Your Business Has A Facebook Page, Now What?

Great job for getting your business on Facebook! You now have access to an exponential amount of potential customers. But when it comes to Facebook, just having access isn’t enough. You’ve got to target and connect with your audience, captivate and motivate them. Not sure where to start? Don’t fret. The good news is that step one (creating a page) is done. The rest of the steps go like this:

Optimize the Basics

Take a few minutes to look over your business’s page and ask yourself these quick assessment questions: Are my cover and profile photos good representations of my business? Are they visually appealing and clear? Do they appear properly without anything being cut off? If the answer to any of these questions is no, fix it. Then move on to the About section. Read through what you have or write something, and make sure it provides pertinent information, has no spelling or punctuation errors and is easy to understand. Enter your business’s address, telephone number and any other contact information you’d be OK with people knowing. Then correct any information that’s out of date or wrong.

Develop a Plan

Feel free to start posting right away, but don’t wait too long to get a plan in place. After all, you should give your Facebook fans well-rounded, relevant and timely information to keep your business from becoming an annoying poster with nothing valuable to say. The best way to do this is to plan ahead. Try planning for the whole week, or even the month. Keep things loose, though – include room for emerging trends, upcoming events and other things you may not know in advance. But, if you can compose and schedule a majority of your posts in advance, you’ll create a consistent flow of information that will keep your fans engaged.

Make Your Presence Known

No matter how engaging your content, it won’t be much use if you have no followers. So be sure to promote your Facebook page via your other marketing and advertising efforts. For instance, you can use your newsletters, email lists and blog to let people know about your page. You can distribute cards or post an announcement with a link to your Facebook page at the point of purchase. Include a call to action with the link, inviting people to join your community. Add a link to your Facebook page to your email signature. If you’re on other social media networks, get the word out there. And, if your budget allows, you can purchase Facebook advertisements to promote your Facebook page.

Grow and Engage Your Fans

The truth is, that despite all the above efforts, people need a compelling reason to visit your Facebook page. So start thinking of incentives that will appeal to your target audience. Maybe all new likes within a certain date period will receive a coupon, or maybe there are special deals you’ll only alert your Facebook followers to. Consider going all out and holding a contest. Regardless of how you choose to make visiting your page worthwhile, every post needs to be relevant, interesting and helpful. Use your Facebook page to provide tricks, tips and informational content that has to do with your industry. Ask questions and invite feedback from your Facebook fans. And above all – respond! Every time.

Having a Facebook page is a great asset to your business. Unless you do nothing with it. Put these steps into practice and you’ll build a fantastic (and free!) marketing tool that can not only position your business as a trusted thought leader in your industry, but also build brand awareness and loyalty.