Use Facebook Business Pages, not Business Profiles

There are lots of companies jumping on the social media bandwagon lately. And, unfortunately, some of them are shooting themselves in the foot right from the start by using a company profile instead of a company page.

Why is this important?

This is probably most common where the person starting the social media campaign has never used Facebook before. When creating a login account on Facebook, it's tempting to create a company login account and just stop at that. But it's important to realise that the login account is intended to be used by individuals, not companies. So, multiple employees can log in with their own accounts and administer the company page.

The login account should be for the individual who is setting up the company page even if it's only used to log in and never intended as a personal profile. Once the personal profile (or login account) has been created, you then need to create the company page. It is the company page where the social networking activities take place.

The important difference is that if you use a company profile, in order for people to connect to your profile, they need to become its "friend". This means that (depending on how they've set up their security settings), you can see all of their personal details, marital status, birthday, and all of the photos of what they get up to in their free time. People do not want to give you that information so will choose not to become your company's "friend". You are therefore limiting your potential network to only those who are careless with their online security.

By using a company page instead of a company profile, people connect with you by becoming a fan or "liker". This has exactly the same effect with regards to communication abilities, but you don't have access to all of their personal information. You are therefore opening your potential network to the whole Facebook community. People are much more willing to click the "like" button on your business page, than to become your company's friend.

Also, if the person (or one of the people) administering your Facebook activities leaves the company, or worse, is fired, there are no security implications associated with removing their access to your company's page. However, if you are using a company profile, they will still know your username, even if you change your password. So they could guess your new password and still do damage.

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Please contact us on 0845 269 9624 to find out how our social media programs can help your business to succeed at social networking.

The OpenGlobal Social Media StartUp Package is a 3 month introduction to social networking. We set up your social networking accounts correctly and help you with your content and updates for 3 months to get the best results.

After 3 months, you can continue to use our social media services, continue on your own without our help, or close stop your social networking activity if it isn't working for you. And if you decide to stop, we'll ensure that your accounts are closed correctly to prevent any adverse effects of stagnant accounts.