Although it’s usually talked about at the beginning of every article about Facebook, it bears repeating. Over 150 million people are
members of Facebook. That’s a lot of people no matter where you’re coming from in the world. To ignore the vast database of people hungry for information and services on Facebook would be branding suicide, which is why having a professional presence on Facebook is important.
Unfortunately, although people set up Facebook profiles, many of them sit idly by and hope that people will just “Like” their page without any incentive to do so. While you may get a few “Likes” here and there, to build a strong brand on Facebook, you’re going to have to be proactive.
Page Setup
By far the most time consuming thing you’ll have to do is set up your Facebook page to ensure that people have enough information about you. It’s recommended that you have a personal page to interact with clients, as well as a professional space where your company or brand can exist.
Having both a profile and a page will help not only keep your personal and business life separate, it helps create two forms of personal branding on the site. How you manage your personal page is up to you, but when you create a page for your personal brand, there are some things you need to make sure you have in order.
Contact Information: Above all else, please make sure that you have a means of contact for your company or business. Better yet, try to have more than one way to get in contact with you. Email addresses, personal addresses, and phone numbers should all be included on your page so that if someone wants something that you’re offering, you don’t have to make them hunt for it.
Website Information: If you have a website (and you should), be sure to include it on your page. If people can’t find what it is you’re offering, then there’s no point in even having a brand page to begin with.
Biography: Depending on what your company is centered around, or what type of services you offer, biographies always help humanize the person behind the scenes. Building a proper biography on Facebook means keeping it under 2 paragraphs in length (to keep the attention of the web generation) and giving enough insight into your personal life that people get the sense that both you and your company are inseparable parts of each other.
By humanizing yourself and including yourself in the company, people are more likely to be receptive of what you have to offer, as opposed to companies who are faceless names that only provide products and services. Making a personal connection with folks is imperative when building a brand.
What You Do: Be sure to outline what it is you do. While slogans are great, they can often be so vague that people looking at your brand won’t have any idea of what it is you even do without looking through your website for a few minutes. Outline it for them on your Facebook page with bullet points and feedback so that anyone looking at your brand will know what you offer and how other customers feel about it.
Slogans like “Connecting people through tomorrow’s future” may seem business-like, but they’re ultimately nonsense and detract from your worth.
Engaging
Once your page is completely set up, it’s time to start engaging people. Any time you have the opportunity to include your personal Facebook page on something, do it. No one is going to know about your brand unless you tell them about it, which is why it’s important that you make sure you advertise yourself anytime you can. Include your Facebook URL on your business cards and on any other web pages you have (LinkedIn, Twitter, etc).
Engaging also means that if someone ever posts on your wall, you take the time to respond to them personally to show them that you took the time to read what they had to say and that their comment/question means something to you. It may take extra time out of your day to respond properly to every message, but when you’re building a personal brand, being personal is what it’s all about.
