In one of the more recent articles, I wrote about choosing a social media platform for marketing your resolution practice based on your target audience. Facebook was one of the four platforms discussed, and as the most popular social media platform with nearly 3 billion monthly active users as of 2022, many people and businesses gravitate towards it. 

For a brief recap of Facebook’s user demographics: 

1. There is a relatively equal distribution of male-identifying and female-identifying users, so it’s a safe choice regardless of your target audience’s gender breakdown

2. Older generations tend to be more active on Facebook as opposed to other social media platforms, which can make Facebook a great platform if your target audience leans towards older age groups. However, if your target audience is predominantly made up of young adults, it may not be worth your time. 

3. Facebook has a pretty high rate of global engagement: most regular users visit Facebook at least once a day, for an average time of 20 minutes, according to 2020 data. 

If this sounds like a good platform for your brand and your practice, keep reading. We’ll be discussing when to build a Facebook page, how to build a Facebook page, and how to set your page up for success when doing so. 

First, let’s talk about the difference between having a Facebook page and simply turning on professional mode on your profile. Facebook gives users an option to turn on professional mode, and this will enable individual profiles or creators to post content to a public audience if they choose, follow up to 5,000 people, and have an unlimited amount of followers. At the same time, users have the option to release certain content either publicly or just to their friends, and just like a regular profile, users can have up to 5,000 Facebook friends. 

Although this gives individual profiles the potential to reach a larger audience, Facebook recommends using a page if you are representing a business or a brand. Facebook pages have special tools that can help users manage and track their insights, which will provide valuable information on who your target audience actually is. Additionally, important information that you input about your business, like your hours, location, and services, is more visible to viewers. 

Now, we’ll discuss the information you’ll be inputting on your Facebook page if you choose to create one. We’ll be talking about your profile photo, your category, important business information, and your ‘about’ section. Before you do any of this, however, make sure you know your personal brand, your assets, and what you can offer to clients. Factoring this into the creation of your page helps it be more client-focused. 

Having a great profile photo is one of the easiest ways to stand out. There are two approaches you could take. If your individual, self-owned practice has a brand name and logo, you could put this as your profile photo. Alternatively, you can use your professional headshot as your profile photo. For more tips on how to capture a high-quality, impactful professional headshot, check out this YouTube video tutorial - https://youtu.be/CJpC__VVcWc

Regardless of what approach you take, it is important to use the appropriate image size to get the highest resolution, or clarity, in your profile picture. Facebook profile pictures allow for a resolution of up to 180x180 pixels, so you’ll want to re-size your picture to a size of 180x180 pixels. You can either do this directly in your computer preview software, like Microsoft edge or Mac Preview, or you can access a free online image size converter. You’ll also want to use a square or circular image, not a portrait or landscape rectangle image. 

Next, you’ll want to pick which category you’d like to describe your page. This will help your profile show up in the search results when people search for certain categories. This, in turn, will help you expand your outreach to a larger audience and new potential clients. 

You can choose up to 3 categories, and you’d just set this up by typing in the categories that best describe your practice and choosing the closest ones from the drop-down menu. Since there isn’t an option to create a custom category, make sure the closest options still make sense for your practice. If they don’t, try going more general with your categories.   

For your business information, you want to make sure you’re including the important, necessary information that people might need to access your services. This includes your address, which areas you practice in, your hours if applicable, and your specialties. You’ll also want to link important contact information like your business phone number and your email, as well as your website. You can also include links to your LinkedIn and other social media profiles, so long as these are distinguishable from your website. Once you’ve drawn people in with your page, you want to make sure that they can contact you easily and follow through on that interest. 

Finally, you want to make sure that your ‘about’ section represents your values, mission, and the journey of your practice. There’s an option to put a mission statement, and here, you’ll want to include one to three sentences that detail your mission. This should detail what you do, who you do it for, and something that makes you stand out. At the end of the day, if your profile states what you can do for a client, and why that client should choose you over a competitor, you’ll be set up for success in your marketing. 

Thanks for reading this article on setting up a strong, engaging Facebook page. This will set you up for success in future marketing strategies and posting content, which we will discuss in future videos.

https://www.facebook.com/business/help/1968057156746246?id=939256796236247

https://www.facebook.com/business/help/412634305818063?id=939256796236247

https://www.facebook.com/help/135275340210354

https://www.marketing91.com/optimize-the-about-section-on-facebook-page/

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/make-better-profile-picture-business-facebook-43597.html