Recently we have been getting an influx of questions regarding social media for Small Businesses. A lot of smaller companies have started to delve into the waters of social media and are coming up short and somewhat lost. Here at JUMP we have a group of highly trained professionals that can manage, monitor and maintain all of your social media accounts, but I think it is valuable to know the basics of how each account is set up and how it can work to promote small and large businesses alike.
The first tool in our social media arsenal that we are going to look at is going to be Facebook. Most people already know that in this day and age you have to have a business presence on Facebook. So once you get your business page, what happens? You first need to make sure you have both a relevant cover photo with a description and a logo to use as your profile image. You will need to update your about section and make sure it links to your site. Conversely, you also need to link your site to your Facebook company page.
Don’t worry about users/potential customers seeing your unfinished page. You can make this page private while you are setting everything up. Once all of your images, descriptions, etc. are added to the page, you can begin trying to get other users to follow your page. Remember the most successful posts keep customers/prospects coming back for more so try to make the post visually engaging and something that your followers will want to see.
The easiest way to get followers is to ask for them. You are seven times more likely to gain followers by asking them if they will follow or like your page. You can also check out the “Build Audience” tools within the admin menu. Facebook also has the option to promote specific posts and pay for ads to your target demographic. Additionally, you can create coupons through Facebook that can be redeemed online.
Once you have followers Facebook has a great tool in the Graph Search. It can identify fans, learn about hobbies and interests of fans, identify competitor’s fans and potential business partnerships. You can also find people to connect with and ask for follows. There is a great article on Social Media Examiner that goes into more detail on the benefits of the Graph Search (http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/facebook-graph-search-marketing/).
Those are the basics of getting your company presence on Facebook. For more information on setting up a business page check out the Facebook help here: https://www.facebook.com/business/overview.
