21 Steps to running an effective Facebook Page

21 Define your strategy

o What is your tone? o What are your goals? o What are your targets?o Do you sync Facebook with your offline (traditional)

marketing activities?

20 Assign Roles

If you manage your Page along with a team, you probably need to consider assigning roles.

19 Pick a nameo Make sure that you pick a name that is consistent

with what your customers know you by, so that they’ll find you when running a search.

o Keep it short (max characters 25).

18 Pick a url

o If you want to easily promote your Facebook Page, you need a vanity URL that is easy to share online and offline.

o To set your own URL, go to Admin Panel > Edit Page > Update Info.

17 Update your About section o The About section is one of the few areas that

Facebook allows you to hyperlink, and you can use this to your advantage.

o Describe your company briefly before providing a link to your Page, so that you can drive traffic.

16 Schedule Posts

o Scheduling posts works perfect with Facebook Insights. However, the ideal times to post are probably not those that you are available.

o Simply click the clock icon when creating your post to pick the ideal date and time for it to be published.

15 Optimize for Search Engines

o To be successful with a website, you need to optimize it for search engines. Your Facebook Page can affect this, since it is indexed by Google.

o You need to load the description with keywords, just as you do with your website.

14 Create a Content Calendar

o Make a list of your assets and planned content. Then start mapping out themes per day of the week, who will be posting, what they’ll be posting about and at what time.

o You don’t need to stay strictly to the schedule, but having kind of a plan helps.

13 Tell your story with a cover photo

o A picture tells a thousand words. Your 851×315 cover photo will tell prospective fans whether you’re worth Liking or not.

o Avoid too much copy and be creative.

12 Use an engaging Profile Photo

o Your profile photo is what your fans will see every day (or whenever you post). Make sure that you make the most out of it.

o If it is just your logo, then try updating it upon seasonality or other special events.

11 Create tabs that drive goalso Your tabs (the 4 featured boxes plus the 8 hidden

below them) are your opportunity to drive your business goals.

o Create tabs to tell more about your brand, your services and your products.

10 Optimize Image Dimensions

o If you don’t know the ideal dimensions of photos per case, Facebook will automatically resize your image.

o Facebook likes to be mysterious about these things, so a lot of those formats are not 100% clarified. It is important you getting advise from an expert.

9 Promote Your Page (for free)

o Invite friends and associates who have an interest in your brand (via newsletters, emails, Fb chat etc).

o Sync your branded page with other social media.o Create signage at your store with a call to action.o Add a Facebook Like box to your website.o Monitor results.

8 Respond to Fanso When you share an update and you’re doing it right,

your fans will Like or even comment.o When they comment continue the conversation and

respond to their thoughts. o Define your response rate (in terms of minutes,

hours, days etc).

7 Allow fans to message you

A lot of fans don’t always want to communicate publicly. And in most cases, these people will most likely turn to

be a long-term customer.

6 Update your Featured Likeso If you want to provide a resource by highlighting.

other helpful brands in your Page space, you can do this.

o Within the Likes box under your Cover Photo, five of your Page’s Likes will be (randomly) featured.

5 Highlight and Pin to the top

o Once you create a post only 16% of your fans will see it and then it is quickly buried on your Timeline.

o A good solution to this, is “pinning” content to the top of your Page (you can do this for up to seven days).

4 Share diverse content

o Share a little bit of everything and keep it interesting.o Share videos, photos and (tag) content of others.o Use the Questions application for quick questions and

feedback.

3 Be Brief

A recent survey from Buddy Media said that the most successful Facebook posts use fewer than 80

characters.

2 Use your Insights

Facebook’s analytics can help you get a better idea of what types of content your fans respond to.

1 Advertiseo Run Facebook ads to increase awareness & Likes.o Promote your contests and special offers.o Bring in new fans by focusing on people with specific

interests related to your.

Takeaway Tip From Stix Digitalo Image is everything (profile photo, cover photo, Tab

icons, Link thumbnails, milestones etc).o Be strategic about your tabs and about your special

offers.o Listen to your audience. o Pay attention to your analytics.o Target your fans and non-fans as well.