After last week’s webinar on “Creating a Social Networking Strategy For Your Organization,” clients and attendees asked me how they should get started with social networking. It can be a daunting task when you consider all the platforms, and the additional work needed to keep the pages populated. A simple way to get started is to create a Facebook for your organization or company.
- They’re called Business Pages on Facebook and they need to be connected to an individual profile. Click on Create a Page for My Business at the bottom of a company page. I recommend selecting Category = Brand or Product, then select Professional Service. Choosing this category will let you enter the year the organization was founded, as well as provide an overview, mission and product information. If you choose other categories, you are likely to only be able to enter the hours of operation and a URL. And once you choose a category, you can’t undo it! Thankfully, if you make a mistake, you can just not publish the page or delete it.
- I recommend uploading a company logo to dress up your page. Gif images don’t display properly, so upload a jpg instead. The logo on the Matrix Group Facebook page is 720 x 720 pixels.
- Facebook lets you write on your wall, enter notes, post events, upload photos and videos, even host discussions. But here’s the challenge: chances are, you’re probably already entering this same information elsewhere (e.g., on your Web site, on YouTube, etc.). So the trick is to use one of the zillions of Facebook apps to integrate your Facebook page with other sites. For example, we use MyFlickr to automatically bring in photos from the Matrix Group Flickr page into our Facebook page. Just know that these third party apps can be a little flaky and there is little support should you run into trouble.
- The magic of Facebook comes from the fans. You’ll want to Share your new Facebook page with your friends. Be sure to tell them how you are going to use your new FB page and encourage them to become fans. When a person becomes a fan, you now have the ability to “Send an Update to Fans.” Since fans don’t automatically get notified when you post a new note, photo or event, use the Update feature to let your fans know about new content. Be sure to ask your staff and network to share your FB page with their networks.
- Remember that FB business pages are connected to indvidual profiles. So if the staff person who manages your FB page leaves, your Facebook page will go with them. So I recommend creating a generic individual profile and connecting that to your business page.
In a future post, I’ll share ways that we’ve helped clients create successful Facebook pages that are distinct from their Web sites. In the meantime, if Matrix Group can help you navigate the social network maze, be sure to drop us a line.
P.S. Here are some posts you might find helpful – Updated 2017:
- Getting Started With Facebook Live
- What We’ve Learned About the New Facebook Pages
- Become a “Fan” Has Been Replaced with “Like” on the New Facebook Pages
- How to Increase “Likes” and Interactions on your Facebook Page
I hope you find these posts helpful as you set-up and manage your Facebook page. Please do keep commenting and send me suggestions for topics you’d like me to blog about in the future!