Bridget Willard | SaaS Marketing Agency

Category: Facebook Pages

  • How to Set Up a Facebook Page: The work is in the Preparation

    So, why should you have a Facebook Page for your business? How do you set up a Facebook Page? Isn’t it just a profile? What are people doing wrong? How can they fix it? Easy Answer: Go here and follow their prompts.

    Disclaimer: These kinds of things change often.

    “I have a Facebook account. Do I really need to be a Page?”

    If you are a business, church, politician, service, organization, dog or anything resembling any of those, you will want to create a Page. It’s a violation of Facebook’s Terms of Service to use a “profile” as anything other than your true self. It protects the user’s privacy and that’s a good thing.

    If you want to start using brand awareness campaigns, that’s great. You can get some traction for only $20 a post, if your audience is right. This is also another reason why you shouldn’t buy likes or followers, but that’s another blog post. Make sure your Facebook Page is optimized and that you’ve cultivated an organic following.

    “The Brand Awareness objective is great for campaigns that target your top of the funnel – acquisition audiences, and mainly prospective customers. These are the coldest audiences, who have no idea who you are.” Madgicx

    Sucessful Facebook Pages are Intentional

    For your Facebook Page to be successful, you need to start with intent. There is more work to prepare than to actually set up the actual page. Like most things in life that are overwhelming, the best approach is to break them into small, achievable tasks. Think about a cooking show. What’s the sequence of events? What comes first? Who will do that task?

    1. Who is going to manage the Facebook Page?

    Decide beforehand who is going to manage the page. At least two people should be admins (to back one another up). Like I told my friend this weekend, it’s work, make no mistake. Often our friends will ask for our help without fully realizing what this new project entails.

    Who will respond to requests? Who will be on standby for answers? It is a big responsibility. The Pages Manager App makes this a bit easier but won’t let you interact with other Pages you like (as of right now).

    2. What kind of Facebook Page will it be?

    If you’re an artist, choose “Artist, Band or Public Figure.” Choose the one that seems most reasonable to you. It can be changed later. If you want people to check in to your location choose “Local Business or Place.”

    Depending upon what kind of Page you select, Facebook will prompt you to the next questions.

    3. What are your Facebook Page’s details?

    Just the deets, Jeets. All kidding aside, have a text file ready with your phone number, address, mailing address, website address, contact emails, bio, mission statement, and about all ready to go.

    About will show under your page. Try for under 80 characters.

    You could skip this part but then your friends wouldn’t understand why you’re inviting them to a Page they know nothing about.

    4. Are your images ready for your Facebook Page?

    * Disclaimer: Facebook changes a lot and the image sizes with it.

    You will need two images to start: a profile photo (which is square if it’s a logo) and a cover photo. The profile photo needs to be square. The cover photo should be 851 x 315 pixels large. This changes a lot but the most recent, easy-to-read guide is by Jon Loomer.

    Facebook really wants your cover photo to have very little text on it. For my Facebook Page, I just have an awesome photo I took of the Harbor which is the same image I’m using on my Blog and Twitter headers, too. (See The Twitter Set Up Guide to learn how to set that up.)

    If your logo isn’t square, make one. Have your graphic artist make one. All of the social networks require a square photo. It’s nothing new.

    5. Who will create content to share on your Facebook Page?

    There is a big difference between creating content and managing a page. Many of us do both. But they are different responsibilities. You’ll want to have that conversation.

    Creating content is writing, making a video, taking photos, and writing the text.

    Curating content is finding articles, videos, and photos elsewhere to share. Beware of right-clicking on images from other Pages and sharing them as if you created it. That’s a big-time copyright infringement issue. SHARING the same photo from a page onto yours maintains their rights as owners. The technologies we use may have changed but plagiarism has not. But you learned this when you were turning in reports in 7th grade, right?

    6. Do you still want to make a Facebook Page?

    If you want to create a Facebook Page, follow Facebook’s step-by-step instructions. You’ll need 25 likes (from people, not pages) to get a custom url (go to facebook.com/username to customize) and 30 for insights (analytics). You may want to ask your peers privately, don’t spam your whole Facebook Friend List.

