How to Create a Facebook Fan Page for Your Small Business

So you’ve got a business. If you’re playing your cards right, your company is going to have at least a few people who are big fans. But what can you do with this goodwill, and how can you channel something as abstract into a positive opinion of your company?

That’s easy. Create a Facebook fan page!

It’s a great way to gather all your biggest fans in one place, not to mention promote your business. It’s not the time to ignore Facebook—doing that means missing out on catching the attention of potential clients for your business.

The Very Basics

First of all, Facebook only lets a user have one fan page at a time, so make you’re not admin of one already!

You’ll need to log in, and scroll down to the bottom of the page. There, you’ll see these icons:

You’ll want to click on the one that says “Ads and Pages.” From here, you’ll be taken to a screen like this:

You’ll see two options: one to create a targeted ad and one to create a page. This second one is the one you want. You’ll be taken to the screen below and asked to fill out your page’s information. You’ll need to provide your full name so that Facebook can authenticate you; fake pages and unofficial fan pages are not permitted under Facebook’s Pages Guidelines. But you’re creating a fan page for your business, so you have nothing to worry about!

From there, you’ll be able to customize your page, adding your company logo, some employees, maybe a mission statement or two. Here’s ours:

Beyond the Basics

Congratulations! You've just created a fan page of which others can “Become a Fan.” A basic fan page includes a wall, newsfeed, photos, videos and list of fans—it’s basically a profile page for your business. But if you really want to make the most of your page, you’ll want to investigate different Facebooks applications, widgets and Flash boxes to liven up your page and make it a place your fans will check up on regularly.

Some suggestions to get you started:

• If you have a company blog, why not add an RSS Feed to your page to tell all your fans when there’s a new post?
• Try holding a contest to get your fans involved with the page; the aim here is not to wow your customers with something flashy, but to reward their loyalty.
• Browse through Facebook Application Database to get a better idea of what’s out there…there are hundreds of apps!

Just remember: don’t go overboard. Keep your page’s usability in mind at all times, and loading it with too many gadgets will take away from that. You want your page to be a place that fans like to visit, not something that confuses them with flashing lights or intrusive sounds!

Make membership of your fan page like a special club anyone would want to be a part of by updating often, with lots of great links or company news. Got a launch happening soon? That should definitely be on your page. But if you ate a big lunch and are now stuffed full? Better save it for your personal Facebook account.

To wrap up, treat this page as an extension of your brand. This fan page is your company’s ambassador on Facebook, and you should keep it fresh, updated and always interactive.

A Word of Advice...

Of course, this is all on a very small scale. The bigger your company is, the more work your social media ventures require. Why not consult the people in the know?