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In Addition to a Website, Every Great Company Needs a Well-Strategized Facebook Presence

Facebook is an excellent tool for businesses for a few huge reasons: brand awareness, lead generation and communication, to name a few.

Setting up a Facebook business page is easy, but smart companies have a plan in place before getting started. It’s also important to get real about the amount of time and attention a company needs to give the platform.

Here are eight steps for creating a Facebook business page.

1. Establish a team. You read that right: a team, not an individual with many other assigned duties. Companies need a team of two or three to start out that is dedicated to posting and checking the Facebook page multiple times daily and reacting to your fans.
   1. Lock permissions down to only these team members. Word will get around the office that the Facebook page is a great place to spread the company’s messages. It’s imperative that a Facebook team filters all of these requests to ensure consistent voice, posting scheduling and social media best practices.
   2. Define the team’s roles. That includes talent that can create graphics, take photos, capture and edit video, organize e-commerce images and descriptions, edit copy, serve on a crisis management team, monitor analytics, create editorial schedules and provide daily customer service by checking public and private comments each day.
2. Determine the Facebook business page’s main goals.
   1. Does the Facebook page need to be:
      1. An extension of the customer service arm?
      2. A tool for establishing the brand?
      3. A conduit for people to find and purchase products and services?
      4. A method for maintaining positive reputation?
      5. A place to display the latest news and information about a company/industry?
   2. With the Facebook page’s purpose determined, work on an editorial calendar with the 80-20 rule in place (more on that below).
3. Figure out the page’s look and feel.
   1. If a company has done branding exercises, they’ve already got a good idea of how they want to be represented. Consistency is key when it comes to digital presence. A Facebook business page should have a similar look and feel to the company’s website. Future and current customers should make the connection between the two.
   2. Start creating graphics and templates for the Facebook page.
4. Establish an editorial calendar.
   1. Tell a different story each month with themes and focuses.
   2. Filter in sweepstakes, contests, games and polls.
   3. Adhere to an 80-20 rule of fun versus marketing. This means 80-percent interaction, news, blog posts and other fun, helpful posts mixed with 20 percent calls to action that get people to really react to a company’s services. The 80-percent interaction establishes trust and confidence in the brand. Handing out great free stuff, like helpful blogs, helps customers decide to react to an invitation to do business.
5. Get solid with Facebook best practices.
   1. Include an image with every post. Non negotiable!
      1. Best image size at time of this blog post is 1,200×628, but Facebook does change things from time to time, so stay informed.
   2. Be consistent in tone on posts, in graphics and in private messages. Expio helps companies figure out their brand strategy, and in doing so we discover a company’s voice. Keep this voice consistent throughout the website, printed materials, social media and face-to-face encounters.
   3. Be friendly and helpful. Swallow your pride. It’s not always rainbows and butterflies on Facebook, and a reputable company takes the high road.
   4. Figure out the best times to post. There are studies on overall best times to post, such as this one, but it’s best for each company to scrutinize its own social media and adapt to the behaviors of their own fans. Surprisingly, we’ve had success posting when most people are not on Facebook because there’s less competition in the News Feed.
6. Schedule time for reporting.
   1. We have to know what’s working and what’s not, and the only way to do so is through thorough analytics reporting. See what I mean about having a team? Reporting takes time and effort, but without it, we’re flying blind. Plan for a weekly report every Monday that looks back at the previous week’s numbers.
   2. Share reporting with leadership in a meaningful way. Stakeholders will be interested in the venture into this exciting world, so give them honest numbers, and they’ll be excited to watch them grow.
7. Set a company Facebook policy. This includes:
   1. Facebook response protocol. I recommend answering every comment or question with a friendly custom greeting.
   2. Post deletion protocol. I hope you’ll never be faced with the decision to delete someone’s comment. It’s never easy. Try to refrain from deleting comments unless they include profanity, or libelous/slanderous accusations. It’s best to have a crisis committee formed that includes the company lawyer. Each time an issue comes up on a Facebook page, get together quickly to determine the best course of action. A pre-planned protocol is the difference between panicking and going forward with confidence. So, plan wisely before the crisis team needs to take action.
   3. Administration rights. This is necessary. Only the core team should determine whether a new admin may be added to the team. Any new admins need to be properly indoctrinated to the rules of the page.
8. Dedicate budget for boosts and ads. Especially when a Facebook page is in its infancy, it takes a few bucks to help it grow. A budget of $20-50 a month can do wonders for Facebook efforts. With boosts and Facebook ads, it’s easy to target ideal audiences and get incredible results.

These eight steps will get any company started with a Facebook business page. Good luck!

If you need help with your Facebook management and strategy, give Expio Digital Marketing a shout.