Every small business can benefit from a Facebook presence. Meta, previously referred to as the Facebook company, boasts a grand total of 2.91 billion monthly users. This offers small companies a variety of techniques to advertise their products, improve customer service, and drive sales and popularity through their Facebook pages.
It may be hard to take advantage of Facebook for a small business due to the fact that the regulations and formulas of the platform are constantly changing. Despite this, proper methods can make Facebook a superb option to utilize social media platforms for business purposes.
One of the biggest advantages of Facebook is that its potential to reach a specific demographic with paid campaigns and ads. The platform stores a lot of data concerning its users which can be beneficial when aiming advertising at them. In addition, setting up a Facebook Business Page can be a powerful small business promotional tool.
What is a Facebook Business Page?
A Facebook Business Page provides companies with a free platform to create a website and increase their online visibility. Your Facebook Business Page has the same abilities as a personal profile, such as sending and receiving messages, making announcements, getting alerts, and reacting to posts of other users with likes, sharing, and leaving comments.
Given the sheer volume of businesses that are represented on Facebook, it’s necessary to make your Page special so that it will draw lots of attention to your business. If you are uncertain as to whether the effort to make your company stand out on Facebook is worth it, the potential advantages of having a Facebook Business Page will sway you to devote some time.
How to Create a Facebook Business Page
To create a Facebook Business page, follow the instructions below:
1. Create a new business page
To start, sign into your private Facebook page, and pick Pages from the left-hand side selections.
Click the “+Create New Page” button.
If you cannot locate this choice, click here to go right to the page maker wizard.
2. Provide a name for your page
The next thing to do is to assign a title to your page. This will be displayed on your enterprise page, web browser, and when you post or interact with customers using the page.
When choosing a page name you should note the following:
- Your page name must accurately define what the page is all about. It’s your brand’s identity on Facebook so choose wisely. In the majority of cases, the name of the page should be the name of your business or organization.
- Don’t use a brand name that belongs to another company. Only official representatives of a brand can do that.
- Don’t use all capitals, this is against Facebook guidelines.
3. Choose page categories
The following procedure is to decide on one to three classifications that depict your type of organization or the primary focus of the page.
Begin typing words related to your company to view the categories that are available.
It is essential to select a relevant group when attempting to boost visibility on Facebook. Facebook employs this data to present your page and posts to those who have demonstrated interest in issues related to the categories of your page.
The first classification you pick out will show at the header of your page (underneath the title of the page), so be sure that it is the most precise.
4. Provide a page description
Tell readers in 255 characters or less about the content of your page. Explain to clients the activities of your organization and the products/services you are supplying. This page’s details are automatically visible in the left side panel upon viewing the page.
Once you have finished, press the “Create Page” button to generate your page and move on to the following steps.
5. Add page logo and cover image
The subsequent step is to incorporate a logo (profile picture) and a background pic.
To add a logo:
Hit the Image symbol depicted above and either pick or upload your profile picture.
- Your profile image should be square with a minimum size of 180×180 pixels.
- The image will be automatically cropped by Facebook to a circular shape when viewed in the user’s timeline so make sure that there is enough space around it.
- For better results, you can upload an image that is 360×360 or 520×520 pixels.
- On computers, it will show at 170×170 pixels and on mobiles 128×128.
To add a cover photo:
Click the Edit icon as shown above.
- The minimum size is 400×150 pixels but for best results use an image that is at least 820×312.
- For better resolution use 1640 x 614 pixels
6. Customize call to action button
The following phase involves altering the button used to prompt an action. The illustration beneath the main pic is visible when someone scrolls down the page.
Press the “Edit Action Button” and pick from one of the available choices.
7. Claim your unique username (Page URL)
It is significant to assign a distinctive name when establishing a company page on Facebook.
The name you gave your page can be seen below its title and also in the address of the page.
When you first set up your page on Facebook, they will give you a username that is complicated and hard to recall, and it won’t do anything to help people locate your page. By tailoring your username, people can locate your company, but by its name.
To modify your username, press the “Edit Page Info” choice in the left tab, and subsequently press the username field.
Enter the username you want in the box, then click outside it. Facebook will verify if the username is both available and acceptable. If your chosen name is approved, you will see a green checkbox; if not, there will be an error message indicating a problem.
The guidelines for business page usernames are:
- Each page should have a unique username.
- You cannot use the username of a known brand, organization, or public figure.
- You cannot use the official name of another business.
- Usernames cannot contain generic terms or extensions (.com, .net).
- Usernames can contain alphabet characters (A-Z), numbers (0-9), and periods (“.”).
8. Edit page info
The next step is to review the rest of the options available in the “Edit Page Info” screen to provide additional information about your business, such as:
- Phone number
- Location – If you’re a local business, make sure you provide a business location.
- Service area
- Opening hours
- Privacy Policy
- Links to your other social media accounts (Instagram, Twitter, etc)
9. Review page settings
The last thing to do is to become familiar with the typical page settings. Search for the “Settings” selection in the menu on the left to accomplish this.
When you press on the button, you will see that there are a range of new choices available for managing numerous aspects of your page. You can go over each of the choices individually to examine or alter their configurations.
In most situations, no adjustments will be necessary; however, it is strongly suggested to examine all the options carefully at least once.
10. Publish your first post
Well done! You have successfully built a page for your business on Facebook! Now you’re ready to publish your first post. Hit the “Create Post” button and put out your first business communication.
At this point, it is highly probable that no one will view your post since the page has no supporters. Your next move should be to employ some tactics to expand your Facebook followers.
