Get the most out of your Facebook Business Page

If you’ve just set up your Facebook business page, then great because your business is now open to more than 1.19 billion customers. But are you getting the very most out of this FREE marketing platform? Let’s take a look…

  1. Get picture perfect

Make sure your profile picture and cover photo catch the eye and work well to sell your brand. The more visually appealing these elements are to users, the more likely they will browse through and engage with your page.

Despite this importance, you don’t actually need to throw away a load of money on graphic designers and photography to get these images right. So long as they give a clear, concise and enticing message to your Facebook page, they will be successful.

A good tip is to use your company logo as the profile image. That way, people will instantly recognise and trust they are in the right place. Avoid using text in the profile picture as it will scale right down throughout the app and be impossible to read, especially on mobile. Once you’ve chosen the picture, stick with it, as making too many changes will alienate and confuse your brand.

  1. Create a content calendar

Create a content calendar of the types of post you will share, and a rough idea of the times you will share them. Of course, there will be the odd occasional spontaneous post as well, but by planning the main bulk of posts for each month ensures things are well organised, interesting and regular and that your customers are always up to date. The calendar will also help you work out an ideal frequency that works best for you and your audience.

While on the subject of post frequency, there is no hard or fast rule for what works. Each business is different, some may post once a week, others once a day, some might post ten times a day! Just have a play around, and see what yields the most engagement.

  1. Use the Page Insights tool

Facebook has a handy tool called page insights. This is a ‘back end’ access of your page, allowing you to monitor reach and performance.

Use page insights to see when most users are online, and use this to help you build the content calendar and schedule posts for the popular times. Check back regularly to see how successful each post has been, and use this to understand your audience and guide future content. That way, you will remain interesting and relevant, which will attract better engagement.

  1. Pay to play

Like most things in life, it pays to spend a bit of money on your Facebook page. The good thing is you don’t need to spend loads and loads to get good returns. Facebook is very helpful in allowing its advertisers to target specific users and groups, so you can make sure your ideal customers are seeing you.

Three ways to do this include:

  • Page like ads
  • Boosted posts
  • News feed ads

A good tip is to put a bit of money aside each month for Facebook adverts, and treat it just as you would for any other business bill.