Who does not have Facebook today? Look around and look for that “weirdo” who still does not use this social network (it will cost you to find it).
With this huge volume of users, there is also an immense volume of potential customers. Many businesses are already taking advantage of the platform to grow, get an intimate relationship with their followers and sell.And you, are you doing it?
If not, you have arrived at the right place. With this Facebook guide for small businesses, you will learn everything you need to take your first step as a company in this social network.
# 1 Facebook for small businesses: it all starts with a fan page
Using Facebook for small businesses means having a content strategy already defined. The first step for a business is to set up a Fan Page because this is the kind of page that Facebook recommends for business.
On one hand, you will have your profile for the private management of your contacts, but for everything that is your business the right step is to set up a Fan page. Doing this is very easy: you can visit Facebook Pages directly and there you can register a page.
You will have to design two images:
The main image is the image that will appear when someone searches for the page and the highlight that will represent your business on Facebook. A size of 180 × 180 px is ideal for this image.
Cover image: This is the image that will appear at the top of your Fan Page. It is perfect for making promotions, redirecting traffic or getting attention on a specific topic. The ideal size is 851 x 315 px.
My recommendation is to put a picture of you in the main image and explain how to contact you on your blog or other places where you can be present through the cover page.
# 2 A landing page as the gateway for the first interaction
When people come to a wall where there are many comments, many contents, is a bit lost and does not know very well what to do.
Instead of sending it directly to the wall new views – people who are not yet a fan of yours – you can also create a landing page and mark it as the default page.
In this case, visits from people who are not your fans will end up on your landing page, a page specifically designed to make the user a fan before starting a relationship with your Facebook presence online. The idea is to improve the first contact that future fans can have with your business.
To mount your landing page you can use an application called Static HTML tab and that allows you to develop a professional presence on Facebook. Through this completely free application, you can define two views: the first view of people who are not Fan and the other for people who are Yes Fan. So your fans can get to your wall without having to see your Landing page again.
In the No Fan view, I recommend you put an image with a maximum size of 520 pixels (a size of 520 x 520 is a fairly common size and usually works quite well). This image explains how you can help people and encourage them to become fans of your page.
And with this same application, in the Fans view, presents a gift, an exclusive discount or the download of a small free document as a way to encourage people to become a fan.
# 3 What kind of content to use on Facebook?
Basically, the first thing you have to do is report new posts that you have posted to your blog. Do it manually, creating your own updates a couple of times a week, depending on how you have defined your editorial calendar on the blog.
You can also ask questions (there is a functionality called Questions ) that are very good to get feedback from your fans.
You can also share photos, videos and this is very interesting for all physical businesses such as restaurants, shops, but also for B2B (business to business). It occurs to me, for example, that presenting the digital machines of a press can have a lot of value, be it in photos or in the video.
Many businesses do not sufficiently use these resources that are frankly good and give a glimpse of what is behind, what companies sell and that is very positive.
You can share links and I recommend you not only share your own links but also if you have published an article in a blog that you thought was worthy of mention for people who follow you then … do it, share more than just your resources!
Try not to be too formal, not to scare away your fans. Be human, talk about personal and fun things. In short, do not be a pain.
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How many times a day do you have to do it?
Whatever you want. Usually, you realize that the more active you are on Facebook, the more benefit you get out of this network.
Nor is it about becoming a spammer: it all depends on your ability to bring value (I usually do it at most twice a day).
Very often, when I review projects on Facebook for small businesses, the topic of content is the one that most sins. They find it hard to let go and not write like a sales brochure.
It’s all about maintaining a lifelong professional relationship. Talk to when you have coffee or eat with one of your customers. Over time, that client has become a friend and with friends does not always talk about work, right?
No more no less. Do you see how easy it is? We continue to develop your future strategy on Facebook with this special Facebook guide for small businesses.
What tools can I use to create content quickly and easily?
There are numerous designer tools for non-designers. Many tools that will help you create content without spending too much effort or having to study a complete course of Photoshop.
I recommend using the following:
Canva : The best-known tool for creating content for any social network. Log in, sign up and you can create the cover, profile photo, Facebook Ads ads, and publications by dragging photos and editing text.
Paul: Do you just want a nice phrase and a nice background? Try Paul, the ultimate Buffer tool for creating content.
PicMonkey: collages, photo edits, filters and everything you want to do with your photos. And with trial 100% free.
Recite: If you do not like Pablo’s photos, Recite is your choice. Write an appointment or phrase and choose from the many templates to create your sentences in a matter of seconds.
You may also like to read another article on Buzzthisnow.com:8 Key Tips to Boost Your Digital Marketing Strategies
# 4 Getting More Engagement on Your Fan Page
Another very interesting resource for business is Facebook Ads, the platform for online advertising on Facebook in which you have two types of basic products: one is the traditional advertisement and another is sponsored history.