Tips for Placing Facebook Ads
We will center our attention on optimizing the performance of your Facebook ads since boosted posts have limited possibilities. Nevertheless, a lot of these strategies are also suitable for increased posts.
1. Set goals for ads.
Advertisements are most successful when they have an unambiguous goal. Setting a well-defined goal will assist in monitoring the performance of your ad and can be used to evaluate if changes need to be made to your promotional activities. In other words, some companies prefer to use advertisements to gain public attention, whereas others prefer to get people to interact with relevant content or links.
Facebook provides two types of ads, dynamic and lead, to assist companies in meeting their objectives. Ads that vary depending on the product catalog and target individuals who expressed curiosity on your website are being advertised. Lead advertisements provide people with a simple way to obtain the data they are trying to find.
2. Select your audience and choose the location.
In order to reach the appropriate people, it is necessary to specify the scope of the advertisement. You can tailor the people you reach on Facebook by selecting parameters like geographical area, age and gender, hobbies, activities, and personal links.
The place you are situated in can be a great help when it comes to designing a local marketing plan – as this can help you target those who are in close proximity to your business who may see your offerings as being more applicable and suitable than those who live in a different region or nation. Demographics can help you select the age group, sex, and occupation of the people who are your intended audience.
Utilize interests, conduct, and connections criteria to further limit your target audience.
Did you know? Facebook is the most advantageous platform for contacting an elderly population.
3. Set your budget.
Previously stated, Ads Manager is a utility by Facebook created to manage ad campaigns. You are able to obtain ads for Facebook, Instagram, and Audience Network by using the service, which will showcase Facebook advertisements on other companies’ applications.
You need to design an advertisement, then submit it to the bidding system of Facebook. The ad auction enables you to specify the specifications of your ad delivery, such as your budget. Work out how much you need to put aside each day and throughout a given length of time.
The amount of money you would like to spend on your advertisement when it is seen or interacted with has to be determined through Facebook’s bidding process. This amount is referred to as the “bid”, and it is the most you are willing to pay.
4. Create compelling ad copy.
In advertising, the quality of your writing is paramount, and the same holds true for Facebook advertisements. No matter which advertisement you go for, the copy must be specifically tailored to appeal to your target audience and draw their attention. In order to be successful in this endeavor, it is essential to understand the specific audience you are aiming for and the desired outcome.
Here are the primary written components of your ad:
- Headline: Start with the headline. Don’t fill it with a boring list of features or blatant marketing jargon. Instead, make it conversational and engaging. When developing your ad, the field listed as the headline is essentially the first sentence above the image; it needs to be as good as the first line in your favorite novel if you want people to keep reading instead of scrolling past.
- Description: Use the description field to combat any anticipated objections. This text will be prominently displayed beneath the image and is easily visible without the viewer clicking to read more. If viewers learn that your offer is completely free or has a money-back guarantee as they are scrolling, you may get them to stop and reconsider.
Remember to tailor your writing for different groups of people, regardless of whether the offer stays the same or not. It is important to experiment with various options and analyze them to figure out which is the most successful.
Tip: Prioritize simplicity in online ads . A straightforward advertisement is better at grabbing someone’s attention than a complicated one.
5. Use images and video.
If you wish for people to focus on your writing, you need to use visuals that are attractive to look at. This can be an artfully chosen image that describes your offer or company in a visual way, or it can be a compelling video that people will be eager to view.
If you are going to use any pre-existing images, make sure they are of excellent quality and relevant to the message in the advertisement. Facebook has stringent regulations regarding shapes and sizes of images, as well as the number of words that can be featured on advertisements.
Video is frequently a more profitable choice of advertising for your Facebook campaigns. Viewers enjoy viewing videos over the internet, and editing videos is now simple due to the ever-enlarging range of user-friendly video-editing applications.
Advice: When placing pictures and movies in your advertisements, make sure you are not violating any copyright laws otherwise the originator of the content may be able to sue you. Prior to using an image, make sure it is free-use or get the appropriate permission from the content creator.
6. Create Messenger ads.
Promotions on messengers are relatively new in the advertising world, meaning this is a great moment to join the trend. The great aspect of Messenger ads is that they can be sent directly to individuals’ Messenger app, surrounded by messages from people they care about, such as friends, colleagues, and relatives. This is a place with a cozy atmosphere that one can still feel a strong connection to, mostly since few companies utilize this tool.
It is important to remember the sense of closeness when designing ads for Messenger. To achieve the best results, it is recommended to use a chatbot service to construct entire campaigns. This practice allows you to query your patrons or bestow something advantageous upon them. Then you can devise a process that guides them further down the sales funnel rather than providing a heavy sales pitch, more like a friend that is providing guidance.
7. Learn the fundamentals of Facebook advertising.
The targeting capabilities of Facebook ads have improved significantly over the last few years. In the beginning, people used trial-and-error methods to craft Facebook ads. Now the platform permits you to opt for the sort of advertisement campaign you intend to initiate, having precise aspirations and specific target groups.
You have the option of running varied iterations of the same advertisement in order to decide which one works best, and you can limit your expenses by strategically assigning your financial allowance on a daily basis and by ad.
If this all sounds complex, that’s because it is. It is essential to devote the necessary time and understand the basics of correctly establishing your campaign. Stunning copy and attention-grabbing graphics are no longer enough.
Knowing the fundamentals of the way Facebook ads work is valuable, but if you do not have the time or resources to monitor and manage them effectively, speak to someone familiar with marketing these ads.