How and why to use Facebook as your Page

Though touted as a primarily B2C (Business to Consumer) marketing tool, there are many ways that Facebook can be leveraged for successful community building B2B (Business to Business).

I see too many static Facebook Pages – Pages that lay dormant except for the occasional promotion or sales pitch. If you want a form of communication that is one way, try an email newsletter. Or a website.

Facebook is not a megaphone.  (Or at least it shouldn’t be!)

An interesting and engaging Facebook Page is meant to encourage interaction, likes and comments; foster goodwill; build community.

Yes, some successful Pages do sell things. But this cannot be the primary goal of the Page (at first).

(If you don’t already understand the important distinction between Facebook Profiles and Pages, read my blog post about it here.)

3 advantages to using Facebook as your Page:

• Exposure: If you comment on a Page that gets lots of traffic, people will see it and they might click on over to you.

• Karma: By leaving thoughtful or thought-provoking comments on others’ Pages, this creates dialogue and community, what social media is really all about.

• Relationships: Using Facebook as your Business Page, liking others, commenting, posting etc. helps build your brand and build your online voice.

How to use Facebook as your Page:

• Go to your Page. Click the link on the upper right hand side that says “Use Facebook as [Page Name].” Switch back by clicking on the link that says “Use Facebook as [Your Name].”

J Campbell Social Marketing Facebook Page

• You can also go to the very top right hand corner of the Page, next to the word Home, and click on the drop down menu under the arrow. Pick the Page you would like to operate as and click on it.

J Campbell Social Marketing Facebook Page

(NOTE: You can hide the Admin Panel once you are done monitoring your Notifications, Messages, New Likes, Insights and Page Tips.)

What you can do as your Page:

• You can view notifications of all Page activity and new Fans in the Admin Panel or in the top Notifications bar (the three icons next to the Facebook logo).

• You can, and you should, “Like” other Pages as your professional Page! This is very useful if, like me, you prefer to keep your professional and private Facebook identities separate. However, it is important to note that Page-to-Page Likes are not counted in the number of Fans that a Page has.

• Now you can view a customized News Feed with stories from all the Pages that you “Like” as your Page – this successfully eliminates all non-professional clutter from your News Feed, as well as serves as inspiration for future posts, a way to keep an eye on the competition and an easy method of scanning top headlines/news stories in your industry.

• You can easily share content from other Pages directly onto your Page, as well as comment on other Pages as your professional Page and not your personal Profile. Do this frequently and with purpose!

• Comment on other Pages as your Page. After I meet someone at a conference or network event, I login as my Facebook Page and make sure to write a comment on their Business Page Wall and Like their Page. I leave a genuine, thoughtful comment about our interaction, and it helps me build my community and establishes me as a friendly person. (Which I am!)

What you can’t do as your Facebook Page:

• You can’t interact with personal Profiles that are set to private, and most are. (This has an advantage however, if you want to “Like” a Page on Facebook but you don’t want them to see your personal Profile.)

• Using Facebook as your professional Page is not a functionality available on mobile phones.

How do you take advantage of Facebook as your Business Page? What other advice and tips do you have? Please leave any additional feedback in the Comments section. Thanks for reading!