Facebook for Businesses

The evolution of Facebook continues to be driven toward profit, now that Facebook is responsible to stock holders. The effects on businesses engaging in social media have moved from a fun and a useful tool to marketing to sluggish.

Large companies like Coca-Cola garnered over 80 million “Likes” to find Facebook didn’t result in a change in sales; it’s just a place for people who already like their product to let them know. But the value has been a way to reach your client base and reach out to them – engage, engage, engage.

But now Facebook has taken aim at organic page reach–resulting in a mere to 1 or 2 percent reach. Page Reach means the percentage of your fans seeing your posts. Nike with 16 million fans will now only reach 160,000. After aggressively marketing to the Facebook crowd, this is a huge hit for Nike. You can read the stats in your Admin panel to find out how many are seeing your posts.

Finding you are no longer reaching the very people who like you brand and want to hear from you is discouraging, but it’s the decision Facebook has made. Facebook has been changing the news feed for some time since it began adding content to your feed you never have “liked”. Now, you will hear more from those you haven’t liked and not all the posts from those you have liked.

For small businesses the value of Facebook – is for appearances and those posts which do get into feeds. Don’t give up. Adjust with the new change. You want to maintain your Facebook page for the future, as it continues to change, but it’s safe, for now, to give it a lower priority.

Facebook and Selling

Social media remains difficult to track  – “Is it working?” Despite that businesses can’t ignore 500 million people on Facebook alone,and social media is not going away. Your business needs to find a way to engage.

The value of social media is not in the selling, but brand awareness and building loyalty – making a connection.  The small business is no less disadvantaged than the major retailer, which is the good news.  Studies are showing fans who seek out your Facebook page on their own will be loyal to your brand/business. Give an opt in from your website.

We’re eager to sell, but the best run Facebook pages aren’t filled with product – but stories, information, help hints and questions. Getting user comments and postings is the goal. Polls and games ending with an ad are strategies, but if you are short on time – simply post, ask a question – get opinions. 

While selling through social media is still a huge challenge – factor it into your business plan as a cost of doing business. Stay ahead of your competitors – who aren’t using Facebook!

Bing and Facebook vs Do Not Track?

As reviews have integrated into Google search results, now Facebook “likes” will be very helpful for small business owners on Bing! It’s much like a referral –  when you are searching for a product or business how nice to see a familiar face under the search result. A good reason for business owners to be on Facebook.

There is the privacy issue for Facebook users, but Facebook users have always had to keep on top of their privacy settings in the constantly changing environment of Facebook.

Right on the heels of Bing’s announcement is the “Do Not Track” bill is working its way through Congress. The battle between advertisers and marketers; and people tired of solicitation. As small business owners we’re acquainted with walking that line. This one is interesting because it references the Do Not Call Registry.

While I have signed up with the Do Not Call Registry I was amused to hear recently it doesn’t matter if unwanted solicitors continue to call – being registered doesn’t actually help stop the calls. You have to file a complaint with the district attorney’s office, which of course will turn into a lot of time and energy. Easier to just hang up, or use Caller ID to screen. Just like before the Do Not Call Registry.

Cookies have long been a part of the internet. These can be tracking cookies, surely, but what a nice help when on Amazon.com and I need to know what I have searched – big time saver. The to-track or not-to-track will continue to evolve.

Local Search

Local Searching has become the focus of search engines.  They’ve learned people expect to get results in their geographical area and Google is accommodating.  It happens without you realizing it. Until you try and force the issue you may not have noticed this change.  You would need to clear the browser cache to wipe the slate clean.

Google is learning what you want as you search. It’s goal is filling the user end of search – giving you what it THINKS you want. For businesses it means SEO is more complicated as you try to target the visitors you are seeking, and work within the user search.

Businesses are trying to compete in this change  in a number of ways. In an effort to expand a business’s service area they might set up phone numbers with specific area codes. Have you noticed a local search returns a company 75  miles from your area, or a national company?

Another solution is multiple websites. If your target is teens – the site reflects their interests through content and design. If the target is a specific location – likewise. This is a bit aggressive for the average small business, but you get the idea of this strategy for search engines.

Still “content is king” and posting fresh relevant content is a huge factor for your website.  Search engines love to see daily changes.

As a small business owner the choice is how much time and where to put it. You can blog, tweet or use Facebook. Don’t feel compelled to take on everything. You don’t need to be a slave to your website and online presence. There is a happy balance.

