25 Facebook Business Page Tips That Go A Long Way
There are far too many awful Facebook pages around. Let’s review 25 Facebook business page tips that make a big difference to help you reach new people.
As far as businesses are concerned, Facebook basically took the Yellow Pages on a cruise and threw them overboard. The Yellow Pages, once the king of connecting customers and businesses, is now just a punchline of marketing jokes.
(Please tell me your business doesn’t advertise in the Yellow Pages, or if you do, it’s for a very good reason.)
Facebook now reigns as the top social media platform for businesses connecting with customers. And it’s the largest in the world with over 2 billion users.
Most small business owners already know this: 92% of small business owners agreed social media marketing is important for their business, while 93% of them use Facebook for marketing purposes.
This staggering stat means your competition is probably on Facebook, so you better have an excellent presence.
You’re probably not maximizing the benefit of your business Facebook page—most businesses don’t. It’s unsurprising though. There are so many features and options now that it nearly takes an expert to run a top-notch Facebook page.
Let’s briefly explore how the Facebook news feed algorithm works. Facebook posts used to appear in chronological order until the personalized “news feed” came along.
The news feed algorithm attempts to maximize each user’s time on Facebook by displaying the posts the user is most likely to find relevant. It’s very complicated how it works, as it analyzes quite a bit of information to determine user preferences.
What you need to know is this: the news feed makes it harder for your posts to be noticed, for the most part. Since people go on Facebook typically to connect with friends, not with businesses, Facebook minimizes the number of business posts selected for the news feed.
Keep in mind Facebook is motivated to make it difficult for you to get posts in front of customers. Because then you’re more likely to pay for a sponsored post that more people will see—the hugest chunk of Facebook’s annual revenue.
The end result is your customers may not see a majority of your posts unless they specifically visit your page to look for them.
This limits your Facebook reach and makes it vitally important for you to have a high-quality page optimized for engagement. You simply can’t avoid being on Facebook anymore, so buckle up for some tips to make your Facebook page much better than your competition with the help of Cincinnati SEO services.
25 Tips to Improve Your Business Facebook Page
1. Have an attractive cover photo and profile picture
Please, please, please, no ugly product pictures—unfortunately one of the most common mistakes businesses are making on social media.
Oh, customers want to see the nicest burger on your menu when they go to your Facebook page. They just don’t want to see it at its worst, defiled by a camera phone from 2005.
For your cover photo and profile picture, use some combination of product images, your logo, slogan, and very concise text about your top offerings. And remember it’s just as much a first impression of your business as your front sign, so make sure it looks good.
2. Complete all profile sections
Don’t leave key profile sections blank, especially important information like your website URL, address, and hours. Complete profiles are far superior to empty ones.
Of course, you don’t have to complete the irrelevant sections. No need to upload a food menu if you’re a carpet cleaning company. (Unless you’re selling the scraps or something? Ew, never mind.)
For instance, here’s the “About” section for my professional Facebook page.
Looks like I could complete a few more fields—I’ll get on that! Facebook will include different fields based on which category you select. My profile type is “Entrepreneur” while yours may be “Restaurant.”
Pick the right category then complete the relevant fields to help customers learn about your business and get in touch!
3. Post frequently and regularly
You should post once or twice per day on your Facebook page. If you want to post less frequently, make it regular (new posts on Sundays and Thursdays, for instance).
This way, your followers will know what to expect. Consistency looks professional.
And make sure you don’t post too much. Publishing seven posts per day would be overkill. Feature what really matters in your posts and don’t incidentally spam your followers.
If you have more content to share, you can always follow up in comments or link to longer posts on your website that contain more details.
4. Schedule posts so you don’t miss
As a small business owner, you’re very busy. It’s probably very hard for you to make time to update Facebook every single day, so you probably think I’m nuts for suggesting daily posts.
I’m not nuts—at least not for making this suggestion!
Schedule your posts in advance to automate this important component of your marketing.
Scheduling a post is only one more step than writing the post initially. After you write the post, click the arrow next to “publish” and click “schedule.”
On the next screen, just pick the future date and time. That’s it—your post will appear automatically at the time you select.
Finally, I suggest scheduling posts on a weekly or monthly basis, depending on your business and your goals for the Facebook Page. You can knock out all posts in one sitting and not think about it again until the following week/month!
5. Post a variety of content
You can post lots of different content types on Facebook: articles, specials, images, videos, text-posts, questions, polls, live video, and many more.
Great Facebook pages change it up—your posts shouldn’t all be the same. This can become stale for your followers and doesn’t give them much of a reason to come back.
You can establish a routine to make it easier to keep your page dynamic and exciting. (Throwback Thursdays, Special Saturdays, etc.)
Also brainstorm how you can use this strategy to connect with your followers. What if every Monday night you did a Facebook Live session at a certain time? Or every Wednesday you featured an “employee of the week?” Figure out what works for you and stick to it.
6. Don’t underestimate the power of videos
Videos are a tremendous way to engage your audience and show off your business in a way text and photos can’t.
It’s also a great way to give your customers the information they want in the way they want it. Believe it or not, 4x as many customers prefer learning about a product in a video rather than reading about it.
