7 Tips for Optimizing Your Company Facebook Presence
If you’re on Facebook, then you’re probably aware that the social media behemoth just turned 10. Yes, this revolutionary creation of socially ambitious Harvard students is now a decade old. In that time, Facebook has gone from a fringe site for college kids to a mainstream social media monster used by more than a billion people worldwide. Let’s let that sink in—more than one billion.
That figure alone makes Facebook a powerful marketing option for small businesses. If you subscribe to the idea of finding your customers where they are—and, really, you should, if you enjoy making money—then Facebook needs to be part of your marketing plan.
Facebook offers a wide range of paid advertising and marketing options, but let’s start with the basics—establishing a professional, effective platform for connecting with your audience on the world’s most popular social media. Here are some tips to get you going in the right direction.
1. Brand your company Page.
It’s critical that your company Page is branded consistently with your company website and other marketing materials. You want people to immediately recognize that they have come to the right place, that they are viewing an extension of your brand. Don’t just slap up a random panoramic image, and assume that people will make the connection. They won’t. Visual branding is important, and it sets the stage for a meaningful connection with your audience. So make sure that Facebook (and all your social media) matches—and promotes—your all-important brand.
2. Claim your custom URL.
Part of the branding process is claiming the custom URL for your Page. This means replacing the random set of letters and numbers that follow www.facebook.com with a name that is relevant to your business. For example: www.facebook.com/campfiredigitalco. Here’s how to do this:
- On your company Page, there’s a button right beneath your cover image called “Update Page Info.” Click it.
- On the menu page that pops up, the second field is “Facebook Web Address.” Click “Edit.”
- In the space provided, type in the custom name for your Facebook Page. Usually this should be your company name, or a commonly used abbreviation of it. The custom will URL will look like this: www.facebook.com/yourcompanyname (again, for example, www.facebook.com/campfiredigitalco).
3. Link your Facebook Page to your personal profile.
No, you don’t have to merge your business activity and personal activity. Keep them separate, if you want. But Facebook does allow you to link your personal network to your business presence so people within your personal network can find your company and refer you business more easily. Here’s how:
- Go to your profile. On your cover image, there is a button for “Update Info.” Click it.
- In the “Work and Education” field, there’s a space that reads, “Where have you worked?” Enter the name of your company Facebook Page. Facebook should auto-populate some choices. When you see your company Page, select it.
- Add in your position at the company, your dates of employment and a brief description of the business. Don’t forget to add the company website address in your description. This is one more useful link to your business website!
- Click the box, “I currently work here” and then “add job.”
4. Include a Facebook “Like” box on your website.
Make it easy for website visitors to connect with you on Facebook. There are a lot ways to add Facebook Like boxes to your site as simple plugin, especially if your site is on an open source platform like WordPress. The best Like boxes allow users to click “Like” without bouncing them off your website. Yes, you want people to like your Facebook page, but you also want to keep them on your site so they can find whatever info they were originally seeking. If you have customized “thank you” pages or landing pages for certain campaigns, it helps to add a “Like” box to those as well.
5. Communicate with your audience in a genuine way.
A company Facebook Page isn’t a vehicle for peppering people with salesy messages. It’s a medium for connecting with your target audience and building loyalty to your brand. You do that by offering them useful, relevant information related to your area of work. If you’re a dentist, talk about oral health. If you’re real estate agent, discuss housing trends and how to find value in a home. Share information like you would with your real-life friends. That’s what social media is designed to do. Then, every once in a while, you can mix in a special offer or invite your contacts to participate in a promotion. But your posts should be about 80-90% informational and only about 10-20% promotional.
6. Give people a reason to like you on Facebook.
I always chuckle when I see a sign in a business that simply says, “Like us on Facebook!” Okay, why? What’s in it for me? You need to incentivize. Offer a special deal for people who like your page. Promise to help them with useful information. Give them a reason. For example, my kids’ pediatrician has a sign on the door that says, “Like us on Facebook for tips on staying healthy during flu season, plus the latest updates on outbreaks that could affect your kids.” Does that sound like useful information to parents who are taking their kids to the doctor? You bet. And they’re not even giving anything away, other than some useful information.
7. Make it easy for people to find your page.
Let’s go back to those “Like us on Facebook!” signs again. Another problem with vaguely asking people to like your page is you haven’t told them how to find it. Sure, people can log in to Facebook and search for your company Page using Facebook’s Graph Search. But why make them do that? Every extra step you make people go through decreases the likelihood of them engaging with you. Instead, put your Facebook Page’s URL on your sign, or better yet, a QR code that when scanned by a smartphone takes the person directly to your page. In online communications, like email, include your Page’s URL, or better yet, a Facebook Like button embedded in your email. Make it easy!