Facebook Networking

Why Facebook? Specifically is not “just Facebook” it is all social networking which helps drive your site. But if your business isn’t completely online you have more leeway.

Ignoring it isn’t a good choice, but the small business owner simply doesn’t have time to “tweet” (Twitter), blog, put up videos (though this one is growing and CAN be simplified – more another time), do LinkedIn, Digg and the rest of the bunch. On top of this Google Buzz is trying to grab a piece of the social network value, and Hotmail/Windows Live recently made a big change. Anyone using Hotmail needs to check all the new permissions, and decide what information they grant access to the whole world.

Somewhere you have to decide how much time you have to devote to this. Facebook makes it easy.

  • it isn’t going away
  • with over 450 million users – some are likely existing clients
  • Facebook is the simple to set up and use

Facebook Web Page/Business Page 1. Facebook requires you to have a personal page. If you are doing this for business purposes keep it to a minimum:

    1. name
    1. birthday (then go into Accounts ->Privacy Settings and turn this to “Only Me” (can view it)
    website – let everyone view this!

As of today:

2. Upper right corner you’ll see “Account” – click it, then click “Help Center”.

3. Bottom category “Ads & Business Solutions” – click- “Pages for Businesses” at the next screen choose “Admins: Creating, administering, and editing your Page”, next screen: How can I create a Page? Click to expand this heading you’ll find a click “here”.

4. If you aren’t a musician, choose: Brand, Product, or Organization

5. Page Name: two approaches – for keyword advantage you can tweak your business name to include a keyword. ex. www.brendasimon.com My Facebook page is Brenda Simon Web Design OR keep your business name as is. You can NOT undo or change it later without deleting the page and losing the value of postings, and your fans.

6. URL = website address: brendasimon.com

7. Logo: use your website banner, if you don’t have a proper logo. At your website: Put your cursor on the banner – right click – select “Copy”. Minimize your browser (upper right corner on PCs to the left of the red “X” you’ll see a “minus” sign). On your Desktop – right click – select “Paste”. At Facebook where it asks for a logo you’ll see a “Browse” button. The dialog box that opens lets you navigate to your Desktop where you saved the banner – click on it, then click “Upload”. Once uploaded you can move the small square to select the part of your banner you want to be seen. Since Facebook uses a perfect square and most banners are wider than tall this can be disappointing. (If you know how to crop in a graphic program of any kind you can trim your banner yourself for a better result.)

8. Post something on your Wall: “We’re proud of our service…please drop by our website.” Be SURE and use the “Link” button beneath your post to create an active live link back to your website. The simplest way: Open a new window in your browser – go to your website. In the address window (where you would type “www.target.com”) select the entire address (you want the “http://www.” included) – right click – select “Copy”, back to Facebook click on the Link beneath your posting right click – select “Paste”.

9. Used to be “Become a fan”, now is “LIKE” your own page. On your business page – lower left below Fans and/or “People Who Like This page”. Click “Like” – the only change you’ll see is that turns to “unlike”.

10. Invite friends. On your business page: Left side below your logo: “Suggest to friends”. Everyone in your personal page comes up – invite all, ask them to post. You can invite others from your email program, but they have to join Facebook.

11. In order for fans postings to be viewable with your own postings: On your business page “Wall”, look below the Wall posting rectangle – you’ll see a blue “Share” button below that: “OPTIONS” – click and allow Everyone to post. You’re finished. You do need to post and get others to post to drive your page. An active page hits the News Feed* on Facebook and factors into people finding you. You can link to pages on your website when you post. It’s always good to point to your website. Don’t drive yourself crazy – find a comfortable stride and consider it one more marketing tool – with no cost. Remember Facebook DOES include outside websites in its searches. It is presumed they give preference to those ON Facebook. *A NOTE ABOUT NEWS FEEDS

Currently only the owner of the page posting get into the feed. If I post on your Web Page – it doesn’t help drive it. It’s great for people who come to your Facebook page to see interaction, but you need to post frequently, and point to your website. OR ask a playful question. I posted “Who uses Bing?” and people responded. It gives them a chance to participate. When their FRIENDS see they are a Friend/Like your page – you now have a referral. Check out Facebook ads. They are a far better bargain than Google, and the nature of Facebook means your ads will appear to the demographics you are seeking. You define your demographics and Facebook already has the data on the 400+ million who have joined.

Final note: Once you have 25 “friends/Likes” you can get a Username – see the above extension in my Facebook page name – easier to remember.

PS – Yes, your daughter/son, family member can do this for you :)