There’s really no better way to say it than this: Videos are a must to be successful on social media, but especially so on Facebook with the changes that have come down the pipe.
Correction: Quality videos are a must to be successful on social media.
So you want to use Facebook to give your business a boost? You’re not alone!
According to Sprout Social, there are currently over 60 million businesses on Facebook. Those 60 million businesses are all competing for the attention of 2 billion monthly active users, over a billion of whom are active daily. Are you feeling like the odds are stacked against you? Don’t. With the right Facebook Ad knowledge, you too can enjoy a share of those billions of users!
The Facebook algorithm: It happened to me and yes, it happened to you too!
The conversation surrounding Facebook in 2018 has been centered on the new algorithm changes. Designed to encourage more meaningful interactions between people, you’ve likely noticed how these changes apply to your newsfeed.
Instagram isn’t just a haven for foodies and fitspo models to post their latest culinary creations or motivational workouts, it’s a social media site that provides brands with unique opportunities to tap into their customer’s world.
It’s Valentine’s Day and you know what that means – it’s all about love today! Throughout the country, brands are making sure their customers are feeling loved in the digital world, but what about all the days that aren’t Valentine’s Day? Are you making sure customers are feeling the love year-round on social media?
Now that you having a basic understanding of a Facebook page vs. a Personal Profile, it’s time to look at customizing your page.
Facebook gives you the ability to:
There are plenty of tutorials on adding custom apps, do a Google search and you’ll certainly find a plethora of selections. Adding a custom app for Twitter or blogs posts is fairly straight forward so we won’t cover that here. You do however have the ability to swap out the default image for apps. You can also swap app positions.
1. Hover over the app
2. Click on the pencil at the top right
3. Select “Edit Settings”
4. Select “Change” on Custom Tab Image
5. Upload new Image
6. Give Custom Tab a Name
7. Save (all done!)
Cover Photos
The default size for cover photos is 399 pixels wide. Your image at minimum needs to be this size. The dimensions for cover photos are 851 pixels wide by 315 pixels tall. You’ll may also get better quality by using a PNG file.
If your image is smaller than the dimensions listed it will get stretched to the appropriate size which can have an effect on quality. You’ll also have the option of re-positioning photos if they are larger than the default size.
1. Go to your page
2. Hover over your cover
3. Click the pencil at the bottom righ of your cover
4. Pick on of the options from the pop-up menu
5. Save your changes
Profile Photo
Profile photo’s are important not just because it’s the first thing that visitors see, it’s also what show’s in the newsfeed every time you make a new post. Make sure you adjust your design accordingly. Profile photo dimensions are 160 pixels by 160 pixels.
Customizing the About Section Under your Profile Picture
You can edit the about section anytime you like, however, you cannot choose what fields are displayed there. It varies depending on what type of page (category) you have. An example would be a restaurant will show price range, address and phone number while an musicians page shows the About field of the Page’s basic information.
When getting started with Facebook for business it’s important to understand the difference between a Facebook page vs. Personal Profiles.
Some business either from lack of understanding or purposefully create personal profiles for their business. Creating a personal profile for a business is against the Facebook terms of service.
Personal timelines:
[o_list][li]Timelines are for individual, non-commercial use. [/li] [li]Timelines represent individual people and must be held under an individual name. [/li] [li]You can follow Timelines to see public updates of people you’re interested in but aren’t friends with.[/li] [/o_list]
Facebook Pages:
[o_list][li]Pages look similar to personal timelines, but they offer unique tools for connecting people to a topic you care about, like a business, brand, organization or celebrity. [/li] [li]Pages are managed by admins who have personal timelines[/li] [li]Pages are not separate Facebook accounts and do not have separate login information from your timeline.[/li] [li]Pages provide insights to help admins understand how people are interacting with the Page. [/li] [li]You can like a Page to see updates in your news feed about brands you care about.[/li] [/o_list]
What’s the Big Deal?
Opting for Personal Profile vs. a Facebook page may quickly allow you to garner friends, but be warned, Facebook has been known to completely delete profiles that are against the Facebook Term of Service. You’ll lose all of your pictures, posts, and friends in the process. All the hard work is gone. We know this to be true because it happened to a client prior to coming on board with us. 3,000+ friends gone.
Why do people do it?
Building a following isn’t easy. By using a personal profile companies send out mass friend request. It’s an attempt to get around the need to run ads or actually engage to build a page.
I’m Guilty What do I Need to Do?
First things first, you admitted it. Now you can go about making things right. You’ll need to convert your personal page to a Facebook page. Facebook will transfer your current profile picture and add all your friends and followers as people who like your page. You account username will become the username of the page. You’ll have the option to create a new page name if you like.
No other content (images, videos, etc) will be carried over, so make sure you download your Facebook history. From here you’ll be able to rebuild your page (contact us if you need help doing this).
Beware, once you convert your personal account to a Facebook you cannot reverse it. So it’s extremely important that you remember to download your history.
I’m Creating my First Page. Where do I go?
You want to start out right by visiting the Create a Page section on Facebook.
Your favorite RSS feed reader is going goodbye and you’ve found a Google Reader alternative, now you need to get your data to make a smooth transition.
Here is a step by step guide along with a nifty video (I guess I really do sound like that).
Step 1 Log in to Google Takout
Step 2 Select “Choose Services”
Step 3 Select Google Reader
Step 4 Click on “Create archive” to export your subscriptions as a ZIP file
Step 5 Download your Archive
That’s it! It really is pretty simple once you realize where you need to go. You can also do this directly from Google Reader as well. Here are the steps:
Step 1 Login to Google Reader
Step 2 Click on the settings gear on the upper right hand side (under your picture)
Step 3 Choose “Import/Export”
Step 4 Click on “Download your data through Takeout”
Follow the steps at the beginning of the post after getting to takeout. Here is the video, just in case:
If you’re a frequent user of Google Reader you’ve probably heard by now that Google is killing off Google Reader effective July 1, 2013. I won’t use this platform to discuss the merits of Google Reader (it’s awesome) or how important it is (very) to what I do. I won’t even list a bunch alternatives (someone already has).
I will give you the alternative to Google Reader, one that I had long forgotten about. Netvibes.
What is it?
Netvibes was founded in 2005 and has around 4 million active users. They’ve branded themselves as a dashboard, think iGoogle. It’s a dynamic workspace where you can add modules (apps/widgets) that provide information. A default dashboard looks like this:
Netvibes is free and gives you the ability to see your feed in two different ways. The widget view can be shuffled and re-organized to infinity. If you don’t care for the dashboard look you have the reader view that is similar to what you would see in Google Reader.
With Netvibes you have the ability to integrate any enterprise or web app on to your dashboards. Easily add Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or Search Content.
Adding Feeds
Adding feeds is as simple as entering a website address. Netvibes will do the rest.
Transitioning
If you’re coming from Google Reader, there’s an easy way to import all your existing feeds into Netvibes.
Expect a few hiccups as they are seeing a sudden increase of signups. I created my account back in 2009 and event that was slowed to a halt yesterday following the announcement from Google. Be patient, this is a solid alternative that I think you’ll enjoy.
Have you found other alternatives to Google Reader?