Both products have the idea of giving visibility either to your own Fan page or to an external web and tend to be able to catch more fans or refer you to a landing page that you have developed. Advertising on Facebook is quite cheap and has an exceptionally good segmenting capability.
You can segment geographic location, socioeconomic level, gender, topics of interest, you can target “Friends of your fans”, you can do a lot of things and I really recommend you, if you are a small business, launch a campaign of one 5 or 10 euros a day (you can control the budget you spend) because it can bring a lot of value for your business.
So, if you are a solo entrepreneur, think of facebook advertising to be able to grow in your “reach” in this social network.
For example, an interesting strategy would be to develop a Landing page, where you offer to register your newsletter, a document or a mini-course.
In this case, you can monitor the results of your campaign on Facebook depending on the subscribers who subscribe to your newsletter from Facebook, with which you can establish a cost per subscriber that is a very interesting metric to monitor, more interesting Than the cost per click on your ad.
You spend money on an online advertising campaign with the idea of growing your database of prospects. An investment more than an expense. Another point in favor of maintaining a Facebook activity for small businesses.
Discover how to advertise in
Facebook Ads step by step
Facebook ads checklist
Learn how to create a winning Facebook Ads campaign.
Keep a quick guide on hand to create your campaigns.
Start generating leads and customers with Facebook advertising starting today.
# 5 Where can I access my Facebook statistics?
Facebook Insights is equivalent to Google Analytics but within Facebook. It is the statistics section of your page and it is interesting to know a little about the activity that is happening there:
View the most successful posts
Know a little more about the user profile that is interacting with your content
Know if new users reach your landing page or your wall
Know which pages to visit
Know what external references bring you more visits and more fans
Finally, a series of interesting facts about the composition of your fans and the success of each of the updates you do on your wall because you can check the number of impressions or the interaction rate that your content has had, is an ” I like “that is a comment that has been generated.
Like any manager, you need data to make your decisions. Facebook Insights is your special Facebook small business dashboard.
# 6 Expanding off Facebook with social widgets
These Facebook social widgets basically serve to highlight in your blog the activity you can have on Facebook. There are several types of widgets: one is the “Like” button, which has recently been completed with a “Send” option to send to groups of users on Facebook.
These two buttons are quite valuable and I recommend you integrate them in your blog because they make it easier for people to share your content.
Another of the widgets used is the Activity Feed, where the faces of the followers of your blog appear and invite people who are not a fan to become a fan of your page.
As you can see, the conversations add to the conversations: if you present these resources in your blog, it is likely that your audience will grow on Facebook and on Facebook, what they are doing is sharing the contents of your blog because many people prefer to read The content directly on Facebook, a platform where they spend a lot of time.
Think of these resources offered by Facebook for free to integrate social information into your blog.
The third widget that I want to comment on is the comments thread, Facebook Comments, which allows people to leave comments to the posts you publish on your blog, but directly using your Facebook profile.
With this plugin is developing a thread of conversation through the comments they make on Facebook, which is very positive and allows you to have a very good alternative against spam in the comments.
There is a feedback effect of the conversations between your blog and Facebook. It is a positive effect. Try to take advantage of it.
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# 7 Advanced Uses on Facebook
The first is the use of Apps: if you have a budget and a good idea, developing an application for Facebook can be very positive for the visibility of your business and is a good way to enter into a more intimate relationship with your fans. You should know that the applications have access to many user profile data that are fans of this application and you will be able to know much more data about the people who use it.
Of course, this has a cost of development and integration important but also the value for your business is superior.
I think it is feasible for many businesses, not for self-employed or people who undertake alone or who just launched a business, but for a restaurant, for example, integrating an application to reserve tables can have great interest or people share their cocktails Favorites with the bar where they will spend time.
You may also like to read another article on Buzzthisnow.com:18 Business ideas that you can start almost without money
# 8 Turn your fans into subscribers
A Facebook fan is something volatile. It is a person who is a simple step of not having any contact with you and even being a fan, you may only see 7% of your publications.
Is it a very sad statistic, right?
For this reason, you should try to take all possible traffic from your Facebook page to your blog or website.
And there, you must turn your fans into subscribers by email, since in this way you can contact them when you want and how you want.
How can you get it? Very easy: following all the tricks I present in this free guide.
Click on the image, leave your email and you will receive it in a matter of seconds.
# 9 Get Ready
You do not need anything else to start working with Facebook. Follow these steps and your community will grow slowly around your page. You will generate more confidence and your customers will see you as a company closer.
And if you liked this marketing guide with Facebook for small businesses, I’ll just ask you a favor in return: could you share it on Facebook with other small companies so they can use it too?