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Facebook Pages
Facebook describes Pages as “a voice to any public figure or organization to join the conversation with Facebook users...a public profile lets users connect to what they care about.” Facebook Pages are used by celebrities, bands, sports teams, corporations, films, nonprofits, and those users who have exceeded the friends limit on their personal profile pages.
When Facebook originally launched Fan Pages, it had limited features and looked different than regular profiles. However, as more people flocked to Fan Pages, Facebook changed from Fan Pages to Pages and updated them so that they now resemble a regular profile. Pages allow the administrator to customize the tabs, add in basic information, and control whether fans can post on the wall, upload photos and videos, and other security controls. They also provide you with analytics (information and fans and posts) called Insights that are not available for personal profiles.
One of the biggest changes to the Pages was when Facebook created the Facebook Markup Language (FBML). Besides the other features of FBML, one of the ways that it can be used is to alter the look, feel, and behavior of Pages. You can now also do this with iFrame technology. Some of the best examples of Pages are described in Chapter 10, “Best in Class,” on the Best in Class users, Pages, and Groups.
Getting Started with Your Facebook Page
Now that you’ve decided to create a Facebook Page for your company, similar to the setting up of your personal profile, you should take a number of steps to ensure your Page is set up properly. The following are some tips to help you get started:
Create your Facebook Page—The first step is to create and classify your Facebook Page. Start by clicking on the Pages option in the lefthand navigation of your Facebook homepage. You may have to click More to find this option (Figure 3.1) You can also reach this page by going to http://www.facebook.com/?sk=pages
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Figure 3.1 Go to your Pages section by clicking on Pages in the lefthand navigation.
This takes you to your Pages section (fig 3.2). Once you’ve created pages or been made admin of pages, you’ll see of list of them here. This dashboard view tells you about notifications, total likes, and daily number of active fans.
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Figure 3.2 Your Pages dashboard, with up to date information about each page.
From there, you can click on the Create a Page button.
This will take you to the Create New Facebook Page section of the website (see Figure 3.3). Choose the best classification for your Page:
- Local Business or Place
- Company, Organization or Institution
- Brand or Product
- Artist, Band or Public Figure
- Entertainment
- Cause or Community
In every case, when you click, you’ll have to enter more specific information. For example, the local business or place asks for address information.
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Figure 3.3 The six main types of Facebook Pages. Here we’ve clicked on “Local Business or Place” to show you an example of the type of extra information you’ll be asked to enter before continuing.
Next, provide the name of your organization. Ensure that this is the name that you want to appear as your Facebook Page. You can’t change the name after it’s completed. Your only option will be to delete it and start all over again (trust me, many businesses know this from experience). When you have carefully selected and typed in your name, you need to confirm that you have authorization to create the Page by providing an electronic signature.
You are now ready to start setting up your Page. You should spend time branding your Page, configuring all the options, and tweaking to your liking before telling the rest of the world about it. Put your best foot forward to start out and then continue to improve as time goes on.
Configure settings—Again, similar to the personal profiles, Facebook allows you to configure a lot of settings (see Figure 3.4). Take some time to run through each of the sections and tweak to your liking. The first view of your new Page actually gives you six steps to complete:
- Add an image
- Invite your friends from Facebook
- Tell your fans by importing contact information
- Post status updates
- Promote the page on your website with a Like Box
- Set up your mobile phone so you can update the page from anywhere
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Figure 3.4 This is a new page for a fictional Social Media Coach. Facebook guides you through six initial set-up steps. You can also see links for Insights and advertising to promote the page in the righthand navigation.
Upload your logo—Because this Page is set up as an extension of your brand on Facebook, you need to use your corporate logo as your default profile picture. This logo can be 200 pixels wide and 600 high. Select the thumbnail carefully. This thumbnail version will be shown besides all your status updates.
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Figure 3.5 The Facebook Page for a motivational speaker. Note how the full 200x600 image gives his book some extra exposure, but the thumbnail is selected to focus on his face.
Upload photos—Do you have photos of your offices, your staff, or anything else related to your company? Create a couple of photo albums and upload the photos for everyone to see. Remember, not only are you trying to establish a presence on Facebook for your brand, but you’re also trying to humanize your brand. One of the easiest ways to do this is by showing the people and physical office spaces that help your company to function on a daily basis. Also, if your office space sucks, it might be good motivation to switch things up a little.
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Figure 3.6 The Marriott Napa Valley Hotel has nearly 500 photos to give you a better idea what you’re in for when you book with them.
Additionally, if you have photos of your products, especially in action, or screenshots of your software, create an album for them as well. You can provide a short description of each photo or screenshot; therefore, it’s a good way to continue informing people that land on your Facebook Page before you try moving them off and over to your website or another landing page. You have to hang out where everyone else feels comfortable hanging out. That means that if your prospects, customers, and fans enjoy hanging out on Facebook, you should provide all the resources possible on your Facebook Page for them. One of the ways you can do this is by uploading photos and screenshots of your products or services.
Upload Videos—Do you have client testimonials, product demos, behind-the-scenes videos of your operations, commercials, or interviews? Use the publisher on your Facebook Page to upload them (see Figure 3.7). Uploading videos takes longer than uploading photos. But, it is another great form of media that you can share with your prospects, customers, fans, and even employees. If you’re not streaming all these videos already on your corporate website, your Facebook Page is a good place to bring your videos from all across the Internet together. Some pages don’t automatically show the Videos option in their lefthand navigation, so you may need to go to Edit Page, Apps, Edit Settings for Video, then choose (add) next to Available (Figure 3.8).
Figure 3.7 After you choose a file to upload, Facebook launches another window. Once it’s uploaded, you can enter information about the video. After Facebook processes it, it will show up on your Page.
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Figure 3.8 Making the Video tab visible in your Page’s lefthand navigation.