    7. How do I get likes on my Facebook Page?

    Ask your Facebook friends nicely and infrequently to like your Facebook Page and give them a reason why. Begging for likes is annoying. If you are starting a Page, there’s a reason. Surely, you have at least 25 people who will like it.

    You could post, “Hey, I just started this page and I’d love your help to get to 25. Thank you.” with the link. People respond to that. But just post it once or twice.

    If you use Twitter or another social network, post there, too. For sure, include a link to your new Facebook Page it on any blog or website.

    8. What are Facebook Page best practices?

    Don’t share the same content at the same time with other networks (automatic cross-posting). It’s poor form and shows that you’re not present. Resist the temptation. We will think you don’t know what you’re doing.

    Do not connect Twitter to Facebook or vice versa. They are vastly different cultures. You’re playing with fire here.

    How often should you post? People vary in opinion from 1-3 times a day to 3-4 times a week. Either way, the volume is a lot less than it is on Twitter.

    Be helpful. Your posts should be a great resource.

    Be humorous. Within reason, this is a good way to make your audience smile.

    Share others’ content. It’s a social network, remember?

    Find out when your audience is online. This is the tricky part and, depending on the type of Page you have, your audience will vary. Lunch customers would like to know things around 11 am. My audience is mostly business people who don’t care about anything unless it’s 9-5 M-F. Does it stop me from posting at 1 am on a Saturday? No, but I’m a rebel.

    Oh. Don’t like your own posts. It’s tacky. (Word to mobile users. If you are a Page admin and you see a post while on FB mobile you will be liking it AS THE PAGE. Annoying, but that’s how it is now.)

    Good luck and have fun.

    Updated 10/29/2020

    Ruby at Social Success Marketing made this infographic and included it in her post:

    how to set up facebook page social media infographic

  • The Value of Your Online Ambassador (Why It “Costs” So Much)

    Social media managers are your digital ambassadors. That’s why it costs so much. You’re asking them to be you and speak on your behalf.

    You’re a small business owner thinking you need to be on social media, not totally convinced of its worth (yet), but you know you need it. You may even realize you need help.

    So, you find and contact a social media manager and get a quote. But now you’re in a coma because you had an entirely different expectation of the cost.

    You think, “It’s just Facebook? Why is it so expensive?”

    Just like in any line of work, there are people with experience and people who tell a good story. In my experience, I’ve run into very few truly good social media managers. I am very picky on who I will refer when I’m asked to take on an account.

    Some thoughts:

    1. You don’t have time for social media. This is why you’ve sought help in the first place.  How much is your time worth?
    2. You don’t have the skills needed (yet) do do social media yourself. How much is it worth to you to get the accounts going?
    3. A good social media manager needs to brainstorm with you and come up with an overall strategy and ideas on how to tactically achieve that goal. Some people are naturals.
    4. A good social media manager shouldn’t be afraid to try new things, use humor, yet show discretion. This usually comes with age and experience.
    5. Many times social media managers are not permitted (because of non-disclosure agreements) to reveal their clients. Look at their Twitter and Facebook accounts.
      1. Is their account alive?  For example, when’s the last time they tweeted?
      2. Are they polite? Do they thank people? Do they retweet others? Do they respond to comments on their own brand’s Facebook Page?  This is known as “engagement” in the industry and “being a human being” in real life.
      3. Does their account feel professional to you. Read a sampling of the posts.
      4. Do they use proper grammar? Do they make a lot of spelling mistakes or overly rely on texting syntax?
      5. The truth is that you do what you practice.  If their own brand isn’t done well, then why would you think they’d do a better job on yours?
    6. A social media manager is your brand ambassador. They act in your place, as if they were you, online. This includes customer service, relationship building, passive (or active) lead generation, and public relations.
    7. When they meet you do they push their own agenda or have ideas that will specifically help your type of business? The truth is not everyone should be on Pinterest, for example. But if it’s good for your industry, you want to make sure the social media manager is competent on that platform.

