When planning your social media strategy, it is almost always a good idea to set up a Facebook page for your business. On average people around the world spend 20 minutes a day on Facebook. People in American spend twice that amount of time. Your current and potential customers are already there, so it makes sense to meet them there.
Some things to consider before setting up a page. Do you have the time to devote to managing it? By this I mean at minimum one post a day (3-5 are ideal), interacting with those that take the time to comment on your page, and taking the time to find the ideal things to share, create images, write new content, etc.
The first step to set up a Facebook page for your business is to head over to Facebook’s Create a Page and get started. You will be met with these options:
Depending on what your business is, these options may make your choice easy. They each have different category options, so play around with them to see what the best fit is. The Local Business or Place option is good if you have an actual storefront or office. This also allows users to leave a review for your business, so keep that in mind when choosing.
As an example I’m setting up a Facebook page for Gluten Free Veggie, my personal project. It is mostly food based so I chose Brand or Product and then Food/Beverages from the category selection.
Click Get Started and you will be taken to the first set up page. You will have the option to put in a brief description, your website (or landing page), and a custom Facebook address. Try to get your brand name here. You can change the description and your website later, but the custom address can only be changed once. You may need to be slightly creative. My first choice was chosen so I added a word to mine.
The next step is adding your profile photo. This may just be a headshot of you, if you are your brand. If not, then head on over to Canva, my favorite image tool, and create one. You will upload it here.
The third option is to add your new page to your favorites. This will make it easier for you to find and manage, but isn’t necessary. I prefer to do so.
The last option is to set up your Preferred Page Audience. This can be a great way to get your posts in front of those people that you are targeting. The options include Location, Gender, Age, Interests and Language.
For my page I might not include a specific location, age or gender, but will add a focus on the keywords of gluten free, veganism, vegetarianism, vegan diet, etc. These options can all be changed later.
After you hit save, it shows you your brand new page along with some tips on how to set it up.
You can either like your page, as your personal profile right away, or wait until you finish setting it up before you do so. It is always pretty neat to be the first like on a brand new page, so click away. The only reason you may not want to do so is that sometimes Facebook will show that you liked it in the newsfeed, bringing your friends to the page before it is ready.
There are a number of things you want to work on right away. The first is a cover photo. Again, Canva is great for that. They have a number of preset templates to work with, it is very user friendly, it offers some free images and elements, and the rest start at $1.
The banner that I made only cost me $1 to make. You can certainly create a nice one with all of the free options. I find their prices to be very reasonable. After uploading my new cover photo, I am not sure the profile image works, but I can change that later.
The next thing to work on is the About section. You can get to it by clicking the About in the menu under the cover photo. You can add whatever you think is relevant information here. It is not necessary to fill them all in, as the ones you leave blank will not appear to visitors. You do want to fill in the Topics section, the short description, the long description, and perhaps your phone number and email address if you would like people to contact you that way.
The short description shows up on the main part of your Facebook page, so it is pretty important because all of your visitors will see it. It is limited to 150 characters, so you want to be concise. Add in a call to action to visit your website or newsletter signup landing page.
You have more room in the long description to talk about what your page is all about. You could add links to all of your other social media sites there, an opt-in offer, or other call to action.
You can also visit this section if you ever need to edit your category, name, website, etc in the future.
Back on the main page you will see an Add a Button option on the cover photo. Click on it.
This is a really important thing to set up. You can add a link to your storefront or opt in offer.
You have a number of options with this button including Call Now, Contact Us, Send Message, Shop Now, Sign Up, and Learn More. It is a good idea to test to see which option works best for you. Your Page analytics will tell you how many people have clicked on the button too.
Once you have completed all of these steps, then it is time to start posting. After you seed your page with a few posts (these can be links to blog posts you have written, images that you have created, links to relevant posts on other websites) then you should invite your friends and family to like your page. My Mom and Dad always like my pages (thanks guys!) and new visitors are much more likely to like your page the more likes you have.
Congrats, you have your first Facebook page set up! Give yourself a pat on the back.
Please ask any questions that you have about setting up a Facebook page in the comments. I’ll do my best to help you out!
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