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Are you the owner of a small business? Do you have a Facebook page yet? If not, it’s time to consider it –Zuckerman’s social media beast is too big to ignore.

According to Facebook, there are over 1.2 billion monthly active Facebook users – a number that’s growing every year by 16%. And in Canada, more than half our population – or 19 million people – log into Facebook at least once a month

Here are 3 Facebook best practices for start ups.

They’ll help you decide if Facebook is right for your business, plus show you how to get started if you decide it’s a go.

1: Understand how Facebook works

Make sure you understand the mechanics of Facebook before investing a lot of time and effort. In brief, here’s how it works:

• You set up a business page
• You get people to like it
• Once they like your page, your posts have the potential to appear in their news feed, allowing your business to build awareness and engage with prospects and customers

The operative word in that last bullet is potential. Not everyone who likes your page will see every one of your posts.

Facebook is constantly adjusting its algorithm. As the platform grows, it becomes increasingly difficult to get your page posts to appear in people’s news feeds. According to EdgeRankChecker.com organic reach per fan has declined from 16% in February 2012 to just 6% in March 2014:

Translation: if you have 1,000 ‘likes’ on your Facebook page, on average 60 fans will see any given post.

Note, these numbers are only averages and your actual reach could vary anywhere between 2% and 47%

Of course, there is a solution. It’s called Facebook advertising.

The good news is the cost of advertising on Facebook is minimal. But be sure to understand how Facebook works before ploughing employee time into building a presence on the platform.

And by the way, you also need to pay Facebook to have people like your page in the first place.

2: Be sure Facebook is right for your business

While Facebook is the largest social media platform on the planet (next is YouTube, running a close second with 1 billion), it’s not necessarily the best one for your business.

Here’s a simple 4-point checklist to help you decide. You’ll want yes responses to 3 or 4 to go forward with a Facebook page:

• Take a moment to think about your ideal customers. Do they use Facebook?
• What about your major competition? Have they managed to build a large and engaged Facebook following?
• Do you sell a product or service directly to consumers? If yes, Facebook is a serious consideration. But if you sell to other businesses, consider a different platform, such as LinkedIn.
• Does your staff have the time to manage a Facebook page? They’ll need a few hours every week to develop relevant content to post and to interact with the people who comment. Facebook requires commitment– if you can’t commit, don’t bother.

3: Build a plan

You didn’t start your business without some sort of plan…even if it was on the back of an envelope. Same goes for Facebook. Ask yourself these five questions, and you’ll have a plan before you know it:

1. What is the purpose of your page?
2. How often will you post?
3. What kind of content will get the best reaction from potential customers?
4. Do you have photos and videos to help you tell your business’ story?
5. Where will you find content to share on your page?

At the end of the day

There are many, many more considerations when starting a Facebook page.

For example, you may want to use a management tool, such as HootSuite, to help you respond quickly and efficiently to comments from your Facebook fans.

There is also lots of help online on creating effective posts :

• Photo posts get 39% more interaction
• Thursday and Friday (18% higher engagement) are good days to post
• Keeping your posts below 250 characters raises engagement by up to 60%
• Using emoticons increases comments by 33%

Facebook is a mighty online influence. If you sell to consumers, your competitors are there, and your staff has time to maintain your page, give it serious consideration.

And if you decide Facebook is a fit, remember that Facebook advertising is very reasonable, and may be an excellent way to build awareness of your business.

Contact:

Jessica Miller – Marketing Coordinator

Twitter/@411_ca | Facebook/411ca

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