You’ve heard a lot lately about Twitter, but did you know that FaceBook is growing much faster and the majority of the growth is Baby Boomers? (Everybody else is already on.)
Perhaps you’re interested in promoting your business on your FaceBook profile. DON’T! FaceBook profiles are for individuals who link and interact with their friends.
You’ll want to create a PAGE on FaceBook which is very different than a PROFILE. With a page you can promote your product, service or business. On a profile, you promote what you’re doing as an individual.
A PAGE is also different than a GROUP in FaceBook lingo.
So how to create a page? Log into your FaceBook account. Now, use this link: http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.phpÂ
- You’ll be asked some questions:
What type of business? — Although I have to admit, FaceBook doesn’t ask it that way… there is a button that says “LOCAL”. Click that button and you’ll have access to lots of types of businesses. Pick one that is close to yours. It will help your business get into the correct category. - Maybe you want to promote your product, service or organization. Great. There is a button for that.
- Or maybe you want to promote your band, your art or sports team. There is another button for that.
I’ve also found this link helpful: http://www.facebook.com/photos/?ref=sb#/advertising/?pages Don’t be confused by the confusing words like “photos” or “advertising” in the URL. It’s actually a step by step walk thru of how to use pages.
Create a presence that looks and behaves like user profiles to connect and engage with your customers and amplify your voice to their friends.
But certain types of promotions are for GROUPS, not profiles or pages!
Confused? Yes, me too. That’s why I’m planning to attend Joan Stewart’s teleseminar on “11 Ways to Avoid Missed Opportunities on Facebook” this afternoon. Best of all, if I have to hang up, I’ll still get to download the MP3 to listen to later.
UPDATE: 6/6/09 8:30 am. Just took a morning walk for 4 miles with my iPod listening to Joan Stewart and Chris Buffaloe talking about how to promote your business on Facebook. If you’re wanting to use social media to promote your business and struggling with Facebook, I strongly urge you to buy the MP3 download from Joan and listen to it, read the handouts. It sure cleared up a lot of confusion for me.   Thanks Joan & Chris!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I disagree that businesses should have pages instead of profiles. In some cases it makes every bit of sense for a business to have a profile rather than a page. If your business wants to use facebook to connect to clients and customers in the same way that individuals use it, then it makes much more sense to have a profile. That is not true for all businesses but businesses such as bars, restaurants and community orgs may benefit more from having a profile.
The thing about social media is that there are not best practices that can be generalized and applied across the board. Building a social media plan for your business requires personal knowledge of social media, who you’re trying to reach/connect with (consumers, vendors, analysts, etc) and what your ultimate objective is. Social Meidia isn’t a one-size fits all tool – it is 100% customizable.
The reason I say they need pages instead of profiles is that it is in Facebook’s terms of service. In many ways I agree with you!
You are also right that it’s not a ONE-SIZE FITS ALL solution.
Chris
Let’s see if I can clear up the confusion here.
Facebook’s terms of service say the only place that you can promote your business is on its Pages, sometimes referred to as Fan Pages, or Business Pages, or Product Pages.
You CANNOT promote a business from a Profile. If you do, and Facebook discovers that, or if somebody complains, Facebook can close your account.
A restaurant or a bar or any company for that matter must first create a personal account with Facebook. From that personal account, it can then create a Fan Page for its business, and promote its heart out.
The other huge advantage of promoting from a Fan Page is that you can accumulate an UNLIMITED number of Fans. But you can only accumulate 5,000 Friends.
And Fans do not have to be Friends. So it really doesn’t make any sense, nor is it correct, to promote a business from a Profile page.
As a business, you can also create your own Group. But you cannot overtly promote from that Group either.