Setting Up Your Facebook Page For Success
In this digital age, it is absolutely vital for any brand (business, service, community group, charity, artist or public figure) to have at least one social media page. An online presence is so much more than a stand-alone website – it needs to be interactive and engaging with its audience on a regular basis, and a social media page will help to bring the brand to life with a face and a voice.
Many brands work well with a variety of social media platforms, but the one with the largest number of daily active users is Facebook.
Setting up a Facebook page is really easy – all you need is a Facebook personal account, and everything can be done from there (don’t worry about your personal information being on display – this will not be visible on the page).
A quick whizz through the set-up:
Sign In – Add a Name (Your Business) – Logo – Cover Photo – Username – Business Profile – Contact Details
With the basics out of the way, here’s how to set your page up for success:
▶Start posting regularly, even if you’re not getting any feedback just yet (don’t worry about this, you’re simply building brand recognition at this stage)
▶Post content that is relevant and interesting for your target audience – try and put yourself in your ideal client’s shoes – what would you like to know about?
Opening times?
Services?
Prices?
Special offers?
▶Mix it up with fun facts - interesting quotes - industry information
▶Share your knowledge – hints - tips - how-to videos - success stories
▶Keep your content short, sweet and to the point – online attention span is limited, and you only have a few seconds to engage your audience. Feel free to add links to additional blog posts or landing pages, but keep the initial content easy on the eye and in a language your reader can relate to.
▶Call To Action – every post needs to have a specific Call To Action – this can be directing someone to your website, shop, contact details or sign up page – it could even be a charitable cause you support, and how great would this be if it helped raise just £1?
▶Good quality images and videos work best – it doesn’t matter if it’s a stock image* from an image sharing site, or one of your own – so long as it’s visually appealing to catch attention and illustrates the point, that’s all that matters.
*Check the image sharing license from your chosen site – tagging the original artist is not always essential, but can be polite to do so, as can ‘buying the artist a coffee’ to say Thank You.
▶Get employees, clients, suppliers and other interested parties involved in sharing content, spreading the word, and contributing reviews
▶Invite people to follow your page, but ONLY if they or their friends and family are likely to be interested in your products and services – it can be very counter-productive to have too many irrelevant followers – more on the Facebook algorithm in another blog.
▶Share on local community and business groups and pages, but do check the rules first – some only allow a certain number of posts on specific days of the week – don’t abuse it!
▶Post on different days and times to see what works best – use the free analytics tools, these will become your best friend!
▶Engage with people and ask for reviews – even negative feedback can be transformed into positive if dealt with in the right way.
▶Play about with different ideas, images, videos – but above all, have fun - it is a SOCIAL network after all!