    When you consider these factors, is the price they quoted to you really too high?

    If the price is still totally out of your reach, then start teaching yourself. Although, many of the people I refer offer scaled plans or coaching sessions to get you started. Additionally, have a list of “required reading” as well as my own “how to” posts scattered throughout my blog.

    There is a Chinese Proverb that says,

    “The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now.”

    Your competition is online. What’s holding you back?

    rawpixel.com

  • Want Friends? Be A Friend. My Go-To Social Media Advice

    If you want to have friends, be a friend. Give without expecting. That’s how you rock social media. It’s really just that simple.

    If you want to have friends, be a friend

    Social media, by its very nomenclature, is social.  For a relationship to exist there needs to be reciprocity.

    Do you have a Facebook Page? Log in as your page and like other pages.

    Do you have friends on Facebook, blogs you read, friends on Instagram? Spend some time reading and commenting on other posts and photos.

    Why comment when you can just “like” a post?

    In many ways, clicking “like” is akin to seeing a friend across a room and smiling and waving.

    There’s nothing wrong with it; it’s rather pleasant.

    But you won’t grow your relationship unless you start talking to each other. In fact, the other person may even come to resent or just ignore you.

    That’s where commenting comes in.

    Why not just try it?  What could you possibly lose? I believe that you’ll notice a spike in activity as a natural, organic result of “friendly” behavior.

    Guru Lesson: If you want friends, you have to be a friend.

     

  • How to Link to Your Company Page on Your Facebook Profile

    Have you ever wondered how to link your work in the about section of your profile to your company’s Facebook Page?

    Here are the steps:

    1. Go to your profile (not page, profile).
    2. Click “About.”
    3. Click “Edit” under “Work and Education.”
    4. If your current job is listed delete it.  Otherwise skip to next step.
    5. Where it says “Where have you worked?” in the blank box start typing the name of your company.
    6. If it has a Facebook Page, it should be suggested.  (If not, you just type it in anyway.)
    7. Click on the suggested page.
    8. Fill out the job title, description, and dates.
    9. Click “Add Job” and you’re done.

     

     

  • Facebook for Business – I don’t want to be your friend. By @TheFabulousOne

     

    When I saw this post on Amy’s profile, I had to ask permission to cross-post it here.  Often we just need to hear the fundamentals of social media to reinforce what is true.

    I’m not an expert. I’m an enthusiast when it comes to Social Media and Facebook. For my personal brand, I prefer Twitter, but that’s another post altogether.

    Nothing frustrates me more than getting a friend request from a business, group, band, restaurant…whatever. Why?

    Because it is wrong.

    I realize nobody reads Terms of Service when they sign up for ANYTHING. I only do about 50% of the time I sign up for something. But, if you are any of the above mentioned, you are violating those terms by making a regular account (where you have to add friends) and, basically, doing it wrong. Not only that, but you’re limiting yourself.

    1. A regular account can only have 5000 friends. If you have a business (or band, etc.), do you want to have LESS THAN 5000 customers/fans??? What business wants to put a limit on that?
    2. A fanpage (the RIGHT way) allows people to “like” you and they don’t need a friend request or to add you as a friend. Don’t you want people to see what you do right away? Aren’t you trying to make it in this world? If people have to wait for a friend request to be granted, they’re going to lose interest and go ELSEWHERE. Straight to your COMPETITION.
    3. You can have multiple people as admins, meaning more than one person (a trusted person, mind you), can update the profile and respond to posts. You can add/remove them SUPER easily.
    4. Fanpages don’t annoy me. That’s safe for everyone on the planet.

    I’m not the best at what I do. I can’t even claim to be an expert, or a guru, or even a goddess. What I can say is my life is social media. It’s my paycheck, my personal brand, and what the majority of my day is spent on.  I know what’s wrong and I know what’s right.

    Do what I say. Oh, and don’t send me a friend request from a business. Or a band. or a bar. Or a restaurant.

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