DIY videos are fine—you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars making Hollywood-quality productions.
Short behind-the-scenes shots, interviews, or showing the process of making your product can go a long way.
7. Use lots of images
Images are more engaging and attractive than text will ever be and more likely to show up in your followers’ news feeds. Facebook posts with images receive 2.3x more engagement.
For some posts, you can just write the text you would have posted anyway and then add some sort of relevant image. Other posts can center around the image—for instance, here’s our burger of the month for June.
You can also use image editing software (like Canva) to add text to your images, conveying even more information.
8. Limit text in images
It’s never a good idea to load up your text with images. People just aren’t going to read it. As mobile traffic rises on Facebook, keep in mind text should be large and simple anyway.
Facebook doesn’t want you to load up images with text. They know this reduces engagement. Facebook even suppresses advertisements that are more than 20% covered in text.
If you’re making an image for an advertisement, or you just want to follow the best practice in general, use the Facebook Text Overlay Tool to automatically detect how much text is in your image.
You can reduce image text by moving the information to your post or linking to your website for more information.
9. Use live video
I’m convinced live videos are inflated in people’s news feeds to promote the use of the feature. Take advantage of this!
Some followers will even get a notification when you “go live,” so this is a highly effective strategy to grab their attention.
A few ideas for live videos: interviews, meet-and-greets, Q&A sessions, show off and explain the process of making your product, or a tour of a new space.
If you make your page’s followers feel like they’re part of a VIP exclusive club, they’ll pay more attention to your future posts. We’re a big fan of video, and that’s why we’ve invested in our video production capabilities.
10. Claim your Facebook Page URL
The standard Facebook URL format, facebook.com/profile.php?id=2399230492034whatever, is quite annoying. Set up your own Facebook.com/YourBusinessName so it’s more aesthetically pleasing—and easier to share your link.
This is called your page username.
Bonus points if you can use the same username for all your social media profiles.
If your business name is taken, consider adding your city or some other word that flows with your business. As you can see, I had to get creative by adding “meet” before my name.
11. Share “behind-the-scenes” content
Customers love to feel in the know. Make them feel like VIP insiders as followers of your Page. This will make visitors more likely to like your page and your followers more likely to click “read more.”
You need to post necessary information about your business on your Facebook Page, but you also need to engage your regular customers so they continually like and comment on your posts.
It’d be pretty boring if every post were just a reminder of your hours or pictures of the same thing from different angles.
Use social media to build a following and make your followers feel like they’re part of a community. This is a huge advantage of Facebook over old-school Yellow Pages or billboard advertising.
12. Engage your audience by asking questions
You might not want to do this in every post, as it can get tedious, but asking questions is a great way to prompt comments and start discussions on your page.
Posts with comments will appear higher in news feeds! Because if a post is getting a lot of comments, Facebook will assume the post is interesting and show it to more people. Craft your posts to encourage participation.
News stations do this really well. Here’s an example from LOCAL 12, a Cincinnati news network. Somewhere between one-third to one-half of their posts have a question. Usually, the posts get quite a few responses. This post received 93 comments.
Each of our local news networks in Cincinnati uses this tactic. As a result, they each have distinct followings and communities of people who always comment on their posts.
Don’t miss out on the loyalty and constant reminders of your business this strategy can generate.
13. Jump into the comments as well
After you’ve crafted engaging posts, join the conversation! It’d be time-consuming for you to reply to everything, but single out a few key comments to add something interesting or a few questions to answer.
For another local example, Kings Island (a large amusement park) engages with their followers and answers questions very well.
You have to wonder how many people visit the park because they received a prompt response with an answer. Some people give up and won’t make further efforts to find whatever information they inquired about.
How much business might you miss out on if you leave these comments unanswered?
14. Advertise specials, discounts, promotions
Another great way to keep your Facebook Page fresh is special promotions. Advertise limited time deals or daily specials to give your existing customers a reason to come back sooner.
Everyone loves feeling like they’re getting a deal. Businesses run promotions so often for a very good reason—they work well! And if you’re struggling, use this Facebook ads conversion guide.
15. Offer social media exclusives
I’ve seen quite a few innovative promotions posted “for Facebook fans only.” You can tell customers to mention the Facebook post to receive the discount.
I’ve also seen a few bars offer a percentage discount (even 50% off on a certain night) if you “check in” on Facebook and show your server.
These special deals offer a compelling reason for people to like your page—expanding your advertising reach and the potential benefit of the platform for your business.
16. Respond to customer reviews
I’ve written before about not screwing up your responses to online reviews. Responding to negative reviews is pretty difficult—check out the post if you’re scratching your head about how to reply to any particular reviews.
The bottom line is: REPLY! It’s so important not to leave the negative reviews for everyone to see without a response from you. At best, this can look dismissive; at worst, it can even be a “beware” sign for people to steer clear of your business.
Tell your side of the story!
Responding to nice reviews is much easier. Check out this smooth response from Keystone Bar & Grill:
How long do you think it took them to write the response—perhaps ten seconds? Tina may have returned to Keystone just because the response made her smile.
