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December 29, 2011 |
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How to Use Facebook An Introductory Guide Materials owned by www.huspot.com |
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At this point, you have heard of social media and inbound marketing. Maybe you've experimented with Twitter and checked out your kids‟ Facebook profiles, and you can see the value for college students who want to make sure they're all at the same bar on Saturday night. But why does any of this matter to you or your business? Social media and inbound marketing are increasingly important assets for businesses to get found by and engage with potential buyers on the web. Think about the way you find information about products and services – are you watching TV ads? Going through your junk mail? Or are you consulting a search engine or a friend? People have gotten better and better at ignoring marketing messages with DVRs, caller ID, and spam filters. Instead they visit Google and social networks for answers to their questions. The question for you is, will you be there to answer it? |
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And, as with any social media tool, marketers have an opportunity to use Facebook to expand their online footprint and directly engage with customers and prospects. But yes, it can be difficult to figure out what you can and should do. And yes, it can be quite a feat to convince your CEO to let you incorporate Facebook or a larger social media strategy into your marketing plan. But, armed with the right knowledge and metrics, it is possible. So here we go. In an effort to get marketers up to speed with how to use Facebook for business, this ebook will walk you through absolutely everything you need to know to get started with using Facebook for marketing to drive real business results. |
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Facebook is not an evil time-waster, a community just for younger generations, nor is it irrelevant for marketers – even B2B folks. Rather, Facebook is a tool for connecting people with those around them. |
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What Is Facebook? Facebook is a social network for connecting people with those around them – friends, family, coworkers, or simply others with similar interests. Facebook started in 2004 as a closed community for college students (requiring users to sign up with a valid university email address) but has since expanded beyond that to schools, corporations, and any user across the world. Facebook allows users to connect and share information in a variety of ways. |
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Why You Should Care Facebook currently has over 750 million active users, and that number continues to grow steadily. According to Compete.com, it is currently the second most popular website in the world (behind Google) in terms of unique visitors, and according to ComScore, the most popular social network overall. Think your customers aren‟t on Facebook? There are tens of thousands of work-related, collegiate, and high school networks. According to InsideFacebook.com, approximately two thirds of U.S. Facebook users are outside of the college demographic, and users age 26 to 64 make up more than half of Facebook‟s U.s. user base. While Facebook started off as a community for college students, it has expanded far beyond that, and you‟d be hard-pressed to find a demographic not yet represented among Facebook‟s 750 million users. |
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Facebook Vocabulary Quick Reference Glossary Application – a program that allows users to share content and interact with other users EdgeRank – an algorithm used by Facebook to determine what content gets shown in users‟ News Feeds (more on this later) Fan – Facebook users who choose to “Like” and become a “fan” of an organization‟s page Friend – 1.) (n) personal connection on Facebook; 2.) (v) to add a Facebook user as a friend Friend List – organized groupings of friends Group – a collection of Facebook users with a common interest; any Facebook user can create and join a Facebook group Like(s) – 1. (v) within Facebook, to like a business Page means you‟ve become a fan of that page; 2. (v) within Facebook, to like others‟ comments on their wall or news feed; 3. (n) the number of users who have liked your page; 4. (n) outside of Facebook, to like something using that has installed the Facebook like button Network – an association of Facebook users based on a school or workplace News Feed – an aggregation of one‟s friends‟ wall posts published on a user‟s Facebook homepage Page – official presence for public figures, artists, bands, businesses, places, entertainment, causes, brands, or products to share information and interact with fans on Facebook Profile – presence for individuals to share information and interact with friends and organizations on Facebook Wall – the core of a profile or page that aggregates new content, including posted items (e.g. status updates) and recent actions (e.g. becoming a fan of a page) |
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Business Goals for Using Facebook There are a number of good reasons for businesses to participate in and maintain a presence on Facebook. Here are a few: · Get found by people who are searching for your products or services · Connect and engage with current and potential customers · Create a community around your business · Promote other content you create, including webinars, blog articles, or other resources · Generate leads for your business |
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Setting Up Your Facebook Profile |
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Personal vs. Business Accounts On Facebook, Profiles are meant for people, and Pages are meant for businesses. To fully engage and leverage Facebook‟s features, you should create a personal profile. If you‟re worried about privacy or balancing business and personal contacts, we‟ll cover that in the next section. |
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Do not create a personal Profile for your business. Profiles are for people; Pages are for businesses. Facebook has built significant functionality specifically for businesses, and all of this functionality is only available for Pages. We‟ll talk about Pages more in a later section. There are a few key differences between Business Pages and Personal Profiles: · Pages allow you to designate multiple administrators so you can have more than one person help manage the account. In addition, if one of your administrators leaves the company, you can still have control over the Page. · Pages are, by default, public, and are starting to rank in Facebook and public search results. · Pages are split into different categories (local businesses, brands, musicians) that help you get listed in more relevant search results. |
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Personal profiles have friends, which require mutual acceptance, whereas anyone can become a fan of your Page without needing administrator approval. Worried about privacy? Facebook is very flexible in letting you control your exposure on Facebook. A later section will discuss how to customize your privacy settings to control who sees which parts of your profile so you can safely engage on Facebook with both personal and business contacts. |
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Step 1: Sign Up for Facebook Visit www.facebook.com, and sign up for a free account by completing the information requested. |
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Step 2: Edit Your Profile Click on “Profile” in the top, right-hand navigation bar. Don‟t worry about the homepage you see here quite yet – we‟ll cover that later on once you complete your profile and add some friends. |
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Next, click on the “Edit Profile” link found in either of the following places: |
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Now, add basic, personal, contact, and work/education information. All information is optional, but use this as an opportunity to connect with people who have similar interests and connections from school or work. |
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Basic Information: Indicate your current city, hometown, gender, birthday, sexual preference, languages, and a short „About Me‟ section · Profile Picture: Upload the photo you‟d like to show on your Profile and next to comments or status updates you make · Friends and Family: Indicate your relationship status, family members, and create lists (we‟ll cover this later) · Education and Work: List your current and former workplaces as well as high schools and universities you attended · Philosophy: Include religious and political views, people who inspire you, and your favorite quotations · Arts and entertainment: Indicate your favorite music, books, movies, TV shows, and games · Sports: Add the sports you play as well as your favorite sports teams and athletes · Activities and Interests: Include the activities you enjoy and your preferred interests · Contact information: Edit your email address(es), screen name(s), phone number(s), location, and website(s) |
