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Set Up an Account for a Business on Facebook – Ten Ways to Use “Likes” and Facebook Pages for Business (and Personal Branding)

Jay

So you’re looking to set up an account for a business on Facebook and promote your business or personal brand on Facebook. Facebook today has over 450 million users and each day that number is growing. So where do you begin using Facebook for business and how do you start to capitalize on the Facebook for business phenomenon?
1. Create a Facebook Page for your Business
A Facebook ‘Page’ is different from a personal profile; it is for a business, organization or celebrity to create a presence on Facebook.
With a Facebook Page you can develop relationships and a virtual community within Facebook, and post messages inside and outside of Facebook to call attention to your Page. Starbucks has over 6,000,000 friends in their community; this is very powerful whenever they want to launch a new flavor or promote a charitable initiative. Friends are achieved when a Facebook user clicks the ‘Like’ button on your Facebook page.
To get started, simply go to http://www.facebook.com/FacebookPages and follow the instructions to set up the type of account you wish to create for your business on Facebook. Then create compelling content about your industry and your organization to make your page interesting to visitors.
2. Add a ‘Like’ Widget to Your Blog & Website
One of the coolest ways to promote your Facebook page for business is through one of their social plugins – small applications that you can add to your blog or website to allow Facebook users to click a button to say they ‘like’ something, when they do it tells everyone on their Facebook news page that they like something on your site. It is a great way to generate viral ‘word of mouse’ awareness for you or your company.
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My favorite plug is the Like Box. The Like Box is a social plugin that enables Facebook Page owners to attract and gain Likes from their own website. The Like Box enables users to:
See how many users already like this page, and which of their friends like it too
Read recent posts from the page
Like the page with one click, without needing to visit the page
Click Here for a complete list of plugins.
3. Create Tabs (Custom FBML Pages)
Static FBML (Facebook Markup Language) Tabs are a great way to maximize your Facebook Page appeal to attract new ‘Likes’. The FBML page can be set to launch on any tab you want. Use the FBML page to tell visitors why they should ‘Like’ your page, but more importantly use the page to get them to ‘Like’ your page. If it takes using a bright red arrow pointing at the ‘Like’ button, then do it! Here’s an example of a great FBML page for new visitors from EzineArticles.
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4. Protect your Turf with a Vanity Page Name (URL)
Once your Facebook Page has 25 fans you can get a custom Page name (URL) for your Page. For example you can find us at http://www.facebook.com/tengoldenrules . It is very important that you protect your brand by proactively setting up your Facebook page and Vanity URL for your business. Claim your name, your business name, product brands, etc. before someone beats you to the punch. Think of it like it is 1995 and someone recommended that you buy your website domain name, this is the biggest land rush since that time and many companies haven’t protected their brands on Facebook, Twitter or any number of the popular Social Media sites.
5. ‘Like’ Other Sites
The first week Facebook released their new social plugins over 50,000 sites implemented them on their sites. It is critical for Facebook Page owners to stay active in the Facebook community.
Clicking the ‘Like’ button on other sites will post a message on all of your fans’ news feeds. It will remind them that you’re there and show that you’re participating in the Facebook community. In addition, your name/icon will show up on the sites that you ‘liked’.
6. Offer an eBook or Special Bonus to Collect Real World Emails
Ten Golden Rules’ “Golden Rule #3” is to Create UVP, a Unique Value Proposition, which is something free or high value that people will engage with on your site. Facebook allows you to create a UVP such as a Free eBook or Bonus of some sort in exchange for a real-world email address. You can use an FBML page integrated with your email provider to allow opt-ins and add the new email addresses directly to your database. Once the individual opt-ins receive emails you can have an auto-responder send an email confirmation to the individual with a link to the eBook or special bonus you’re offering.
7. Track Visitor Behavior Using Insights and Google Analytics
Facebook Insights is a new resource to track some of the actions users take on your Page. Some of the measures that we are tracking on Facebook Pages for business include: Total Fans, New Fans, Unsubscribes (People who unFan you), Total Interactions on your page, Number of Likes, Number of Comments, Posts, and Page Views. Facebook Insights is in its infancy and we have been employing additional resources to track additional actions. One advanced tool we are using for tracking Facebook business Pages is Google Analytics URL Builder. This allows us to track clicks that leave Facebook and go to an external blog or website and what those folks do when they get there.
8. Participate in Groups
Participate in Facebook Groups that compliment the Facebook account for your business that you’ve set up. Your interactions in these groups will show up on the wall of your page and on the page of the group. For example, if you like an article that was posted, simply ‘Liking’ the article will show up on your wall and in the Facebook Group, this will increase awareness for your business or personal brand and your Facebook Page.
9. Promote your Page with Third Party Applications
Third Party Applications are a great way to promote your Facebook Page. Companies such as Involver offer a wide array of applications such as RSS Feed, YouTube Channel, and Twitter to name a few. These apps are an incredible way to further engage your followers after you have set up an account for a business on Facebook.
10. Test Facebook Advertising
Facebook has one of the most unique advertising products on the market. Because they have detailed demographic information on all of their users, you can target an ad very specifically. For example you could select men between the ages of 24 and 29 who live in Charlotte, North Carolina and only they would see your ads. Facebook can also target specific ads to focus on getting users to ‘Like’ your page. The ads can be served Cost-Per-Click (CPC) where you only pay when someone clicks on your ads, or Cost-Per-Impression (CPM) where you pay for 1,000 impressions at a time.