Clearview National April 2015 - Issue 161 | Page 86

SOCIALMEDIA

Sarah Ball, Communications Director at PR and marketing
specialists in glazing and construction, Balls2 Marketing focuses
on Facebook for her second Social Media column in Clearview

Facebook for business
»»Facebook is a great place

2. GET LIKED

to do business. It’s another way to engage
with customers and potential customers.
People who use Facebook can check you
out, and see whether they like what you do.
It’s free and really straightforward to set up
a company page.You will need a personal
page so if you already have one make sure
your privacy settings are set how you want,
or set up a personal profile with just the
basic information to get you started.

You need 30 likes to get the reporting from
Facebook, so it’s worth getting these out of
the way first. It doesn’t matter who they are.
So just ask friends, family and people who
work with you.
The number of ‘likes’ your page has, is linked
to the number of people who see it. So it’s
always good to go for more.

1. SET UP
From your personal page there’s a
dropdown menu at the top right, click
“Create a page.” If you have a showroom,
trade counter or somewhere customers
come to, click local business or place. If
it’s an HQ or internet business choose
company, organisation or institution. If
you have multiple showrooms set these
up separately and also create a brand
page.
Then just follow the instructions.
Add in as much detail as possible and
choose photos that fit the boxes.You
might find it easier to upload them
from a phone or tablet.

3. POSTING
Choose how often you’re going to post. We
suggest 2-4 times a week. A frequently updated
wall is always good for people checking you
out.Videos and photos get noticed most, so
use them wherever possible. Take photos or
video clips of the outside and inside of your
premises, and if they are willing, people who
work with you.
Testimonials are really powerful. Take a
photo of an installation and post it with
a comment from the customer, with
their permission. Photos of jobs,
deliveries and products are also
good. The way to test whether
it’s OK to post something is to
ask yourself if you would say it
in front of a customer.

‘Facebook is a great
way to get noticed’
4. MONITORING
Keep the notifications settings set to let
you know if anything is posted to the page.
Because it’s easy to use, people will like, share
and post comments. If it’s a good comment,
the sooner you can say thank you, the better.
If it’s a customer that you need to deal with
because something’s gone wrong, do it. Pick up
the phone and resolve the issue. Then when
you’ve sorted it reply: We have just done this,
is everything OK now? This gives them the
opportunity to say something good about
you.
If it’s something that’s not appropriate you
can hide comments.

5. BOOSTING POSTS
Facebook is a great way to get noticed
by potential customers. People trust their
Facebook wall, and they can check you out
first. Boosting posts means paying to have
your message delivered to their wall. First
choose a post, or create a Facebook advert,
and then you can decide on your audience.
You can select the location and even the jobs
or interests of people you’d like to see your
post, then choose an amount of money and
time you want it to run. It’s a great way to
promote special offers, open days and product
information.
www.facebook.com/Balls2Marketing

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