Small Business Social Media Logistics: Facebook

0 Comment(s) | Posted Feb 11, 2010 by Peter Wylie

Peter Wylie

Last week, we covered the basics on how a small business can set up a Twitter profile and begin using it.  In addition to Twitter, businesses that want to engage in social media marketing should set up a Facebook Fan page.  Maintaining accounts on both services helps expose your business to the widest array of potential customers and offers additional points of contact you can use to publicize your offerings.

Creating a Fan page is very simple.  Go to Facebook.com, and click “Create a Page” beneath the Sign Up form on the right side of the screen.  The next screen asks you to enter the name you’d like to use for your Fan page.  Use the name of your business so people searching for you can find you easily.  

If you already have a personal Facebook account, you can use that information to register the Fan page.  If not, just enter a valid email address and you’ll be registered through that address. 

Now comes the crucial part of developing a Facebook Fan page, and the part that’s the most fun.  After registering, you’ll stare at a blank canvas where you can begin editing the page.  Remember, the goal of your Facebook outreach is to find potential customers and community advocates for your business, so at every step in your design process, ask yourself if what you’re adding is serving that goal.

Some basics that everyone should add:

You definitely should put a logo or picture of your establishment that will give people an impression of the type of business you operate and what services you offer.  If you’re designing a page for a bar or restaurant, for instance, a picture of the front of the building will not give a potential customers a sense of the atmosphere in your business.  Instead, show a picture of a bustling night where people are enjoying the food and the space you’ve built.  A Fan page allows you to add additional pictures as well, so shoot and upload liberally, because accessing photos is one of the most popular activities on Facebook. 

In addition to pictures, add the location and operating hours of your business so that customers can find it easily under the Info tab.  Once you’ve added your pictures and info, you’ve set up the basics of your Fan page, and you’re ready to begin making updates and attracting fans to your page. 

Setting up an account is the easy part; building and maintaining relationships is a more challenging process.  We’ll cover the best way to maintain a Facebook Fan page in an upcoming post.

Filed under: Emerging Media, Online Communities, Small Business