Last time we introduced you to Facebook and you are now hopefully logged on with a personal profile and keen to get going with your business page. Here are some things to think about when signing up.
Your page name
This should be your business name so you do need to check that it is available.
Profile & header images
These need to be consistent with your branding and other social media channels. Normally your profile picture is a logo and your header could tell your followers a little more about your business, for example Cosmic’s header informs the viewer of everything that we do and what we aim to be.
Biography
This needs to be informative and descriptive of who you are and what you do. If you have a mission statement it can be put in here if you wish. Also links to your website and where people can purchase from you or contact you. You have an opportunity to write a short biography and a further, longer one.
Any details and photos can be amended at any time in your settings, you may want to alter your images to fit in with seasons, or update your information with any awards you may have achieved.
What is a newsfeed?
As with Twitter and Instagram, your newsfeed is a summary of posts and stories that are made up from the pages that you follow. If you are only going to ‘like’ a few pages yourself then your newsfeed isn’t going to change very regularly.
You are looking to engage with as many people as possible, to get your information in as many newsfeeds as you can. How can you do this? By following pages, telling your friends about your page, commenting on others pages, sharing other posts.
Converse, communicate and engage. This leads to trust from others.
What is a ‘like’?
When someone ‘likes’ your page they will see your stories in their newsfeed. They can then ‘like’ a post that they see and this in turn gives you more reach as their friends will see that you have liked that post in *their* newsfeed. It is important that you also like pages and comments so that you are seen as interacting with more and more businesses.
What is a comment?
Try to encourage comments on your posts which then brings the engagement you are after. Again, their comments show up in their friends newsfeeds. Try to get commenting yourself – if you see a post that interests you, tell them!
What is a share?
This is what you really want! Once likers of your page start sharing your posts then the reach on that post becomes bigger and bigger. But also share content on your page that your followers will be interested in.
The more you engage with other pages, the more other pages will engage with you. Social Media is not just a one way conversation, but the opportunity to have a two way discussion.
Types of posts on Facebook
You can share anything you want to on your business page, as long as it is relevant to you and your company. Images work very well on Facebook as do infographics and visual quotes. We like to create visuals using canva.com – it is free and easy to use and you can create great graphics to support your facts/testimonials/quotes.
What to post about on Facebook?
The following are just a few ideas, but like we have said in our previous Twitter how to – what you think is the everyday is interesting to your followers! Keep them informed of what you are doing. Facebook is a great platform for visual information and so letting your followers know what you are up to is easy.
- How to’s / Tutorials
- Studio / workshop / Office
- Work in progress
- Competitions / Giveaways
- News
- Events / Exhibitions
- Seasonal
- Questions
- Tell a story about YOU, be relevant!
You can also link to yours, or others blog posts. If the content is good, and relevant you can share it throughout all of your social media channels. Just remember to adjust the text depending on the channel you are using. More conversational for Facebook, or limited to 140 characters on Twitter.