A Facebook Fan Page for your Business

I recently realised that my business needed a Facebook Page rather than a regular account on Facebook. There are lots of reasons to do this but these 3 motivated me most:

• So people could see the page without logging into Facebook first and so that I could link directly to that page from my website
• So that people could become fans without needing me to approve them first
• So that there would be no restriction on the number of fans I could have in the future (once word spreads and my Page becomes hugely popular!!)

You can create a page through your personal Facebook account but I decided to set mine up as a separate entity in case we sell our business at some stage in the future. I want my marketing to be easily transferable to new owners. After trial and error I realised that the account should have a different name from my business to avoid confusing the Facebook Search engine (and to avoid confusing myself in regards to whether I am looking at the account or page when making updates).

Once you have created and logged into your Facebook account these are the instructions for creating a Business Page:

1. Go to the bottom of your home page and click on Advertising (or follow this link)
2. Select “Pages” at the top then the green “Create a Page” button
3. In the Create New Facebook Page setup determine what category your page is going to fall into – I chose “Brand, Product or Organisation”
4. Once you have selected the category more options appear in a drop box so you can now choose the type of business you represent – I selected “Hotel/B&B/Hostel”
5. Below that add the name of your business (this will become your page name)
6. Once you have that setup you need to insert your Facebook account name as your electronic signature and check the box to indicate that you are authorised to create the page
7. Click on “Create Page” and start filling the sections available with your information, images, videos, posts, discussions etc
8. Once you are ready, publish the page to make it available to the public by clicking on the settings link on your pageIf appropriate, don’t forget to become a fan of your page through your personal Facebook account so that all your friends will be able to see it exists – plus invite people to become a fan through invitation option below your main page photo. Facebook Pages are also relevant to destinations, clubs, events, music groups and many other types of organisation.You can have multiple pages for any one Facebook account.

Tip: When linking to your Facebook page from outside e.g. your website, Twitter, MySpace etc. you will need to remove text from the URL you see when on your Facebook Page to avoid people having to log in to see your content. This allows you to link directly into a publicly viewable Facebook page, accessible by anyone on the internet. It’s simple once you know how – delete whatever is between “facebook.com/” and “pages” in the URL.
e.g. My Facebook page link is: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lupton-Lodge/154902121016

The URL I see when logged into Facebook is:
http://www.facebook.com/business/dashboard/?ref=sb#/pages/Lupton-Lodge/154902121016 I’m still evolving my Facebook Page and no doubt its purpose will change many times during its lifetime. I see it as a great tool for ongoing direct communication with past & future guests, as a place for their online feedback about my business and a great place for lots and lots of photos, travel advice and recipes.

Where my website is formal and designed for the world at large, my Facebook is relaxed, will show our unique character and offer added value to people who have identified themselves as our target market. The opportunities are endless… but I want to get it right, so will be taking my time.

Watch this space – or better still become a Lupton Lodge fan.

NOTE: This post was written by Karen Lees owner of Lupton Lodge.