HOw TO CreATe And MAnAge A BuSIneSS

How to Create and Manage
a Business Facebook Page
Facebook has over 400 million active users. Of these, according to
Nielsen Research, 8.8 million are Australian Facebook users. According
to the Optus Social Media Index for SMBs report, Facebook is the tool
of choice for services and products for many SMBs, followed by
YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn.
If you’re a SMB and looking at getting into social media to market your
business, it is recommended you leverage Facebook Pages and
Advertising as it provides you with the channel and framework to interact
with your customers and prospects in the most appropriate way.
Also the ease with which text and images can be shared within
Facebook lends itself to be a perfect platform for the sale and
promotion of products and services.
In this Facebook how-to guide, we will show you how to create a
Facebook Page for your business.
Getting started
• Go to www.facebook.com and visit the Facebook Help, Business
Accounts section – the Q&A section will help you to understand the
difference between a business and personal account.
• If you do not already have a personal account, create a business
account by clicking on ‘How do I create a business account?’ under
the ‘Creation’ heading.
• In that section, click on ‘Facebook Page’ to create a business
account.
• Determine the appropriate category for your business (Local
business; Brand, product or organisation; or Artist, bank or public
figure), and enter your business name. Read and sign the
authorisation and click on ‘Create official Page’.
• If you are a local business, you can specify what type of industry
best describes your business.
• You should now be on your page and able to add a main image (best
to use your company logo, photo of your business or product here)
and tag line (or a brief description of your business).
• Edit your information. Provide information on your business, contact
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information and hours of operation (if you have a retail or local
office).
• Upload photos. Click on the Photos tab and upload photos of your
business and/or products. You can create multiple albums to cover
different products or services.
• Import your blog. If you do have a blog, you can upload your posts
directly into Facebook via ‘Notes Settings’.
• There are a number of other tabs/settings that you can set-up to
customise your business page in your ‘Edit Page’ link on the top right.
• The above steps are the ones you need to take to create a basic
business page. Once you are happy with your page, and you have
populated it with content, click ‘Publish this page’ at the top of
your Wall.
• It is important that you make sure that your Page has been
populated with content so that when you publish it, your online
audience can see value in becoming a fan.
Spread the word and market yourself!
Once you have set up your new Facebook page, tell your customers,
prospects, friends and family about it and encourage them to become a
fan, and in turn, they will promote your business. The more fans you
have, and the more that your fans interact with your page, the more it
will promote your business for you. Every time a fan comments on your
Wall, or links to your Facebook page, it appears in the News Feeds of all
their Facebook friends – instant word of mouth marketing!
Don’t forget to link to your Facebook Page from your website, other
social media tools (such as YouTube or Twitter) and email campaigns.
Also, make sure you include your Facebook page link (along with other
online media tools) in your email signature to let people know where you
are in the social media space. Your Facebook page is now part of your
overall marketing activity and should be given attention and maintained
as appropriate.
Remember, social media is all about conversations and interacting with
your audience. It is not just a one way information channel. So don’t
treat your Page as a broadcast mechanism, engage with your audience.
Tracking and measuring your business page
Within 48 hours of publishing your Facebook Page, you will be able to
access Facebook Insights. Facebook Insights provides Facebook Page
owners with metrics around their content. Essentially, it is data and
analysis on how people are engaging with your Page. Facebook Insights
allows SMBs to track page views, number of fans, removed fans, wall
posts, discussion topics, reviews, photo views and much more.
Like with any marketing activity, it is important to track what is
happening on your Facebook Page to see what works, what doesn’t and
where you should be spending more energy fixing or further developing
to ensure continued business interest and growth.
Case study – successful use of business Facebook page
Matisse Art for Hair is a hair salon located in the residential suburb of
Zillmere, Brisbane. Odette Liphgow, the sole owner of the salon, who
admits she’s not extremely ‘tech savvy’, believes her salon’s Facebook
Page, which she set-up just four months ago, has already helped to
build better relationships with existing clients as well as attract
new ones.
“Facebook is a great option for small businesses because it’s so
affordable. It offers our business the ability to share information about
promotions, launches, product specials, hair tips and new services with
our customers and people who are really interested,” says Odette.
SingTel Optus Pty Ltd ABN 90 052 833 208.
Odette believes her business’ most successful use of Facebook was for
a recent promotion around their Indian Scalp Massage service.
“We posted the promotion and some information on the Facebook page,
and customers would visit the page and comment on how much they
loved the treatment. The comments posted resulted in both online
recommendations for the service and more bookings. It was great to
see such direct results and our customers sharing their feedback with
each other on our page. It reinforces the power of word of mouth and
shows this also exists online.”
Odette says she would like to further develop her online skills to take
advantage of the benefits of social media for her business, especially
as she views it as one of the few ways to publicise a business without
having to pay for it.
“I want to expand our use of social media in the near future so we can
continue to create greater brand awareness online and reach even
more potential future clients,” she concluded.
A marketing tool that can no longer be ignored
The low cost of starting a Facebook Page means it is hard to ignore
the potential benefits on offer. However, while there are lots of
opportunities with Facebook, it should be approached like any
marketing activity – with a strategy is in place. Before beginning,
establish key objectives and metrics to ensure the results meet
desired outcomes.
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