Facebook For Business: 101
You’re busy and you may not be sure that Facebook for business is even worth your time to begin with. Here is a quick and easy guide to start winning at Facebook.
Step 1: Don’t be you on Facebook. Be your business.
Let’s assume that you have already set up a Facebook page for your business and it has all of the pertinent info: logo, a cover photo, contact info, hours of operation, etc. Sweet! High five! But, did you know that your page now has its own identity on Facebook and that it can like other pages and other pages can like it? Check it out…
Here I am, logged in as me on Facebook:
Here I am, logged in as Fervor on Facebook:
Got it? Be your business on Facebook. To do this, click on the down arrow to the far right in the blue navigation bar. It will let you use Facebook as your page.
Step 2: Network as your business on Facebook
Now that you are logged in as your business on Facebook, it’s time to get connected. Just like Facebook for yourself, Facebook for your business can be used to “Like” the pages of businesses, non-profits, events, groups and other types of Facebook identities. Every time you use your Facebook business page to “Like” another page, a couple of great things start to happen.
First, the page admins for that page are notified that your Facebook business page has “Liked” their page. Let’s call that a touchpoint. Second, when pages that your Facebook business page has liked post and share content, you have the opportunity to engage them and their content socially.
How? Glad you asked. To start this process, log into Facebook as your business page (make sure that your logo appears just like the Fervor logo in the screenshot above). Then, open another browsing tab and type in the URL of the business or organization’s webpage. On their page, find the link to their Facebook page and click it. When it loads their Facebook business page, click the “Like” button. It should be at the bottom right of their cover photo.
Repeat this process for all of your current and prospective clients as well as all of your key partners, suppliers, industry leaders, periodicals and associations. Also, be sure to do this for community organizations that you are part of and causes that you care about.
Step 3: Like & Share
Stay logged in as your page and click the “Home” link in the top navigation of Facebook. It should be right next to your awesome company logo. Just like when using Facebook for your personal account, this will take you to your home feed. But, when using Facebook for business, the feed will be full of posts from the pages that your business identity has liked.
For the best and most up to date content in your feed, on the left side of the page, click the down arrow next to “News Feed” and select Most Recent. This will serve you up all of the most recent posts from the pages you have liked. If you don’t, you are allowing Facebook’s algorithm to dictate what you see and don’t see. As a Facebook business page, you want to be in control and this simple step gives you what you want.
When it comes to deciding what to like and what to share, here are a couple of guidelines.
- What you “like” as your page will be shown to people who like your page.
Like what they like. - What you “like” counts as a touchpoint for the admins of the page that posts it.
This can be a great way to engage clients and prospects as well as their clients. Basically, show them love and you are more likely to get love. - What you share as your page will be shown to people who like your page.
This is an enhanced way to surround the issue or problem that your business exists to solve. Plus, it saves you from having to constantly come up with new content to support your solution. - What you share as your page counts as a major touchpoint for the admins of the page that posts it.
By now you are seeing that this is a way to engage your key partners, prospective clients and everyone who uses Facebook as a way to stay informed and up to date on the issue, topic, problem and solution that you are bringing to market. - Spend 10-20 minutes per day liking and sharing content from other Facebook business pages that is relevant to your audience.
This is a way to keep your business in front of all of the people and businesses you are targeting without having to spend a ton of time or money on ads.
It is always fun to share these simple steps with small business owners and nonprofit leaders. We want to help them to see that Facebook for business can have the same genuinely social aspects as their personal pages. Most of them have put their heart and soul into their mission and have no problem making the leap to using Facebook as their org or business. Using the steps outlined above, you can quickly see a bump in your engagement and social interaction on your Facebook business page.