile picture that clearly shows your business logo.
Your cover photo can be a static image, slideshow of images, or video. While people who follow you on Facebook may not see your cover photo often, new people will see it when they first find your page. Make sure it accurately represents your business and entices people to want to learn more about you.
What Should You Post on Your Facebook Business Page?
This age-old question has a wide variety of answers. Most experts agree that a mixture of engaging, entertaining, and educational content is best, and you should not post only about yourself. Find the mix that works for your business. If you are a clothing store, your followers may enjoy seeing photos of the new clothes you receive each week along with occasional photos of real-life customers wearing the clothing.
Engage your audience by posting questions, polls, or reaction-worthy stories. As Facebook is a major branding tool, be sure to use the tone of voice that you want your business to be recognized by. Is your clothing store an upscale fashion store that sets trends within a high-class society? Your tone will be very different from a hot dog stand who loves to make the blue-collar crowd laugh.
Follow other businesses like yours to gain ideas and utilize your Facebook Insights to see which posts resonate more with your following. You might be surprised!
Let Mark Thomas Media Help
Don’t have time for creating and maintaining a social media page? Mark Thomas Media’s Social Media team is the right thing for you. We’ll get to know your business, get to know you, and make your social media presence a success!
