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by Amy Hoglund
With social media taking a strong presence in today’s marketing world, it’s important to make sure you’re at least on Facebook- the largest social media network with 1.44 billion monthly users. Like many other things in life- like building a house for instance, it’s important for the foundation to be strong. This starts off with building your Facebook business page correctly. There’s a lot that goes into it – here’s a go-to guide to follow while setting up your Facebook business page!
Choose a Category
Is it a local business, a cause or community, a brand or product? There are several options to choose from. Keep in mind you want a Facebook page to build a closer relationship with your audience and customers. The category you choose allows different features (as you to can see to the right).
Local Business or Place- Most of you will fall into this category. Use this category if you have a physical location (or an area) where you serve clients and customers. This allows your customers to rate your business online along with checking in at your business!
Company, Organization or Institution- If you’re not location dependent, but represent an entity, this is a good option for you. It’s also a good choice for businesses who want to list an address for people to check in at, but not have the ability to leave a review. Keep in mind reviews are very important and can help separate your business from your competition.
Brand or Product- Sell a product online or through several retailers? This is a good option for you if you don’t have/ need a physical address.
Artist, Band, or Public Figure- If you’re trying to separate yourself from your personal page, this is a great option. This fits for TV personalities, politicians, musicians, etc.
Entertainment- This is good when you don’t have a physical address, and it doesn’t represent an individual. This represents movies, books, magazines, etc.
Cause or Community- This is a go-to if your business doesn’t fit in any of the other categories. It doesn’t have wide functionality, so it’s not ideal for SMBs.
Add Details
This is important! Why? Search engines use this information (= more visibility to potential clients), and it creates a Facebook listing for you. Here you have the ability to write a short description, add your website’s URL, verify you’re a legitimate business.
Choose Your Preferred Page Audience: This is a relatively new option for Facebook business pages. Choose gender, age, demographic, and interests of your preferred page audience.
Update Page Settings
Other than the information you plugged in earlier, your page is an empty shell. Now you can choose how you get notifications, whether or not you want to post to the page as yourself or as the business, assign admin access of the page to others…. These settings can be changed at any given time.
Add Photos
Since the page was just created, it will look very empty. It’s time to add your photos! There are two types of images you need right away.
- Profile picture (needs to be at least 180px X 180px)
- Cover photo (851px X 315px)
This should represent your company and fall in line with your other marketing efforts so people will be able to easily identify your brand.
Fill Out Your Page Info
This is highly important. Basic information was filled out during the initial set up, but depending on what category you chose, there will be extra information to fill out. Here’s where you add another description about your company (there’s a short version vs. a long- do both!), the business’s website, hours of operation, phone number, and more. The short description and website URL will show up on the left hand side of your page.
Set Up A Call To Action
Facebook provides several options. You can choose: Contact Us, Book Now, Play Game, Sign Up, Use App, or Watch Video. Each of these calls to actions allows you to use a specific URL to direct users to the action item.
What’s neat about this feature is that it allows you to track how many people have clicked your CTA, along with other helpful insights. This is a great way to direct people to your website and increase traffic.
Now that you’re all set up- it’s time to start posting. Of course, we can do this all for you. 😀 If you’re interested in assistance or creating a new social media strategy- contact us today!