I can no longer think of a single person I know who does not have a Facebook profile (okay, maybe one, but only one!). I could not have said that even one year ago. It is staggering how quickly this phenomenon has caught on, and its only going to increase in popularity as the many ways it can be used both personally and professionally continue to expand, along with the number of active users. What does this have to do with your business? Everything.
With more than 600 million active users logging on each day, Facebook hosts more traffic than any other social media site in the world. Having a well optimized and managed page on Facebook is an essential part of any business’ online marketing strategy. However, because Facebook is a social media platform, it’s different from marketing methods you may have used in the past. It is not a direct marketing tool in the traditional sense, it is a community building tool, and the Facebook pages we can use to build these communities are not the same thing as the personal profiles most people have on Facebook.
Facebook Pages vs. Profiles
In general, Facebook profiles are for people, and pages are for businesses. Personal profile pages have friends, which require mutual acceptance, while pages can be “liked” by anyone without having to go through an approval process. Once a person “likes” your page, they become a part of the community on your page. While personal profiles currently have a 5,000 friend limit, pages have no limit to the number of people who can like your page, which means you can have as many people engaged with your business on Facebook as you can attract.
Personal Profile Page
Facebook Page for Business
Pages are also better for business because they are public, which means they are indexed by Facebook and major search engines like Google, allowing people who search for your products and services to find your page. In addition, pages are categorized by the type of business or brand, which lets your business appear higher in more relevant search results.
A few other key benefits of having a page for your business are that they:
- can be promoted through inexpensive Facebook ads
- can be seen (and found through search) regardless of whether or not a visitor is logged into Facebook
- can have multiple administrators assigned to manage them so they are not controlled by only one person
- allow you to message all community members at once by sending an update
- let you engage directly with your current and potential customers
- enable you to build a loyal community around your brand
- allow you to engage your community through discussions, webinars, polls, and contests – all of which are virally spread among the friends associated with the members of your page
Finally–and one of the most important and exciting things about Facebook for business–is that pages are extremely viral. When your page members interact on your page, by responding to a post or participating in a discussion for example, these interactions appear in their friends’ newsfeeds. As these friends interact with your page, the amount of time and frequency in which your page appears in the newsfeed continues to increase, and allows more and more friends of friends the opportunity to be exposed to your brand–through their own trusted friend connections.
Facebook gives you an unprecedented opportunity to reach and engage with a loyal community of people who have given you permission to stay in their newsfeed and at the top of their awareness. Keeping an active presence on your page and making sure to listen to your page members by responding to their questions and concerns, and giving them an opportunity to be rewarded for interacting with your page (through perks, discounts, or special recognition for example) are just a few of the many ways you can keep the momentum going and growing as you continue to explore the ever increasing ways you can use this powerful platform to grow your business.
Do you have a Facebook Personal Profile Page, a Facebook Page for your business or both? What has been your experience? Tell us on the Inside Web Marketing Facebook Page.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I had a FB page, but I kept losing access to it and didn’t receive any assistance from FB. It was very frustrating and occurred off and on for months. I finally deleted the page, because it became a hassle for me to maintain a profile and a page and since my profile always worked, I stuck with that. I would love to have a business page, because having one more think indexed would be wonderful, but I just don’t have the time.
I’m looking forward to that changing as FB makes updates and makes things easier for us! They always are
Hi Kimberly – sorry you had that experience. It sounds like there might have been something glitchy going on at the time, but I bet it is resolved now. Let me know if you have any issues the next time you try to set up and I’ll see if I can help you out! Cheers ~Norma
I really enjoyed this article. One of the big things that I like about using social media is that I can get instant feedback from people. People seem to immediately update their status with things that they like or dislike. It’s incredible! I liked you statement about how viral your Business Page can become. It’s so true. Thanks for posting this!
Take care,
Jeff
http://www.reydean.com/blog
Jeff recently posted..Comment on Twitter Decoded – The Definitive Guide To Marketing On Twitter by admin
Hi Jeff – thanks for your kind word. Yup, I totally agree–Facebook is great for instant feedback! Cheers ~Norma
I had a Facebook business page a few months ago. The problem I had with it was that I couldn’t moderate comments, and my business page was certainly not where I wanted to have posts by bitter people. I’ve been meaning to see if there’s a way to control such comments. Any ideas? I would love to have a page up again because, like you said, it’s a great way to reach many people.
Hi Sharon – you can delete any comment on Facebook – just hover to the right of the post and click the x that appears. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to write something negative on your page…you can also block a person if you find one person is being a pill. Let me know if this answers your question, if not we can have a chat.
Great post! Very true. Plus, social media is not just for companies that have the experience, staff, or budget. Anyone can tap into this resource!
Steve MacDonald recently posted..Social Media Training Tip 10 – WordPresscom vs WordPressorg
You know I agree, Steve! Facebook may be big business – but the platform serves business at all levels and with the right knowledge, even the smallest business can reap a huge benefit! Cheers ~Norma