Status Update on Your Facebook Business Page: Nonexistent, Present, or Alive?

Key Takeaways

• Choosing a distinct media personality will help you publish engaging content on your page.
• Connecting and interacting with other business pages will help improve your own Facebook presence.
• Forward thinking is key, but remember to evaluate your progress.

Every business must evaluate, refresh, and develop  plans for improvement. When was the last time you did this for your Facebook business page? Having a page that simply exists for the sake of saying that you “Do social media” is not going to benefit your business. Here is a five-step plan to help you effectively utilize your Facebook business page.

Establish Your Social Media Personality

Depending on your business, the perfect online vibe can differ. Ultimately, you need to ask yourself: Who is my target audience? Once you have established this, you can decide whether you want your online personality to be purely professional, totally trendy, or light and laid-back. After you have chosen this personality, stick to it! Just as people do not appreciate wishy-washy in-person interactions, your audience expects consistency from your web presence.

Choose Content Wisely

Having developed your online personality, use this to guide your decisions on the best types of posts to reach your audience. Publishing content that will engage and interest your audience is key. Here are a few tips for publishing top-notch material!

• Herd toward website:
  One of your primary goals should be using your Facebook page to guide traffic toward your website. This is key to gaining repeat customers and converting browsers into clients. Consider this when posting: What can I post that will entice my audience to click on that link and explore my website? A video testimonial? A free tutorial?
• Entertain:
  Every single post does not have to be a sales pitch. You can provide inspirational and humorous material for your audience. People appreciate quick posts that will brighten their days, and this will lead your audience to associate your business with positive thoughts.
• News Filter:
  Whether you are in the medical, insurance, or landscaping field, there are news articles relevant to your area of expertise. Be a filter for your audience – search for the most interesting and relevant articles related to your business and share those on your page. Your audience members will be grateful that they are able to keep up-to-date on these topics via your page.
• Performance Enhancing Tool:
  When you are deciding on what content to publish, think about what your audience could find helpful in solving their problems. Whether this is a quick networking tip or an easy recipe, everyone enjoys learning new ways to make their lives easier. Of course, tips that are relevant to your business’s specialty are ideal.

Engaging with Media Friends

You meet a great friend; you call her every day and tell her all about yourself, but she never gets a word in besides hello. You can say farewell to that friendship! Friendship as a two-way street also holds true with your Facebook business page. You cannot expect to have successful Facebook relationships without participating in media networking.

Tip: Take the Active Approach

After logging into your personal Facebook account, go to the small drop down arrow in the top right corner. This will allow you to switch to your business’s account and engage as that user. Then, search for your business’s partners and local community pages. Has one of your employees volunteered at a local nonprofit? Do you have a close relationship with the other local shops down the street? Go like all their pages! Comment, like, and share their posts. This will foster a stronger web support from your business network.

Schedule Ahead of Time

This entire Facebook business page undertaking may seem overwhelming. Not only do you have to brainstorm quality and valuable content, but you have to keep up-to-date on other businesses’ pages as well. Do not fret. You do not have to sit down every hour to post. You are able to schedule posts ahead of time! Write your post as you normally would, but before you hit publish, select the drop down arrow on the side of the publish icon and choose a future date to publish your post. Creating an editorial content calendar on Excel is a quick and simple way to plan your posts for each week. This gives you the ability to visualize your posting schedule, ensuring that you are providing a variety of high quality content.

Analyze your Progress

This essential step is often forgotten. Devising a game plan for your Facebook page is key, but checking on your progress is equally important. Facebook offers analytical tools that serve as progress reports for your page. At the top of your page, there is an “Insights” tab, offering numerous graphs and statistics. The most useful starting tool is the Published Posts section. Here you can view three bars that measure the following: reach; post clicks; and likes, comments & shares. First, observe any blatant trends that pop out to you. All your 9:00 am posts are reaching 100 viewers while your 4:00 pm posts are only reaching three… Create a list of the most optimal times for posting. Then, check what types of posts are most popular for your audience. Do not be scared to repeat what has worked for you in the past!

Hopefully, now your own personal status update on using Facebook as a business page has switched from “… – feeling overwhelmed” to “… – feeling determined!”