Creating a Facebook page for business

[5aq1b]

just a quickie - i looked into this for my own business I was running a few years back but I never got around to actually doing it - but from what I read back then, I understood that facebook for business is a totally separate page from your personal one, correct?

I have now been asked by my old man to make his store a facebook page. Whats the best way to go about this? And what's the full story in getting x amount of 'likes'?

Any help would be appreciated! Even a pointer towards a site that shows you the ins and outs of it.

 

People put too much value in likes on facebook

In my opinion time spent accumulating LIKES is can often be better spent doing something that is actually productive!

I believe i LIKE fresh air, but I will not be buying any

 

[sambarnes90]

Don't worry about the volume of likes.

Its how engaged those users are that matters!

Build likes naturally.

To set up a Facebook page its totally separate from your personal profile. Just Google setup a Facebook page. There are thousands of tutorials out there!

Sent from my HTC Desire using UK Business Forums

 

[tecsys]

Give it a professional look and let the traffic build. We have 1400+ likes in the last month of so. All natural traffic, please check http://www.facebook.com/TecsysSolutions

 

1400 likes

but 1 person talking about it? I smell a rat

So the value of the likes is what if only 1 person is talking about it?

It looks very much to me like you have manipulated the page to achieve many likes and it has no substance about it

I can get a 1000 likes in a day if I want, I am sure many on here know how to do it, but its pretty pointless unless you are actually engaging with potential customers

How many posters are staff?

ALL of them? I ask as it is odd that 1 week ago over 100 people were talking about it and now only 1

Organic growth?

NOPE, not fooling anyone

 

[socialgomarie]

There's recently been another thread on this subject. See thread number 273065 (just replace the number in the URL bar, unfortunately I cannot link yet :redface:

In terms of getting it set up, it's really straight forward, just follow Facebook's instructions starting from facebook.com/pages/create.php (same as above, cannot hyperlink yet).

Once it's set up, that's where the tricky part starts - a lot of it is down to good content, reaching out to the right audiences and posting regularly but not incessantly. What niche is your father's business in, if I may ask?

 

[PrestonLad]

Twice in the last week, I've clicked on a link that relatives had posted. Just to see why they'd bothered to put it up there.

Next thing I notice, I was listed as 'liking' them. No way did I click a like link.

So now I have a 'like' for some DJ, and for some TV programme... neither of which I have any affinity for, and certainly will never visit again.

What's going on?

 

[5aq1b]

To be honest its not a business thats going to reach a huge audience. Hes an independent retailer / off licence owner and is part of a group. At the moment the group send him leaflets of offers he has running in the store, so hes going to stary scanning them and putting them on Facebook. At the moment hes the only shop in the village so its a captive market really.

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[JamiePMortimer]

1400 likes

but 1 person talking about it? I smell a rat

So the value of the likes is what if only 1 person is talking about it?

It looks very much to me like you have manipulated the page to achieve many likes and it has no substance about it

I can get a 1000 likes in a day if I want, I am sure many on here know how to do it, but its pretty pointless unless you are actually engaging with potential customers

How many posters are staff?

ALL of them? I ask as it is odd that 1 week ago over 100 people were talking about it and now only 1

Organic growth?

NOPE, not fooling anyone

And if you click on the likes, the graph shows in 1 day (13th) the page has had 1171 likes & the most popular city is Peru. I'm sorry but I'm calling BS on this too. see competitors do it to look more popular, but then Facebook have said they're on a mission to get rid of fake accounts. I'd have rather wasted £20 on FB ads (and I also think thats a waste).

 

[JamiePMortimer]

To be honest its not a business thats going to reach a huge audience. Hes an independent retailer / off licence owner and is part of a group. At the moment the group send him leaflets of offers he has running in the store, so hes going to stary scanning them and putting them on Facebook. At the moment hes the only shop in the village so its a captive market really.

I assume you figure the customers are likely to be on Facebook, i know it's a silly question but if the shop has an older/retired demographic then they're not necessairly going to be on FB, but might be on t'email.

I'm going to assume you are on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

Choose Local business or place.

From the drop down, select 'local business'. Put in your address.

Upload a profile pic, if your 'old man' is well known then upload a pic of him making it instantly recognisable.

Add a quick description about the shop.

Then you're set up.

You can also add a cover photo, maybe go with an actual picture of the outside of the shop?

You can add the hours you are open in the about section (under the profile pic)

thats the easy part, next you have to get people to like the page. If you know some of the people that visit then invite them to like the page.

