Facebook Marketing 101: Building Loyalty with Brand Pages

With 900 million users and counting, Facebook is a hotbed of opportunity for marketing. Most businesses can benefit from having a presence on this widely-used social network, but as with any other marketing channel, it’s important to go into it with realistic objectives.

• Build a brand. Facebook offers an excellent outlet to build a brand that consumers can connect with beyond the often static nature of traditional marketing. On Facebook, customers can participate in brand activities and interact with your brand on a personal level.
• Increase loyalty. By “Liking” a Facebook brand page, consumers are essentially opting in to receive your brand messaging. This is a powerful opportunity to connect with them and turn them into brand ambassadors and lifetime customers.
• Communicate. Facebook marketing is not just pushing out brand messages. It has become common for customers to use a brand page to bring up inquiries or offer feedback. Handled correctly, this can be a fantastic way to communicate with customers and offer them exceptional customer service.

Once you’ve determined the goals your brand is looking to achieve through Facebook marketing, it’s time to set up your page.

Basic Steps
1. Use an existing Facebook account or create a new one.
2. Navigate to Pages and “Create a Page.”
3. Select a category.
4. Enter your brand name.
5. Agree to terms and “Get Started.”
6. Upload a profile picture (at least 180px).
7. Add basic info.
8. Select a URL – you will not be able to change this, so make sure you get it right the first time.
9. Add a cover image (850×315px).

Claim a Dedicated URL
The dedicated URL is referred to by Facebook as a username, although it is not a username in the traditional sense.
Admin Panel Manage Edit Page Basic Information Username
Choose a professional name that accurately reflects your brand. Capitalization is factored in, so use capital letters if it makes sense, for example check out this page.

Create Admins

• If you’d like to have more than one person manage the page, you will need to give them administrative access.
• Any team member who would like to be an admin should “like” the page.
• Then go into Admin Panel Manage Edit Page Admin Roles and begin typing in the name of the person you’d like to add.
• Select if you’d prefer to add them as a Manager, Content Creator, Moderator, Advertiser or Insights Analyst. See more information about Page admin roles.

Design Your Page
Design your Facebook page using strong branding that is well integrated with your other marketing channels. Often the Cover Image will mimic the design of a company’s website or current ad campaign and the Profile Pic will be the company logo. If you’re not sure what direction to take, these are solid practices to follow. The Facebook page design elements are outlined below, along with their recommended sizes:

• Cover Image: 850×315px
• Profile Pic: At least 180x180px
• App Icons: 111x74px

Company Information Best Practices
As you’re filling out the informational content on your Facebook page, keep these best practices in mind:

• Be specific and honest when you’re entering your profile information. Facebook is rumored to be hard at work improving their search functionality and when it (finally) does, you will want your brand profiles to be well-optimized.
• Local pages can choose up to 3 subcategories. If your brand is local, do this!
• The “start date” you choose will be the beginning of your Facebook timeline. If the brand is well-established or has a rich history, you may want to select the date the company was founded and then fill in company milestones.

That’s it! You’re now the proud owner of a Facebook Brand Page. Now that your page is set up, you’ll want to develop a smart content strategy and start a regular posting schedule. Stay tuned for tips on creating a killer Facebook content strategy…