By Juliette Rule
In the last week, I've been asked several times about setting up Facebook fan pages.
I've written about this before, in a sense, but I really like preaching this message: If you're creating a Facebook presence for your brand, you really need to have a fan page, not a friend page. Why? Because a friend profile pages provide much greater standard access to friends' profiles. Fan pages don't have much access to personal information. Why is this important? Because I deserve to know who, exactly, is peering at my personal profile, and when your friend/brand page has access to my personal profile, I don't know who exactly is looking at my stuff. Plus, why should a brand be allowed to write on my wall? It's a tad freaky, isn't it? In addition, a friend page is limited to 5,000 friends. You might like to think your brand will have a reach greater than 5,000 sets of eyeballs one day. And one more reason for you law-abiding citizens. When a brand sets up a fan page, it's a technical violation of Facebook rules.
So just set up a fan page, alright?
Step 1: Go to Facebook.com and scroll down. Click "Create a Page for a celebrity, band or business."
Step 2: Decide which category your fan page fits into best. This speaks to the template for a fan page. For example, a restaurant template is different from a retail store's or a celebrity's. But don't worry. You can change this later.
Step 3: Fill out your profile fairly completely.
Step 4: Upload your profile image. It should be your logo, which in the case of a celebrity page should be the image. Make sure that logo fits well in the space provided. Is it centered? Is there enough of what graphic designers call "air" around the logo?
Step 5: Choose some images for the photo strip at the top of your fan page. But don't worry about it if you don't have any. Why? Because what looks stark and gray in your admin view is just an illusion! Fans don't see the photo strip until it is filled out with uploaded images. (Isn't that sweet? Relieves a little pressure, huh?)
Whenever you have a chance to post photos, you should. Especially if they're good. And always if they're relevant to the conversation you're hosting on your fan page. It's just another way to interact with fans. But keep in mind, that those images will show up in the photo strip unless you click the 'x' in the image when it appears in the photo strip. And then it remains on your wall, but not on the strip.
Now you want to know how often to post, right? What to post?
I say post only when you have something to say, and at some point, you'll only want to post when you really have time to monitor the conversation. But for now, let's just think about frequency.
Honestly, two or three times a week is fine. Even once a week. Daily? Probably not. Most people are fans of several pages. You don't want to overload your fans. (Your updates, by the way, show up in their news feeds, not on their walls.)
It's a good idea to post links relevant to the conversation you want your fans to have with your brand. Or with each other. Provide a summary in your update, however, so that your fans have a good reason to click and engage.
The next question you might or might not be asking yourself: What days should I post for my brand?
It's well understood that Friday afternoons are a highly engaging time for Facebook users. So Friday afternoon would obviously be a good time to post.
But there's really no reason why that should be the only time you post. But it depends on your product.
Who wants to hear about their favorite bar's martini special at 10 a.m. Monday, after all? If you're running a pizza parlor, however, it might be really smart to post something Monday about the specials that evening. If your fan page is for a museum, for example, you might think about posting Friday morning to promote coming to your museum for a special offering Saturday. And, hey, a reminder post Saturday morning couldn't hurt at all, either!
What other questions do you have about fan pages? Shoot 'em to me in the comments or on SocialWyo's fan page!
In the last week, I've been asked several times about setting up Facebook fan pages.
I've written about this before, in a sense, but I really like preaching this message: If you're creating a Facebook presence for your brand, you really need to have a fan page, not a friend page. Why? Because a friend profile pages provide much greater standard access to friends' profiles. Fan pages don't have much access to personal information. Why is this important? Because I deserve to know who, exactly, is peering at my personal profile, and when your friend/brand page has access to my personal profile, I don't know who exactly is looking at my stuff. Plus, why should a brand be allowed to write on my wall? It's a tad freaky, isn't it? In addition, a friend page is limited to 5,000 friends. You might like to think your brand will have a reach greater than 5,000 sets of eyeballs one day. And one more reason for you law-abiding citizens. When a brand sets up a fan page, it's a technical violation of Facebook rules.
So just set up a fan page, alright?
Step 1: Go to Facebook.com and scroll down. Click "Create a Page for a celebrity, band or business."
Step 2: Decide which category your fan page fits into best. This speaks to the template for a fan page. For example, a restaurant template is different from a retail store's or a celebrity's. But don't worry. You can change this later.
Step 3: Fill out your profile fairly completely.
Step 4: Upload your profile image. It should be your logo, which in the case of a celebrity page should be the image. Make sure that logo fits well in the space provided. Is it centered? Is there enough of what graphic designers call "air" around the logo?
Step 5: Choose some images for the photo strip at the top of your fan page. But don't worry about it if you don't have any. Why? Because what looks stark and gray in your admin view is just an illusion! Fans don't see the photo strip until it is filled out with uploaded images. (Isn't that sweet? Relieves a little pressure, huh?)
Whenever you have a chance to post photos, you should. Especially if they're good. And always if they're relevant to the conversation you're hosting on your fan page. It's just another way to interact with fans. But keep in mind, that those images will show up in the photo strip unless you click the 'x' in the image when it appears in the photo strip. And then it remains on your wall, but not on the strip.
Now you want to know how often to post, right? What to post?
I say post only when you have something to say, and at some point, you'll only want to post when you really have time to monitor the conversation. But for now, let's just think about frequency.
Honestly, two or three times a week is fine. Even once a week. Daily? Probably not. Most people are fans of several pages. You don't want to overload your fans. (Your updates, by the way, show up in their news feeds, not on their walls.)
It's a good idea to post links relevant to the conversation you want your fans to have with your brand. Or with each other. Provide a summary in your update, however, so that your fans have a good reason to click and engage.
The next question you might or might not be asking yourself: What days should I post for my brand?
It's well understood that Friday afternoons are a highly engaging time for Facebook users. So Friday afternoon would obviously be a good time to post.
But there's really no reason why that should be the only time you post. But it depends on your product.
Who wants to hear about their favorite bar's martini special at 10 a.m. Monday, after all? If you're running a pizza parlor, however, it might be really smart to post something Monday about the specials that evening. If your fan page is for a museum, for example, you might think about posting Friday morning to promote coming to your museum for a special offering Saturday. And, hey, a reminder post Saturday morning couldn't hurt at all, either!
What other questions do you have about fan pages? Shoot 'em to me in the comments or on SocialWyo's fan page!
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