7 Steps to Get Your Company Facebook Page Up and Running

The world of social media can easily become overwhelming. What to do first? Then, what to focus on? What next?

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, the use of social media is absolutely vital for your business. So if you want to be successful, you’ll have to get used to the idea that social media must become and remain a staple in your business marketing strategy. You can thank Google’s algorithm for its focus on all things social. And I wouldn’t bet on that formula de-emphasizing social media anytime soon. In fact, the focus on social will only become stronger in the coming years, as our society further integrates social media into our daily lives. Communication theory is a whole ‘nother conversation for another day, though.

In later posts, we will get into the concepts, theories, strategies and best practices used in search engine optimization (SEO), social media optimization (SMO) and social media marketing. But for now, let's start at the beginning. Here are 7 steps to get your company Facebook page up and running. Twitter and LinkedIn will be up next, in later posts. 

Ready? Here goes:

1. Claim your vanity URL.

This will change your URL from something nonsensical like facebook.com/2359846/stormwater245656 to facebook.com/stormwatersolutions. Go to facebook.com/username to be instructed on how to claim your custom URL.

 

2. Update the profile photo (the smaller, square image shown below) to a consistent, branded image—a logo would be best.

And don’t keep changing it; you want people to be able to recognize you wherever you appear on Facebook just by seeing the logo or other consistent image of your choice. Ideally, you would use the logo that appears on your company website—consistency and recognition are key here.

3. Update the cover photo (the larger, rectangular image) with a branded high quality image that works well with the profile photo.

It pains me to use this example, but selecting a proper match between cover photo and profile photo is comparable to picking a matching shirt and pants (you should've seen that coming). You can't wear yellow polka-dotted pants and a red striped shirt, not that I’m implying you would dare make such a horribly distasteful decision.

Color comes into play here, as well as the actual design of the top and bottom items of clothing (polka dots and stripes). Same goes for the profile photo and the cover photo. That was painful, wasn't it? It's all over now, don't fret.

So to move us away from clothing and onto the issue at hand, make sure the cover photo and profile photo match—including colors, photo angles, design, and even concepts and theme representation. You obviously want to showcase something that represents your brand or some aspect of it. NBC could've chosen a cover photo of some peacocks to go along with their logo in the profile photo, right? That would match, color-wise, yes, but NBC is no zoo. So obviously important here is to have a cover image that accurately represents the company or industry, as well as looking nice alongside the profile photo.

4. Insert your company's website URL into the company description right below the profile photo—this way it will appear prominently and clearly on the page.

People will not spend the time digging around on your Facebook page to find your website URL. If you don’t serve it to them on a silver platter, they will not take action (no offense intended, it's just reality). The goal is to make it as EASY as possible for readers to take the actionable steps that you want them to take. This greatly increases the likelihood that people will actually take that action. Even if it’s not something that particularly matters to you, like clicking on a link for ‘more information,’ people will get annoyed if that link is not clickable (it’s such a tease).

Make everything as easy as possible for your readers. They will appreciate you for it (even if you they don’t tell you), instead of curse the computer screen when they have to copy, open up a new browsing window, paste the URL and conduct the search themselves.

5. Use the tabs available to the right of the profile picture to add more visual variety/interest, color, and to drive users to take the desired actionable steps.

Also use the tabs to add more content for people to sift through—photos, videos, webinars, events, etc. Use this space to plump up the page, give it some more meat and content for people to dig through.

6. Make sure your Facebook page is a company PAGE, not a profile.

Profiles are for people, NOT companies or brands. Also avoid using a 'group' page format. A company page is the ONLY thing you should be using for your...you know, company.

 

7. Start posting! 

But before you jump in head first, a few things to keep in mind: 

+ B2B posts on Facebook tend to generate the most interest around 11 AM.

+ 51% of Facebook users are more likely to buy from the brands they follow.

Which is why it matters to get your company page noticed and liked. Page likes → your posts can show up in someone’s new’s feed → audience engagement, shares, likes, comments, etc. → more likely to show up in that person’s news feed and others’

+ Photos of women do better, clicks/shares-wise.

So if you have a choice between a photo of a man or woman, choose the female! Sorry guys (not).

+ Short posts (caption length) do the best, with Tweet-length posts doing the worst.

Best to worst:

1. Caption-length (a few to several words)

2. Much longer

3. Tweet-length - the worst!

+ As the complexity of post increases, shares, likes and engagement DECREASE.

Write simply, plainly, but WELL. Don’t dumb it down, just keep it simple and straightforward. Don’t use ornate, fancy words simply to sound smart; it actually has an opposite effect.

+ Positive posts do the best, but neutrality does the worst.

Negativity does better than neutrality because it often sparks debate, comments, shares, etc. But overall, positivity ‘sells’ on Facebook.

+ Popularity of posts:

1. Photos - Facebook is the biggest photo sharing site on the Web

2. Status

3. Video

4. Link

But if you must post a link, use a photo or video along with it

 

+ Videos do best on Facebook (vs. videos on LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.) 

 

Source: http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2012/9060/social-sharing-best-pract...

The last important point to keep in mind is this: 

On Facebook, 100% of your posts will NOT be seen by 100% of your fans and followers. Unlike Twitter, Facebook has an algorithm in place that determines which posts and activities will get promoted in any one person’s news feed.

The algorithm results in a different news feed for every person, but there are a few factors that affect the likelihood that your followers will see your posts:

+ The timing of your posts. Timing matters. If you want your posts to show up in people’s news feeds at 8 a.m. posting at 1 a.m. that morning won’t do you any good.

+ The amount of engagement with followers and fans.

The more engagement you get in the form of likes, comments, and shares, the more likely it is that the post will show up in the news feed of others. These ‘indicators,’ that tell Facebook that other people enjoyed that particular post, gives Facebook the confidence that if they share it with other people in the group, they may enjoy it too. Facebook is all about creating an enjoyable experience for the fans and followers, not for you as a company. They couldn’t care less about you, although they’d never tell you that. 

+ The type of post impacts the likelihood that Facebook will choose to feature it in someone’s news feed.

Photos and videos are favored big time. If you’re posting a status or link, at the very least, assign a photo or video to it, if possible.

So there you have it.

What other steps do you deem important when getting your Facebook page up and running? Share your thoughts and comments below.