Let's set you up for success on the giant of the social media world, by making friends with your Facebook business page.
And we're NOT talking 'pay to play' stuff - we're showcasing five free features on Facebook that punch above their weight, and every business should use today.
Five free features on your Facebook business page that will raise your profile and increase traffic to your website:
1. Action Button
Use this call to action button the right way. It defaults to ‘WhatsApp’ when you set up your page, when in reality many businesses don’t even use that app for their business.
Here's how to change it:
Sign into your business account profile
Click the three dots under your cover image
Click ‘edit action button’ and choose the right one for your business
You can choose from 'contact us', 'book now', 'sign up' and many more that are way more relevant to you. Pick the one that suits your business and clients the best.
2. Your Intro
Includes a short tagline or statement about your business. Shows up when someone hovers over your business page link (such as when someone ‘tags’ your business in a post)
110 characters, can include emojis.
Here's how to do it:
log into your business profile on Facebook and view your business page
Click 'Edit Bio'
Add your short statement - it will prompt you when you run out of characters
3. Links
Add all links possible - click ‘edit details’ and add website and other social platforms so people can click through and check you out even more, or get in touch with you
4. Features Part 1 - Featured Stories
You can add featured images (1080x1920) that highlight your services, your latest events and more
If you already add 'story' posts to Facebook they will be available to 'feature' in a collection you already have or can create
Scroll past the edit details button and you'll see 'featured' You can add images here and as a visitor to the page, if I click on them it's like viewing your 'story' posts in a slideshow
You could use collections in a number of ways such as highlighting how people can work with you, your latest project before and after photos, upcoming event announcements and so much more.
5. Featured Part 2 - Pin posts to the top of your page
You can pin important posts to the top of your page, (up to six), so they are the first thing visitors see. This can be updated as often as you like.
There are two ways to use and update this feature:
When you are viewing your featured posts, click 'manage' and you can add, remove or reorder posts.
In the post you want to pin to the top as a feature, click the three dots and choose 'pin to top'
Here's some ways you can use these features:
upcoming event promotion
announcements
limited time offers
latest projects
client photos
publicity such as links to guest articles or podcasts
latest YouTube video or podcast episode
latest Facebook live video
What will you use them for?
BONUS - Getting your images right
In case you get stumped about image sizes on Facebook here's the latest image dimensions and some tips to make sure they are standing out:
Profile Image
Make it pop - don't have a white background on your profile image on your business page as people can't see it properly in the news feed.
Dimensions: 170x170 with a minimum of 128x128
Cover Image
Because these display in different ratios across different devices, keep is simple so text, if you add it, doesn't get cut off or the image gets pixelated.
You've seen my page view on desktop, here it is on mobile as comparison:
Dimensions are 851x315 but if you create it then add to your page and it's blurry, here's a hack I found. Double the size of the design (Canva resize) but don't change the text or images, then upload it to your page and it will look so much better.
Post images
Recommended size so Facebook doesn't put resize your image and lose any of the important stuff:
Recommended size: 1220x630
Minimum is 600x315
Story Images
A 'Story' on both Instagram and Facebook are posts that remain live for 24 hours, unless you add them to features as we did above.
The are 1080x1920 or in simpler terms, a portrait sized photo taken on your phone like this one.
Over to you
Facebook might sometimes feel like a 'pay to play' platform but you can still use it to build your visibility and credibility to make the most of it.
Your next step is adding updates to the page each week - as many times as you can, and in as many different ways as you can. Video, images and captions, multiple image posts and so much more.
Remember to add the same posts to Google Business Profile and even LinkedIn to amplify the post and save you time but repurposing.
If you're curious about setting up for success to get more from your marketing you can book a 25 mini audit and strategy with Jenny De Lacy for free: