The Practical Steps to Creating a Facebook Business Page to Engage Your Customers

If you don’t have a Facebook Business Page you are regularly updating, what are you thinking? With over 3 billion active monthly users, Facebook isn’t a channel you want to ignore as a business owner. In addition to its large audience, Facebook offers a variety of marketing possibilities to fit any business.

Here are some reasons your business needs to be marketing on Facebook:

• Wide audience reach: Facebook’s massive user base provides businesses with the opportunity to reach a diverse and extensive audience.
• Targeted advertising: Advanced targeting options allow businesses to reach specific demographics, interests and behaviors.
• Customer engagement: A Facebook Business Page enables direct communication with customers through comments, messages and reviews.
• Brand awareness and loyalty: Regular updates and interactions on Facebook help in building brand recognition and customer loyalty.

To get started with Facebook marketing, the first thing you should do is to create a free Facebook Business Page where you can engage with your customers. Use your Facebook Business Page to update your customers, publish information you think your customers will want to know, connect customers to your products and services, and even provide customer service.

But it’s not going to do you any good to just throw any old thing up on your Facebook business page. Follow these tips to create an effective page that will engage your audience.

Initial Set Up of Your Facebook Business Page

• You’ll need a personal Facebook account to set up your business page. You will manage your page from this account. So, before you do anything else, log into your personal account.
• Once you’ve logged in, go to the Facebook Pages In the upper right hand corner, choose Create New Page. After each set of information you complete, click the Next button to go onto the next set of information.
• Complete the required information with includes your page’s name, category and description. Then click Your page’s name, of course, will normally be the name of your business.
• Complete optional (but oh so necessary) information such as address and contact details, location and hours.
• Add profile and cover photos.
• Your profile photo is probably going to be your company’s logo. Your cover photo should of course be a photo related to your brand such as a photo showing an array of products. Of, if for example you have a restaurant, you might want to show your food or happy people dining in your establishment.
• Edit the call to action button to what makes sense for your business. It might be Contact Us, Shop Now or whatever action you want your visitor to take.
• Invite your Facebook friends to your page.
• Click Done.

Structured Content Strategy

Now that you have your Facebook Business Page set up, you need to be consistent in what you do with it.

Determine Type of Content

Determine what kind of content you are going to post that will further your business. Everything you post should not come across as a sales pitch. In social media, you want to concentrate on giving your customers information that is valuable or interesting. You may want to plan content of various types. For example, you can post industry news, promotional posts and posts that invite user-generated content.

Make a Schedule

How often do you want to post content? You need to post regularly in order to keep your page active.

What will be the frequency for each type of post? For example, do you want to publish three industry news posts for every promotional post?

Source or Develop Great Visuals

Visuals are just as important as text. Use exciting images and videos to capture and keep attention.

Engage with Your Audience

Don’t just post content and forget it. Respond to comments and messages. Engaging with your audience increases loyalty and encourages more interaction.

Facebook Insights

Regularly check your Page Insights to understand your audience better. You can find out what your audience likes and tailor future posts in that direction.

Some of the important things you can track over the time period you select include

• Reach: The number of people who saw your content.
• Engagement: The number of people who engaged with your posts in various ways such as clicking, commenting or sharing.
• Net followers: The number of new followers minus the number of unfollows.
• 3-second video views: The number of times that your videos played for at least 3 seconds. If your videos are shorter than that, Facebook will tell you the number of times your video played for 97% of their total length.
• 1-minute video views: The number of times your videos played for at least one minute.

Facebook Advertising

Of course, you don’t need to just wait for people to find your Facebook business page. You can reach a larger audience and drive people to your Facebook page (or other destinations (such as your website) with Facebook advertising.

And of course, you can boost posts you make to your Facebook business page to reach a larger audience also. Facebook offers detailed targeting options so you can boost your posts according to demographics, roles and interests that make sense for your business.

Facebook Business Page Advanced Features

Look for ways to make your page stand out to your audience, make it easy for them to use. At the same time, optimize it to best fulfill your business’s goals.

• Custom Tabs and Apps: Add custom tabs and apps to your Facebook Business Page for additional functionality, such as email sign-up forms or e-commerce integration.
• Facebook Groups: Consider creating a Facebook Group linked to your Facebook Business Page. Groups are a great way to build a community around your brand.
• Live Videos: Use Facebook Live to engage with your audience in real-time. This feature is excellent for product launches, behind-the-scenes looks and Q&A sessions.
• Collaborations and Partnerships: Partner with influencers or other businesses and tag them in your posts to expand your reach.

Need Help Creating and Maintaining Your Facebook Business Page?

Creating and maintaining a Facebook Business Page is a dynamic process that requires regular attention and adaptation to the platform’s evolving features and audience preferences. By following the steps outlined in this guide, business owners can create a powerful online presence on Facebook, effectively connecting with their audience and driving their business goals.

But you don’t have to do it alone. Contact Umbrella Local through our website to schedule a free consultation with an Umbrella Local Expert or call (646)440-1426.