It’s common and we see it all the time. Companies are on Facebook and they are set up as a person and not as a Facebook Fanpage. One thing people need to know before even reading more of this blog is this: Make the switch! You’re in violation of Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities! A lot of businesses are not aware of this, or are set up this way in hopes to get more eyes on their profile. The truth is they will be quite sad when Facebook deletes their profile without warning and they lose all of their content, photos, and yes even Facebook friends. That’s the down low. So let’s get you switched to an official page. First, do you know if your business is using a personal profile or a business page? Check this example of Mashable CEO Peter Cashmore’s personal profile:
An easy way to tell you’re using a personal page is if your page has the option to “add friend” just under your profile picture. Also, if your business has information listed such as where it lives or when it was born, that’s a fairly big indicator you’re doing it wrong. Businesses aren’t born. They’re founded.
There are two main distinctions between a Fanpage and personal profile page. The first difference is the way you interact. You can instantly “like” a Fanpage and get their updates. A personal profile on the other hand needs confirmation from that person to complete your friend request . Second, there is a limit on the amount of friends you can have on Facebook of 5,000. Fanpages have no limit. I am sure someone like Coca-Cola would be pretty furious if they were only allowed to have 5,000 fans instead of the 37 million they have currently.
When you’re starting a Facebook page you can either start with the bare bones by creating a fanpage from scratch or by converting your personal account to a Fanpage. If you do choose to convert your account be aware that you can’t switch back.
Whether you convert your personal page or create a new Fanpage from scratch, establishing a Business Page in addition to staying within Facebook’s terms, will allow you to more directly engage with your client base. You will be able to add “like” buttons to your website, properly fill in location data so that potential clients can find your business and give yourself the ability to create customized tabs to help make your page more enticing and to further your business’ goals.
The set up is easy! Now get creative with some cool custom FBML tabs and website integration. If you’re not sure how to do this or want some help give us a buzz!
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