In the first post in this series, we discussed how a small business or private consultant can create a Facebook page to start attracting more clients through social-media marketing. Here, we'll offer 10 ways to use the page.
1. Offer discounts and special offers that will be advertised only on your Facebook page (and communicate this so people will have a reason to "like" your page and "follow" your feed).
2. Add photos of your products, staff, and events to the Photos tab in the top-left menu below your page's main picture.
3. Create a tab with a text-based document that provides further information on your products and services and more specific information about your business and expertise.
4. Upload videos, commercials, and similar recordings to a section of the page, all of which are listed in the upper left-hand corner below the main picture.
5. Post relevant links to your blog posts, notices of promotions and sales, and general articles of interest about your industry on your Wall.
6. "Like" and follow other pages in your sector or industry - as long as they are not competitors. Find relevant groups, pages, and communities, and participate as your page there in helpful, positive manners. (A tax attorney might find a Facebook Group or Page in which people are discussing tax law and asking questions about tax credits.) Offer free advice to showcase your thought leadership and get readers to click to your page.
Before you start commenting, it is important to switch your Facebook settings so that you are posting as your Page and not as you personally. When you are logged into Facebook in your personal account, you'll see a small, upside-down triangle in the upper right-hand corner. When you click on that, you'll see an option in the drop-down menu to "Use Facebook as Page." Click on that, and you'll see an option like this:
Click "Switch," and when you post on Facebook, your comments will appear as authored by the name of your Page, and anyone who clicks on the link will be taken to the Page.
7. Create a landing page to which new visitors will be taken (rather than the Wall, by default) that will encourage them to "like" your page before doing anything else. The landing page should be visually appealing and, in just a couple of sentences, express what it is you do in a way that entices people to click "like."
8. Import your e-mail address book and encourage friends to "like" your page - but ask only those to whom your page would be relevant and interesting.
9. Add buttons and links to your page on your website.
10. Invite existing clients and other relevant people to "like" your page so that they will share your posts.
These are just some examples of the ways that small businesses and private consultants can use Facebook pages. The full possibilities are limited only by your creativity and time.