In any case, there’s no reason not to respond. It can only help.
17. Respond to messages promptly
Facebook wants your customers to be able to reach you quickly, since this makes the platform more useful.
In fact, it’s so important to them they put your average response time prominently on your page:
You can use the Facebook mobile app to send customers a quick reply, even if it’s “hey, I’m on the run right now—get back to you later!”
Not that you need another annoying app making your phone vibrate, but you really should make it a priority to reply quickly. Customers might message you as they’re about to make a spur-of-the-moment decision. Win their business!
Replying within an hour is a pretty high bar. I’d say just do your best and reply within the same day and your badge won’t be a problem. But if the badge indicates you’re very slow to respond, customers might figure there’s no point in even trying.
18. Include a call-to-action in your posts
A strong call-to-action is the cornerstones of any excellent online marketing strategy. What are you asking your customers to do—what action do you want them to take after seeing your post?
For example, “Click here. Buy now. Send a message. Enter the drawing.”
Sometimes communication is complicated and nuanced. But it shouldn’t be in your Facebook posts! Tell your customers exactly what you want them to do. They’ll be more likely to do it.
And keep it to one call-to-action per post. Too many and your audience will be less likely to do any of them.
19. Use the Facebook call to action button to drive behavior
First off, speaking of calls to action, Facebook enables you to pick one button to feature prominently on your page.
It’s easy to set up:
Think about the objective of your page and pick the appropriate button. What will best help you grow your business? More customer messages, more people “learning more” on your site?
This button is even more prominently featured on the mobile Facebook app, which represents a huge slice of Facebook’s audience. (For more on this, check out our CTA psychology article.)
20. Add Facebook apps to your Page
No, not the mobile apps. Though many have forgotten about them, Facebook has an internal application platform with tons of options to spruce up your page.
For whatever reason, Facebook makes it very difficult for you to explore the options. The only way to find the apps within Facebook is the regular search bar.
Search whatever app you’re looking for and use the “apps” tab instead of “people” or the other regular options. Or if you want to window shop, type in “apps for Pages” as your search.
Even though the option is relatively hidden, there are still beneficial apps that can help you get more out of your Page and make it unique. Here’s a list of quite a few great Facebook page apps.
21. Advertise – it’s critical, unfortunately!
You had to know this was coming. There are a ton of free things you can do to stand out on Facebook (see the other 24 options).
But it seems like every time Facebook updates its news feed algorithm, it becomes harder for your customers to see your posts.
This is why sponsored posts are great, especially if you target the advertisement correctly and include a strong call-to-action.
Click-through rates are 8-9x higher for Facebook ads than for traditional web ads. So don’t waste your money—target your audience to run an effective PPC campaign.
22. Integrate with Instagram
You can also run ads simultaneously on Facebook and Instagram. And you absolutely should, because Instagram is booming.
Instagram has over 500 million daily active users, 90% of whom are under 35 years old.
If you’re looking to connect with a young audience, use Facebook’s excellent option of hitting Facebook and Instagram at the same time!
23. Encourage customers to like your page and share content
Technically, sponsored posts instructing customers to like, comment, and/or share the post to win a prize are against Facebook’s Terms of Service.
Your mileage may vary, as I see businesses get away with it all the time. And of course you’re welcome to use this strategy in regular free posts.
There’s also nothing wrong with hanging things up in your physical location (if applicable) encouraging customers to like your page. Remind them of your specials for extra encouragement!
24. Use other Facebook post types, like cards or job postings
Mark Zuckerberg has been cranking out new Facebook features faster than Katy Perry cranks out more of the same Top 40 “hits.”
Take advantage of the new features and you might just be surprised how well they work. Since most businesses aren’t using them yet, you just might really grab customers’ attention as they see something new.
Try posting a job opening on Facebook rather than Indeed, Craigslist, or wherever you normally find employees online. Sell your products in the rapidly growing Facebook Marketplace. Use carousel cards to spruce up your sponsored posts, helping you get more bang for each advertising buck.
It can be hard to keep up with all the new features, but there might be a huge pay-off if you’re an early adopter!
25. Show off your brand’s unique personality
I promise this isn’t just a filler suggestion to get to 25 tips.
Whatever you do, avoid sounding corporate, boring, or bland in your posts. Be bold.
Every business has a unique personality and culture. So sound like a human in your posts—not a robot. Your followers will appreciate it and this will help build a stronger sense of community.
Social media platforms are changing the field of marketing. Brands are being more casual than ever in their communication with customers.
From my perspective, good riddance to the overly formal, boring “marketing speak” that has inundated us for far too long. This is why Robben Media is a bold company—it’s just more fun this way.
Make Your Business Facebook Page Not Suck
Alright, maybe I exaggerated in the title. I’m sure your Facebook Page doesn’t suck.
Ultimately, it could just use some more tender loving care.
Even if you only implement a handful of the suggestions in this post, I promise your time will pay off.
Remember: a better Facebook Page means higher reach. Higher reach means more people know about your product. And greater awareness means more loyalty and money!
If you want to supercharge these efforts, work with us to run Facebook ads to drive more revenue to your business. The results can be outstanding.