By now, most of our retailers are probably aware that we have a Facebook page and are gaining a following. We know that many of you are on Facebook as well and that’s awesome, you’re on the right track! However, we want to make sure that everyone is 1. taking advantage of this great free resource and, 2. that all of you are using it correctly and efficiently. To give you all a little help, I’ve created a guide on how to set up and manage a Facebook page for your business. Even if you are already running a page, or especially if you are using a personal profile for your business, please take a look at this guide.

You can all read the guide to learn about setting up your own Facebook pages or converting your existing profiles to pages, but I  just want to give a quick word of caution that I didn’t really stress in the guide.  Please, please, please make sure to keep your Facebook pages professional. Once upon a time, DOW Electronics had a profile page that we mistakenly created instead of a business page, and many of you became our Facebook friends. This means that we were able to see everything that you posted to your profiles, and some of the things being posted on pages that were supposed to be representing businesses may not have been considered “professional” by all users.  Whether it’s coming from your personal profile or from your business profile (which should be converted to a page!), if your customers and potential customers have access to it, everything you are posting should be appropriate for anyone to see. If you have your own profile and you want to post this kind of content, make a point to have only your real-world friends as Facebook friends and don’t allow customers as friends– this will reflect poorly on your business and you risk losing customers. This is why we establish business pages!

That being said, Facebook is this generation’s channel for word-of-mouth marketing. People log into their Facebook pages multiple times a day, just like you do, and you can’t afford for them not to see you there anymore. It’s time for your business to join the largest social network in the world. So set up your pages, let people know you’re there, and start participating in the conversation!

P.S. Don’t get discouraged if your page doesn’t take off overnight. Sometimes it can take months of dedication for your page to really get a following– just stick with it, get your name out in the community, and your patience will pay off!