Beginners guide to running a Facebook business page
With more that 2.2 billion users, Facebook is the largest social network in the world. So if you want to expand your business, it’s well worth taking the time to set up a Facebook Business Page.
However, you need to do much more than just create a page; you need to manage your account on a daily basis in order to engage with your audience and promote your brand.
Here’s our guide to running a successful Facebook Business Page.
Pin your first post
It’s a good idea to pin a post about you and your business at the top of the page, so it’s the first thing people see when they come to your page. Once you have published the post simply click on the three dots and click ‘pin to top of page’. Ta da!
Create interesting content
Your page should be engaging and informative, with regular posts – so try to post something new at least twice a week.
You can also schedule posts using Facebook Publishing Tools, which is free. Scheduling multiple posts does take some time upfront, but it saves you time in the long run.
Content can include:
- Status: creating short, fun content about you, your business or your industry is a great way to engage potential customers.
- Photos and videos: these attract more attention than text alone.
- Notes: share blog-style updates by writing a Note.
- Milestones: celebrate important dates and events for your business by adding a Milestone.
- Facebook Live: with a live, streaming feed, Facebook Live lets you interact directly with people via video. This is a great way to help you capture customer attention.
- Stories: these are photos and videos shared from your Facebook page that can be temporarily viewed or shared for 24 hours. Sharing a story is a great way for your audience to engage with your day-to-day business.
Share relevant content
Creating original content can be time-consuming, so it’s a good idea to share relevant content from other sources that your audience will be interested in. It’s also a great way to network, as some of these sources might share your content in return.
Engage with your audience
In January 2018 Facebook announced major changes to its newsfeed algorithm. It now prioritises engagement, which means your posts won’t be seen unless they generate a conversation.
You need to create and share posts that will engage your audience, while responding to their comments. Great ways to create engagement are:
- Polls: these will also help you get to know your audience. Simply click on ‘write a post’, then click ‘poll’.
- Giveaways and contests: this is a great way to provide an incentive for liking and following your page. But be warned: before you post a contest or giveaway, make sure you understand Facebook’s rules.
- Events: running an event is the perfect way to get your audience’s attention. To help promote the event it’s a good idea to run an advert – see more on Facebook ads below.
Invite friends
Inviting friends to your page is an easy way to get your first 100 likes without spending money on Facebook ads.
Facebook ads
Speaking of ads, it is definitely worth spending some money to promote your posts. Facebook ads are the best way to reach your desired audience, because you can target your posts at a specific demographic. It then tracks the interactions on each promotion, so you can see what works and what doesn’t, which will help you develop successful campaigns.
Like other pages
Liking other Facebook pages will increase your reach, expand your community, attract new followers and find potential new opportunities for business partnerships.
Respond to messages
Messenger is an important customer service tool. Facebook tracks your response rates and times, so customers know how quickly they can expect an answer.
Messenger has several new tools and updates that make it easy for you to engage with your audience.
Use Insights
Facebook Insights is a free analytics tool that shows data that can help you determine the success of your social campaigns and improve your posts. This data includes:
- Actions taken
- Page views
- Page likes
- Number of people you’ve reached
- Number of post engagements
However, in order to use Page Insights your audience needs to engage with your page, before Facebook can tell you more about them. Once you have at least 30 likes you will be given access to this valuable tool.
When 100 people like your page, you can start ‘watching’ up to 100 pages, so you can to see how other businesses are performing.
For more great advice on managing your marketing get in touch to find out how we can help you big up your brand and engage with your audience.
