Our last Blog highlighted the plight of the neglected Facebook Page – aahhh. They’re usually half-finished (if that), missing images and are still, after all this time, the owner of a URL from hell. Well, we thought we should follow up last week’s blog by pointing out just a few little things that you can do with your business Facebook page to make it feel a little more loved and sociable, after all that’s exactly what it’s there to do – be sociable, talkative, interesting and engaging! No hurry though, it’s only a free advertising platform with around 850 million active users… ; )
1. Claim your page!
It really is astounding that so many business owners are yet to claim their own page! It really is easy to fix this – by clicking on the ‘settings’ icon, a drop down menu will appear with the option to claim your business page. Until you do this your page is advertising other businesses that are nearby – what’s the point in that?
2. Get yourself a vanity URL
Have a look at all the gobbledegook in the URL window at the top of the page. Does it make sense to you? No, we didn’t think so! Just imagine the conversation between the owner of Fluffy Red Cardigans and a keen customer:
Customer: ‘Hey, love your cardigans! Do you have a Facebook Page I could ‘like’ so I can get the latest news on your knitwear?’
Business Owner: ‘Of course! We would be foolish not to! I’ve got it written down somewhere back here….Go to www.facebook.com/pages/Fluffy-Red-Cardigans/204756298347658?ref=ts’. Easy, eh?’
Customer: ‘Forget it! Haven’t you heard of Vanity URLS?’
Ok, we know this is rather contrived but we’re just trying to make a point. Once you’ve claimed your page click on the ‘Manage’ button on the Admin Panel and select ‘Edit Page’. Select a Username – preferably the name of your business (or as close as you can get) for example, FluffyRedCardigans. Hence, your Facebook page URL becomes: www.facebook.com/FluffyRedCardigans. Now, we think that both you and your customer are much more likely to be able to remember that – don’t you?
3. Add images!
Ah, the Facebook question mark. Pretty as it is, it has no place on your page and has no use whatsoever other than to let your customers know that you can’t be bothered to upload a few images. Facebook business pages have recently become timelines – just like your personal profile. This is a great platform on which to post other types of media such as photos and video as well as text. However, before populating your timeline, make sure to select a couple of really good images that effectively highlight what your business is about. In the first instance, we would suggest a product image for the cover and a your company logo as your profile picture.
4. Basic Information and About Section
It only takes a few minutes to populate the basic information form. As well as securing that vanity URL in the username field, take the opportunity to fill in as much information as possible and, at the very least, an email address, phone number and website URL.
Come up with a one-liner about what you do for the ‘About’ section. For example:
‘Producers of Fine Fluffy Red Cardigans and Jumpers’
The description field, on the other hand, allows you the opportunity to go into a little more detail about your business and products. Although it is important to get in all the serious stuff, try to come over as being friendly, easy going and passionate about your brand. There are no requirements to complete every field in this section but the more the better!
5. Start Spreading the News!
Can you feel a song coming on? Back to business!
So, here we are. You have an active page! You’ve got images, penned a welcome post for your new Facebook page and uploaded some images of the latest in warm, fluffy fashion. Now all you have to do is sit and wait for fans to find you, ‘like’ your page and your sales to go through the roof……isn’t it? Well, actually, no. When you left your page to go stale a couple of years back a couple of people had accidently come across it and ‘liked’ in the hope that it may do something interesting. Nobody else has bothered, or maybe they just didn’t know it was there.
So let’s get started as we mean to go on and invite friends and colleagues to ‘like’ and engage with our updated page.
6. Keep Spreading the News (and listening….and engaging!)
This is where you really have to start putting some work in (and probably what didn’t happen first time around). Inviting friends, posting a couple of updates then sitting on your page waiting for the Facebook Marketing Fairy to wave her magic wand just isn’t going to cut it. So, assuming that our newsflash worked and we now have some fans, let’s start inviting them to talk about our business and products.
Ask a question about your product – Facebook pages has a great tool for this which enables the page admin to ask a question and add poll options for users to choose from. For example:
This is a great way of getting your fans to engage with you. Not only do they feel that you value their input but you get great feedback which should influence future production and marketing decisions. Other ways of getting your fans engaged might include asking them to post photos of themelves wearing your product, promoting your products with a sale for Facebook fans, running competitions and promoting your blog. The more feedback and engagement you can get from your fans the better.
All this sounds great doesn’t it? It is! But whatever you do, keep it regular, keep it fresh and keep on top of what your customers are saying about your business. Listen, engage and keep your Facebook Page alive and well!!
