With the half billion user reach of Facebook, most companies have realized they need to have a presence for their brand. This is especially true for any company operating in the business-to-consumer (B2C) space, like consumer brands, local shops and restaurants.
There are plenty of great benefits to setting up a Facebook Page and in this post I will assume that you have been converted so let’s get cracking with this Page business.
As opposed to a LinkedIn group, setting up a Facebook Page is very simple and it can be done in very few clicks of the mouse.
First off, you will need to have a normal (non-Page) Facebook account; your personal profile will do just fine. The Page you set up will be managed from within the personal account and login. You can actually set up as many Pages as you like from the personal profile.
Find the Pages application
The quickest way to navigate to the Pages section is to search for the word ‘pages’ and click on the application in the menu. That takes you to the Pages home, listing the most popular ones out there. For inspiration, we will note that Lady Gaga's Page has 22 million fans on Facebook.
Click on Create Page at the top right hand corner and a new screen appears.
Create your new Page
This is where you choose what type of Page you are setting up. I will assume that you are setting up a Page for your business and therefore we should tick Local business. If you are doing it for a large corporation or brand, go for that instead. And if you are setting up a Page for a cause, there is another type called Community Page.
You will be prompted to type in the name of the Page and this is where you have to be careful as Facebook don’t allow you to change the name once it’s up and running. If you want the Page to have a different name, you have to delete everything and start from scratch. So it’s best to have a think about the name a bit before you complete this step.
Upload an image
Now that your Page is up and running, go ahead and upload a picture or logo that represents your brand. Just like a personal profile needs to have a relevant image to get any traction, your Page needs one that your followers can identify with.
Some people recommend adding your website address at the bottom of the image, I wouldn’t do that myself as I don't think it looks either neat nor professional.
Fill in the description box
This box is similar to that of your personal profile, just a free text field that you can put your pitch into. Try to keep it simple, bullet points work fairly well here.
A tip here is to include your website address and make sure you include the http:/ as it will make it into a hyperlink (only www. won’t be clickable for some reason).
Fill in the information tab
This is a comprehensive tab and similar to the About page on your site or blog. Take some time to fill in a proper mission statement, value proposition and history for interested folks to learn more. Be sure to enter your website address as well for readers to click back to your homebase.
Create a landing page with FBML
This is slightly more advanced stuff that you can do with Facebook’s HTML version aptly called FBML. This allows you to redirect first time visitors to a designed page that could encourage them to sign up for a newsletter, hit ‘Like’ or even click back to your site.
Red Bull have gone down the not-so-subtle route which is absolutely fine and very much in line with their brand.
FBML can be useful for large brands that have special promotions or campaigns running, for a small business I wouldn’t worry about it for now as it can look a bit spammy unless you know what you are doing.
Add some extras
To give your target audience a reason to ‘Like’ your Page, you will want to make something special with it. This could be adding videos, images, your blog’s RSS feed or your company Twitter feed. Whatever it takes to make the Page come alive and look dynamic – this will get people joining up.
Domino's Pizza take it one step further and allow you to order pizza straight from the Page, a nifty feature which has boosted their sales quite considerably in the UK and Ireland.
Be your first fan
Once you have set the Page up, go ahead and click ‘Like’ so that your new Page has its first fan. Without the first fan you can’t actually search for the Page so it’s worth Liking it straight away.
Final steps
Although not a part of setting the Page up, promoting it is vital for its success. You will want to remind your target audience to ‘Like’ your new Page whenever you communicate with them. Add a Facebook icon to your site, blog, newsletter and email signature so people can click their way through to it.
Finally, you will want to customize the URL/domain name of your Page but this is only doable once you have attracted 25 people to join up.
Still unsure about why you should set up a Facebook Page? Check out the 15 Killer Reasons to Set Up Yours Today.
Any other bits that I have missed? Please let the world know!