Once you're over 30 likes you can customise the URL so rather than this:

www.facebook.com/pages/OldMansShop/354915261264660

You can just have:www.facebook.com/OldMansShop

makes it easier for people to find if you're talking about it or making little flyers to promote it.

Sorry it's so long!

 

[SmartSpotMedia]

I would also like to add that if you have targeted likes you need to make sure you give them good content, post useful videos and tips that would get them talking.

Having a Facebook page is not enough, you need to control the actual page and get the engine running.

If that makes sense!!

 

[JamiePMortimer]

I would also like to add that if you have targeted likes you need to make sure you give them good content, post useful videos and tips that would get them talking.

Having a Facebook page is not enough, you need to control the actual page and get the engine running.

I think the original plan of scanning the offers is the best starting point if that's what they are aiming for. See if it has an impact on footfall offline & engagement online.

 

[5aq1b]

I assume you figure the customers are likely to be on Facebook, i know it's a silly question but if the shop has an older/retired demographic then they're not necessairly going to be on FB, but might be on t'email.

I'm going to assume you are on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

Choose Local business or place.

From the drop down, select 'local business'. Put in your address.

Upload a profile pic, if your 'old man' is well known then upload a pic of him making it instantly recognisable.

Add a quick description about the shop.

Then you're set up.

You can also add a cover photo, maybe go with an actual picture of the outside of the shop?

You can add the hours you are open in the about section (under the profile pic)

thats the easy part, next you have to get people to like the page. If you know some of the people that visit then invite them to like the page.

Once you're over 30 likes you can customise the URL so rather than this:

www.facebook.com/pages/OldMansShop/354915261264660

You can just have:www.facebook.com/OldMansShop

makes it easier for people to find if you're talking about it or making little flyers to promote it.

Sorry it's so long!

Yeh mate theres loads of locals on Facebook. Great reply, and thanks for ur help!

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[JamiePMortimer]

Don't mention it.

There is your starting point then, get them to like the page. Benefit for them is finding out when the offers are on, once they're in keep on top of the scanning & when you post the images write a caption that encourages them to hit like. such as.

Carling on offer this week, hit like if you you'll be downing a few at the weekend.

This will help with your engagement & also spread the message to the other locals.

 

[ILilja]

Having a regularly updated facebook page with relevant content targeted at your audience is definitely a good part of your marketing plan. However, too may businesses tend to rely too much on one 3rd party sourceplatform - giving lower priority to or completely ignoring their own website or other media - and become very vulnerable.

Copyblogger call this 'digital sharecropping' and there's an interesting aticle about it here: http://www.copyblogger.com/digital-sharecropping/.

I also agree with the comments above that 'likes' are somewhat overrated. At least as a single target.

 

[dsmpublishing]

I also agree likes aren't that important interaction is though. I have lots of facebook pages that I maintain both for me and my customers and I was looking at two of my own yesterday:

1 has 5500 likes
1 has 84 likes

and the one with the lower likes (only a fortnight old) has a lot more interaction than the bigger one.

So get yourself on Facebook and start spreading the word and interacting with your fans instead of getting bulk likes.

 

[printed_com]

just a quickie - i looked into this for my own business I was running a few years back but I never got around to actually doing it - but from what I read back then, I understood that facebook for business is a totally separate page from your personal one, correct?

I have now been asked by my old man to make his store a facebook page. Whats the best way to go about this? And what's the full story in getting x amount of 'likes'?

Any help would be appreciated! Even a pointer towards a site that shows you the ins and outs of it.

You can set up a Page, which people can then like. Your own personal Facebook will be the admin (or you could set up a new facebook if you'd like to keep them separate).

Once your Facebook is set up your likes will build naturally and you'll be able to use Facebook ad's etc. However just a quick note- do not buy likes as they are worthless to your business. However genuine likes are worth (you'll be able to see it in google analytics)...

Good Luck!

 

[CrLucch]

Don't worry about the volume of likes.

Its how engaged those users are that matters!

Build likes naturally.

People are often confused on the value of social media. You don't use Likes the same way as backlinks. Likes are there for you to see how engaged your market are in your brand or product. You want people to recall your brand everytime they need what you offer. engagement is key, letting them know you are always ready to serve them and give them what they need.

 

[a.mart]

Just from a personal point of view, I really hate it when Im required to like something—a company or whatever—to be able to interact with them. Its so annoying, as I really dont want some random company posting in my profile. I currently have no likes at all because I really can see the point.