Facebook has quickly become one of the greatest opportunities for businesses to increase revenue and connect with clients and potential customers. With 845 million active users per month, the sky is the limit on the audience that can be had from a successful Facebook strategy. Social media now accounts for 18% of the time people spend on the internet. For you business, this means that eyes are constantly on one of the best free marketing tools available – Facebook.

Should My Business Be On Facebook?

Facebook can commonly be seen as reserved for personal interaction and connection. While it’s perfect for finding old friends and staying in touch with loved ones, it’s also a great place to follow your favorite businesses and organizations. Many people look to Facebook to stay up-to-date on what a business is doing – deals, new products, promotions, advice and more. Being on Facebook offers a direct marketing avenue for businesses to freely distribute information in a way that used to only be possible by spending thousands of dollars. The answer is… of course your business should be on Facebook!

How to Get Your Business on Facebook

Establishing a presence on Facebook for your business is simple and doesn’t take much time. First, make sure you have a personal Facebook account that you can use. Once you have a personal Facebook account and are logged in, you can follow the steps below to create your page.

Step 1. Create Your Facebook page

While viewing your news feed, look to the left of the feed for the area titled “Pages”. Hovering over this area will show a “More” link. Clicking this link will take you to the page management area. At the top of the page management area, click “Create a Page”. After clicking this link you will be prompted to choose your business type from the following list:

• Local Business or Place (restaurants, boutiques, retail, and more)
• Company, Organization, or Institution (corporations, places of worship, and schools)
• Brand or Product (inventions and original ideas)
• Entertainment (bands, celebrities)
• Cause or Community

Once you choose the appropriate type, set the category and fill out the information requested.  Next, agree to Facebook’s terms of service and click “Get Started”. The screen that follows will allow you to customize your Facebook page.

Step 2: Customize your Facebook Page

You now have a Facebook page! Now, lets get it set up with a logo and business information. After clicking “Get Started”, the customization wizard is displayed. First, you can upload your logo as your profile picture by clicking “Upload From Computer”. Facebook will show the uploaded image as it will be displayed. Select “Next” to add information about your business.

After adding your business logo, fill out the basic information about your business. You’ll want to add a short description, your website, additional social media account links(like Twitter or LinkedIn), and a term describing the type of business (i.e. “Italian Restaurant” or “Christian Church”). Tell Facebook whether the page will represent a real establishment, business, or venue, which helps makes your business more relevant in Facebook search results. Click “Save Info” to save this information.

The last option is for setting a Facebook web address, but is only available for pages that have at least 25 likes.

Step 3: Like Your Page and Share with Your Friends

Now that the page is setup with information about your business, you’ll want to be the first to “Like” your page by clicking the “Like” button. This is the same action your followers will take to receive news and updates from your page.

Sharing with your friends will help your page get off to a quick start and push you closer to the 25 like amount that is needed for the important Facebook web address.

Add photos, and get to posting!

After the page is setup, add some photos of your business to the photo area. These photos can be of your physical location, your staff, or of your happy customers. Also use the photos area to upload graphics of promotions, specials, and events your business is having. In your first post, greet your soon-to-come followers and let them know what they can expect from your posts.

In conclusion, Facebook can be a great opportunity to grow your business. Use your newly-created Facebook page as a marketing tool to promote specials and events, and connect with your customers. Your followers will appreciate the ongoing dialogue and being able to keep up with all your business has to offer.

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