A Step-By-Step Guide to Facebook for Business
It’s a no-brainer, isn’t it? Facebook offers businesses free exposure on what is currently the biggest social media network in the world. That means a potential audience of 2.91 billion people who use the platform to shop, interact, find services, engage with communities and find new ‘stuff’. Why wouldn’t you want to know how to use Facebook for business?
Small business can really benefit from a presence on Facebook; there are numerous ways that Meta enables them to promote their products or services, enhance their customer support and boost sales. Worried about the setup? It will take around 2 hours and, in this article, the Outsource Your Marketing team will take you through the whole process, of how to use Facebook for business, step-by-step.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Facebook for Business
If you’re considering setting up a Facebook page for your business, it’s useful to know just what’s involved in the process. Once you know the investment required you can decide whether to:
- Use in-house expertise to support the Facebook page.
- Choose outsourced expertise to set up and manage the page.
- Use an alternative platform that requires less investment of time and resources.
What is a Facebook Business Page?
Facebook’s business page is like a supplement to your website which expands your online presence. You can post updates, receive notifications, send and receive messages, and interact with other users.
Given the number of businesses with a Facebook presence, it takes work and perseverance to build a community of followers and differentiate your brand from the rest. If you’re wondering whether it’s worth the investment, remember that there are plenty of small businesses enjoying the benefits of knowing how to use Facebook for business, so why not simply try it out?
Step One – Set up (Allow 1 hour)
This is the easy bit! If you have a personal Facebook profile, you simply opt to create an additional business page and populate it with information. You may need to create a banner for your page or adapt your logo to fit the Facebook format. You can easily add a Contact Button to link visitors to your website, online shop, or appointment system.
Step Two – Apply SEO (Allow 2 hours)
If you want your Facebook business page to attract visitors, it will need to rank well with the major Search Engines. Search Engine Optimisation involves researching relevant keywords that are used by online searchers to find goods or services like yours. Using these keywords in online copy, and headings allows Google to understand what your business does and match you to relevant online searches.
Step Three – Set Up Facebook Ads (Allow 15 hours over the campaign period)
If you’re finding it difficult to grow an organic following, you could try a paid advertising options like boosted posts or Facebook ads. If you have a post you would like to promote to your target audience, you can use a boost in order to reach them.
Facebook Ads offer you more options as to where you place your ads and who will see them. You can decide by age, location, gender, or interests what segment of your audience you want to reach out to. Every campaign you run will generate data which helps you to determine future campaigns.
The most time-consuming part of managing an ad campaign is around setting up data tracking, analysing data, and making adjustments based on that analysis.
Step Four – Build a Following (Allow 3-4 hours initially)
Facebook followers don’t appear magically; they have to be worked for. It’s worth asking everybody in the business to share your page with their followers. Then it’s down to finding businesses to follow, who may follow you back. Join local Facebook groups and introduce yourself or look for in special interest groups that share values, issues, or customers.
Step Five – Create and Share Posts (Allow 4 hours per week)
There are volumes written about what to post and when to post it. It all comes down to knowing how your followers want to engage with your company. There’s always a learning curve as you discover what works and what doesn’t. A couple of posts are normally enough for business pages. Responses to comments or queries should be prompt, so the page will need daily management.
About Outsource Your Marketing
Outsource Your Marketing is a network of marketing specialists with the shared goal of providing tailored marketing for businesses. We can set up your Facebook business page, including banner and branding, and offer ongoing social media management. Or, if what you need is help with content, we can create and schedule posts as if we were you.
