Social media marketing is big. And Facebook remains the largest social media platform with 2.45 billion active users in a month.
With so many users, as a business it is a great way to access people and get them to find out more about your business. Whether you use it as an extension of your customer service, as a way to sell your product or a way to distribute your content, a Facebook business page can play a valuable role in your social media marketing strategy.
In this blog we look at how you go about setting up a Facebook business page and why you’ll need to ensure you have a personal profile in place before you can get started.
Can you set up a Facebook business page without a personal profile?
The short answer to this is no. Facebook will not allow you to create a business Facebook page without a personal account.
Facebook’s website states that ‘Before you create a Page for your business, you must have a Facebook profile’.
How do you set up a personal Facebook profile?
If you don’t have a Facebook account, or choose to set up a new Facebook profile from which to create your Facebook business page you will need to follow these instructions:
You will need to create an account with Facebook. To do this:
1. Navigate to Facebook.com
2. Add the information requested under ‘create an account’
3. Select Sign Up
4. You’ll then need to confirm your mobile number or email address
You can then set your privacy settings accordingly. Your privacy settings can determine what people see about your profile in search results, who can see what you post etc. This is a useful guide to privacy settings on Facebook to refer to when setting up your page to ensure you get the right level of privacy for your profile.
As it will be possible to access your business page via this profile you will want to keep your account secure. As always ensure you use a strong password. You may also want to consider some of the extra security options Facebook offer such as two factor authentication or alerts about unrecognised logins.
Read this article to understand the difference between Facebook profiles and Facebook pages.
How do you create a Facebook Business page?
Once you have created an account with Facebook you can then go on to create a Facebook business page.
You must first log in to your Facebook profile. Navigate from your home screen. If you are creating your Facebook business page from a desktop you create your page in the following way:
1. From the top of your profile you will see a link called ‘Create’. Click here and choose ‘Page’ from the drop-down menu
2. Next you will need to choose a name for your page. This will most likely be your businesses name
3. You will then be prompted to choose a category for your page. This should describe your business type e.g. Restaurant, e-commerce website, insurance company etc.
4. Then enter information about your business that you are prompted for – address and contact information for example.
5. Next you can add a profile picture for your business. This should help people recognise your business from search results for example. Facebook suggest using your logo so that the page is recognisable as linked to your business.
6. You can then add a cover photo. This will be a larger image so will allow you create an image that really shows what your business and your Facebook business page are about.
7. Your page is created!
Creating your Facebook business page from a mobile device is just as straight forward. Instead of navigating from your home screen you need to navigate to the menu icon in the bottom right of your screen:
1. From here, select ‘Pages’ and then the ‘Create’. Hit ‘Get started’.
2. Choose a category for your page
3. Name your business page
4. You can then choose to add a link to your website (if you have one/want people to be able to link through to your website from your Facebook business page)
5. Add profile pictures and a cover photo
6. Your page is created!
Other things to keep in mind when creating your Facebook business page
Once you have created your page, you can then choose to edit different features. Key areas to keep in mind include:
Get your category right – This will appear below your Facebook page name in search results. It can help people determine if your business page is relevant to what they are looking for so it’s important to get it right and ensure it is reflective of your business. Can’t decide – Facebook say that you can choose up to two more categories if there is more than 1 which you think your business fits into.
Add a page description – Facebook say this should be a short introduction to your business and what you do. It should be only 1-2 sentences long. It will be displayed in search results when people search for you online. And on your Facebook page, it will appear in the about section under your profile picture.
Choose the right template for your page – Facebook now offer a range of templates for business pages. They state that these can help get the right content in front of your users. They also determine which tabs your users can access on your page. If you are using the standard template it may be worth looking at the different templates to see if one offers a better layout for your page.
Make sure you have a simple username – Every Facebook business page will have a username. The username can be added after facebook.com/ to allow people to come directly to your page. It’s therefore important to keep it simple and memorable – especially if you plan to add it to other marketing activity.
Create a strong Call to Action (CTA) button – These can be added to pages to encourage users to take a desired action after visiting your page. E.g. buy now, download now, book appointment, contact us.
Once you are happy with your page, get started on adding content for users to find when they come to your page – this could be photos, videos etc. Anything which users will engage with and encourage them to your page and keep coming back. You can then start working on your posts. Inviting your friends to like you Facebook business page can be a good way to start building a following and community.
And just one last point from us! Facebook do like to update things on a regular basis, so a good resource to refer to for all of the most up to date information is Facebook for Business.
If you are looking for someone to help with your social media marketing strategy and social media management, then chat to us at ACES Marketing. We offer social media management alongside other digital services and focus on helping you to grow your business.