How to Create a Facebook Page to Promote Your Business

Here’s the big question everyone is asking: Should I create a Facebook profile, Facebook page, or Facebook group? The short answer is that a business should have a Facebook page. Facebook groups are for people with similar interests and followers of a particular cause or event, and Facebook profiles are for your personal profile only. Everyone (business owner or not) must sign up for a Facebook profile to get started.

What is the difference? Facebook pages are for businesses in the same way that Facebook profiles are for individuals. Facebook groups joined by people who share the same interests or support the same cause. Pages are like a one page mini website for your business. The pages are well organized and direct for businesses, services, and even local musicians and bands. Pages allow you to reach a target audience in an organized, fast and efficient manner.

Have you ever visited a company’s Facebook page and noticed that it has thousands of likes, but the page itself has little or no content? This is a phenomenon of social networks in the sense that the follower of said Facebook page does not necessarily like the business or product, but by clicking the “Like” button, the product or business is exposed to all Facebook friends of that person and thus further defines the interests and likes of that person.

So, let’s get down to business, how do you use a Facebook page to promote a business? Just follow these easy steps.

1. Setting up your page: log in to Facebook. Click on “Ads & Pages”. Click on the “Pages” link with a small flag icon next to it. Select your business type from the drop-down list and enter a name. Click the “Create Page” button.
2. Customize your new Facebook page for your business (hours, directions, parking, description, website, phone).
3. Connect your Facebook page to a Twitter account.
4. Suggest your new page to your friends. Groups of friends, colleagues and family.
5. Run a Facebook ad campaign to promote your page. Pay per click, target market, demographics, etc.
6. Create your first post on the wall.
7. Add a like box to your website.
8. Use Facebook Insights and Analytics to measure data and user interaction.

Now that we’ve covered how to set up your page, how do you use it to promote your business? There are a couple of articles that I recommend.

First, make sure there is a visible hyperlink to your business website located somewhere highly visible on your page. Do not name your page:

“yourbusiness.com”, since we are not setting up a page for your website, but for your company. An appropriate page name would be “My Name Business, Inc.” or “Widgets, LLC”, etc.

Second, be sure to clearly post the type of business in the drop-down menus at the top of the “Information” page. This will help to clearly define the style template that Facebook pages will apply to your page.

Third, post your business hours. Be sure to mark which days it is open and which days it is closed.

Fourth, post your local phone number (s). Fifth, write a complete description of your business. Feel free to include a description of the most popular products and services you offer.

Fifth, start interacting with your Facebook page. Create some wall posts and make sure you have plenty of photos uploaded, especially a profile photo. I recommend using your company logo to keep it professional. Do not use your personal photos on your Facebook page.

And finally, make sure to invite all your Facebook friends! This is important. If you don’t send invitations, no one will be able to find your newly created Facebook page. Going beyond this step, you can hyperlink to your Facebook page on your business website and add a “Like” box as well. Facebook offers about a dozen different ways to integrate with your website. Good luck out there.