Using Facebook for Business – Internet Marketing 101
For a business to stay relevant today, it simply must have an internet presence. And that means more than a simple website. Everything from a dynamic custom website to an engaged community of online brand advocates is necessary to have success in Internet marketing.
With today’s diverse social media platforms, it’s easier than ever for a company to interact with its online community. Facebook has become a primary way for many business to implement their social media marketing strategies. However, it’s important to keep up with changes in the platform to keep your business Facebook page sleek and accessible.
Facebook Launches Changes to its Platform for Users
Facebook continually updates its layout, but some big changes have taken place for 2014. The changes are designed to make using Facebook a more streamlined experience. Cutting through the fluff and getting to the information users want will be quicker than ever.
Not only that, but the changes will also make it much easier for Facebook business page administrators to do their jobs. It only takes a Facebook user a few seconds to decide whether or not to visit your page based on your news feed. It’s got to be appealing to the eye to draw in traffic.
Presentation & Function
The changes taking place within Facebook are mainly all about presentation and function. Take some time to learn about what’s coming and make changes to your Facebook business page in order to maximize effectiveness and increase your Internet marketing and social media success.
Facebook’s New Layout
The new Facebook layout has a bar on the right side that lets you view your activity from anywhere on your page. It scrolls with you and has all current info on your messages, notifications, allows viewing of your page ads, and generally keeps you informed of all your activity. This makes it easy for admins to manage their pages more easily.
The left side of your Facebook page is now where your business info is displayed while the right displays posts in order. The left side shows your contact info, website, map feature, your business hours, and videos and pics. Events and email sign ups are also on the left. Anything that used to be formatted as a tab is now to be found on the left side of your page.
Another change is how your page name will be displayed at the top portion of the page. Your page name is now going to be seen as white text which is set atop your cover photo. Because of this, you may need to change your cover photo design and colors accordingly to ensure maximum visibility. You don’t need your business name eclipsed out of the picture due to background colors.
Pages to Watch
The new Pages to Watch feature allows you to make a list of pages like yours. You can quickly see what other businesses in your field are doing on their pages to stay informed and keep an eye on trends.
Design Elements of Your Facebook Business Page
Photos are becoming a much bigger part of the Facebook experience than they used to be. Just think about how important your profile pic and cover photo are for your business. A lot of time and effort goes into images you choose to represent your company. Consider the benefits of galleries and your timeline.
Facebook Photo Sizes – Profile and Cover
The two major photos on your page are your profile pic and your cover photo. Both are instrumental in conveying what your business is about, but they fulfill different functions. Sizing is an important aspect of choosing your pics. While Facebook allows for cropping, it’s important to choose pics that fit their sizing parameters.
Your profile pic is strictly about your brand, and the image should reflect that. It should be your logo modified to effectively and sincerely represent your business on the Facebook platform. Try to use a square photo if possible. If you’re not using a square photo, you can hover over the image and select “edit profile pic”, and then “edit thumbnail” to crop it to your liking. The profile pic is basically your company crest. Make sure it’s a good one.
Your Facebook profile photo should be at least 180px by 180px. It’s then displayed a bit smaller, at about 160px by 160px. Facebook adds a small white border around your image automatically.
Your cover photo is very different and serves a different purpose. It should reflect the spirit of your company with action or an image directly related to your product or your field. For example, if your business manufactures water skis, your cover photo could be as simple as a colorful pic of your latest skis, just of someone enjoying a day of skiing.
While your profile pic should be fairly permanent, your cover photo can change often, showing a variety of images related to your business. The image should be at least 399px wide but photos that are at least 720px wide will work best. Plus, then you have the option to crop the pic to your liking.
For some time, Facebook has had some specific rules regarding cover photos for businesses.
- no price or purchasing information
- no contact info
- no referencing of Facebook actions such as “like” or “share”, or arrows on the cover pointing to such features
- no hyped up information, like “get them while they last” or “available for a limited time”
These guidelines have been adjusted some and we wanted to share that information with you as well. Calls to action are acceptable for your Facebook cover photo and this might be anything from a percentage off or announcing a special event. Just make sure that your picture isn’t more than 20% text.
Facebook Photos in the Feed
Other photos are important to consider when making your Facebook business page as clean and visually pleasing as possible. Facebook Images are displayed on the user newsfeed at a size of 472x394px. Other images are not cropped, but instead scaled down. The ratio for photos in this section ends up being approximately 236x197px.
More Fun Facebook Tips for Business:
- Posts that have 250 characters or less often get more than 60 percent of the engagement!
- Posts with dynamic, interesting photos get more than 100 percent more comments and more than 50 percent more likes!
- Don’t forget to post your Instagram photos to Facebook as well and use relevant hashtags!
- Make your pictures really pop with photo editors such as Pixlr, Picmonkey or Splashup.
- Also, you can add lots of photos in a snap with tools like Postcrons’ Multiupload!
Remember these changes and photo guidelines as you use Facebook this year.
