Running an Effective Business Page

As promised I am writing for you today a guide on how to effectively boost you’re company brand using social media platforms. On my previous entry I enumerated the best social media platforms for businesses so today we’ll be discussing how to effectively run those pages if you’ve already created them.

For Facebook:

If you already have a page on Facebook then that’s great but if you haven’t yet then the first thing you need to figure out is the name of the page. Although your company name is already a good choice you must remember that name picking is no trivial matter. Make sure to pick a name that your customers know you by in order to make searching for your page easier. It is also important to note that Facebook only allows a maximum of 25 characters for a page title.

Along with picking a name you must also choose a good URL. Marketable URLs come in the form of short, easy to read, and easy to remember titles. Something that you can place on emails and fliers that people would retain. To set your URL follow these steps:
Go to: About > Page Info > Username > Edit

A good profile is a great way to attract people to your page. Achieve this by creating a good About entry. This is the part that appears right underneath your cover photo. This area allows addition of hyperlinks so may also include your company website after a brief description.

Make a Content Calendar. This is quite troublesome but creating one actually helps a lot in terms of structure especially when your page is new. A schedule is always effective in keeping everybody on their toes when tasks have a deadline. Map out themes and assign people to post entries at particular times and operations will soon be smooth and regular.

Photos. Your cover and profile photos are the first things that a visitor sees when they go to your page. A cover photo determines whether your page is worth liking and following so in order to make an effective one you should make sure that the imagery tells a story about your company. Your profile photo appears each time you make a status update or make an announcement so be sure to make it as engaging as possible. Survey says that although a logo is most commonly used for company pages, a face on your profile makes it appear friendlier. People respond better when they see a face. With this step also comes the help of professional photographers and graphic artists. Make sure that you know the right dimensions of the photos you upload and try to limit the words on your cover and profile photos. If possible have a professional photographer and graphic artist do the work for you.

Effective posts should get a ton of attention and having a face to your company is one thing but making sure you have that face respond to people is another. When people start commenting and sending in inquiries make sure that you are able to entertain and reply to them in a timely manner. Start a conversation and leave a good impression so your visitors come back to you and bring in more business. Additional point to remember is to make sure that your settings enable your viewers to send you messages, this option can be managed on your privacy and permission setting.

If your posts don’t get as much attention as you’d like boost your reach by promoting your page. This step although the only one that requires a monetary capital gives the biggest return. Numbers go through the roof as Facebook ascertains your target market and makes your post visible to those that fit the bill. Page promotion settings can be altered to fit your budget since you’ll be able to set the number of days and the amount you wish to shell out per day, but of course reach is directly proportional to amount put in. Page promotion can also be done without the need to pay up by any of the following means:
Invitation – invite friends and family to like the page and have them encourage their friends to do the same.
Flyers – print out fliers that include your company name and URL and give them out in designated areas.

For Instagram:

Instagram is a really good platform to use when reaching out to potential customers or clients who are more drawn to visual aspects of an advertisement. The first thing to remember when creating a post for Instagram is to plan out a creative strategy. A cohesive and visually pleasing feed is more likely to gain followers instead of a cluttered one. Consider the question: why should they follow me? Especially when they already follow you on Facebook. What you can do is offer stuff that people will only find on your Instagram account instead of making repetitive posts all throughout your social media platforms.

Make use of hashtags. Hashtags are the secret to getting traffic to your page. Not a lot of people have mastered the usage of hashtags but practically everyone online uses them. The importance of hashtags from a business perspective is the fact that it lets people who search a particular topic see your post without necessarily going to your page. Popular and trending hashtags are your top choices so try searching online for the current most popular tags but also try to choose those that are relevant to your post.

Balance your visibility. The right amount of postings keeps you on the minds of your followers but over sharing and flooding their feed may result to them unfollowing your account. The content calendar explained earlier is also an effective way of managing the number and frequency of postings resulting to a more systematic and over all successful Instagram campaign. One type of scheduled post that will surely get responses from your followers are reposts of photos form their accounts, choose photos that relate to your business. Creating an interaction between you and your follower encourages them to frequent your page and support your brand.

Artistry is a big factor in visual campaigns. Feature your products in photos set on picturesque scenery or interesting locations to get your followers interested. Creative posts get so much more likes and comments than generic advertising when it comes to imagery.

Page promotion is also a viable option to widen your reach and engagements on Instagram. Paid or sponsored posts are shown to your targeted audience for a price that you can set, somewhat the same case as Facebook.

I hope these insights I’ve shared with you aid you in the beginning and the maintenance of your Facebook and Instagram campaigns. Try your luck on these platforms today and see how it goes. Remember that although creation can be done in one sitting, maintenance and assurance of success takes consistent effort. Follow my tips and see how it goes or you can check out Illusivedesign. I will be discussing how Illusivedesign can help you in your social media campaign in one of my coming entries. Meanwhile, stay tuned for a quick discussion on Pinterest, Twitter, and Google+ on the next blog.