COWBELL 10_18_10 Promote Your Facebook Business Page
We’re devoting this entire week to tips for Facebook so you can get your Business Page up and running well!
As soon as you have your Facebook Business Page set up (see the previous blog post or watch the video), and you’ve added profile information and a photo, it’s time to invite people to begin “liking” you.
You may remember that when businesses first started coming to Facebook, they needed a different kind of profile, so Facebook developed the Fan Page. However, some companies balked at finding “fans,” feeling that the terminology wasn’t professional or dignified. So, the vocabulary changed and now, instead of being a fan of a page, you click on the “Like” button. For our purposes, though, describing people who “like” a page as fans –rather than “likers” — makes more sense.
So, because the advantage of a Facebook Business Page is that people who “like” your page will then see updates about your business in the news feed that shows up on their wall, the more people that invite you into their news feed, the more exposure your business will get. So, it’s time to start building your fan base.
You can begin by promoting your Business Page to your current friends (those attached to you on your personal profile page) by clicking on the link below the profile photo on your Business Page. Your goal is not only to get your friends to “like” your page, but to encourage a few people with wide influence to promote your Business Page to THEIR friends, and thus the buzz begins.
Did you know that even people without Facebook accounts can view your Facebook Business Page? Once you have 25 fans on your Business Page, you need to claim your specific web address so it’s easier for people to find you. Go to http://www.facebook.com/username and choose the way you want your Facebook address to look. For example, if you own Mike’s Hardware store, you could choose facebook.com/mikeshardware, or facebook.com/mikeshardwareomaha, or whatever you think will be easy to remember. Just be sure to triple-check the spelling, because once you choose your URL, you can’t change it.
Be aware that when you go to claim your specific URL at http://www.facebook.com/username, you’ll first be asked to claim your personal profile URL, meaning the specific address for your personal profile. It’s the same process as choosing your Business Page URL, though you may not be able to claim your name if it’s a common name. So, if your name is Jane Smith, you may have to choose facebook.com/janepsmith or /janesmithomaha or /janesmith33 or whatever. Try to claim your name first, but if it’s not available, choose a suitable alternative.
Last caveat: just because you’ve built it and your friends have come, don’t think you’re finished. In the coming days, weeks and months, we’ll keep posting tips for how to promote engagement on your Business Page, which will in turn generate buzz and continue to grow your fan base, so stay tuned!
As always, post questions or comments and we’ll be happy to help!