Series 4, Article 8
It will be much easier to create your Facebook Business Page if you do a little homework first. Figure out what will turn your Facebook fans into paying customers and what will turn your paying customers into Facebook Fans.
If you are a Bookstore, adding detailed information like address, store hours, and comments about new books being released will be appropriate information to share. If you’re a band or a film, adding songs and videos is key. If you sell a product, photos of your products with reviews and prices will make a big impact. Gather the types of information that you want to include and you can always add more later.
Choosing the right name for your page is very important because this is how your fans will find you. If McDonald’s named their page McD’s in order to be cute, less people would find it. Make sure you use a name that your fans will recognize. The name of the Page should be the exact same as the name of the business, organization, product, band, or individual.
Then pick the category that best fits what you’d like to promote on Facebook. Don’t worry if you don’t find a perfect fit, but pick the closest match since you won’t be able to change your category. Then click “Create Page”.
Next, click “upload a picture” near the top and upload the graphic or photo that best represents you. This will be seen as a thumbnail in the News Feed when your friends interact with you. A logo, storefront, or group photo may work well. Make sure the image is still clear when reduced to thumbnail size. If your page is about a person, use a photo of them. If it is a business, use a recognizable logo. Now, if the logo is in a long horizontal format, it will end up very small or even cropped off if you upload it to be in the square profile photo format. Redesign your logo wording to fit in a square format or use just a graphic that is recognizable for your business. Such as McDonald’s using only the golden arches.
Then, the most important step in creating an interesting Facebook Fan Page is adding information. Click “Add information to this Page” under the profile picture and enter as much basic and detailed information you can think of. The fields available will depend on your Page type. The more details you can add about who you are, what you do, and when and where customers can buy your products, the more successful you will be.
Like User Profiles (personal Facebook pages), Business Pages have multiple tabs. By default, your Page has a Wall tab for you and your fans to share content, an Info tab for you to share business information, and a Boxes tab for application modules.
You can choose to use Facebook applications, such as Photos, Reviews, and Discussion Board. In addition, applications built by outside developers can be used as Page tabs. (I will cover more of these in the next articles.)
The more rich content you add, the more ways users can interact with it and share it with their friends. Post photos of your products, your employees and/or customers, the latest events you’ve held at your store, etc. Add video clips of your bar or restaurant in action. ‘Behind the scenes’ content is always fun, like photos of the employees doing inventory, or decorating for a party, or painting the front door. List an event for your grand opening or in-store sale. Write a note about upcoming promotions. The choices are unlimited!