Successfully Launching Your Company’s Facebook Page

In Part One of our HVAC Contractor’s Guide to Facebook—missed it? Read Part One here—we covered the simple steps involved to creating your business’s Facebook page. In this article, Part Two, we start to focus on how to generate traffic to your newly created page. Like any new business venture, your new Facebook page will take a little time and effort to generate results. The steps below are designed to help guide your page to success by including timeframes and tips/tactics. These steps will aid in reducing the efforts needed to maximize your results.

• Infographic: A Visual Guide
• Step One: Internal Activation
• Step Two: Business Partner/Vendor Activation
• Step Three: Existing Customer Activation
• Step Four: Prospective Customer Activation
• Step Five: Integrate Facebook into your Displays
• Step Six: Integrate Facebook into your Traditional Marketing
• Conclusion: Visitor Numbers are not Everything

Step 1: Internal Activation

Timeframe: On go live date

• Invite employees, friends and family to “Like” your company’s Facebook page
• Add a Facebook icon with a link to your company’s Facebook page to the upper right hand corner of every page on your company’s website
• Add your linked Facebook icon to the email signature of everyone in your company

Step 2: Business Partner/Vendor Activation

Timeframe: 2 weeks after go live date

• Send an email blast to your vendors and other strategic business partners inviting them to “Like” your Facebook page
• Invite vendors and business partners to “Like” your page when you meet with them

Step 3: Existing Customer Activation

Timeframe: 4 weeks after go live date

• Send an email blast to your existing customers inviting them to “Like” your Facebook page
• Offer a prize giveaway when your Facebook page reaches a certain amount of “Likes”
• Offer rewards to customers when they visit your Facebook page

Step 4: Prospective Customer Activation

Timeframe: 6 weeks after go live date

• Use the bulk email upload tool to upload an email database containing your prospective customers’ email addresses
• Use Facebook ads to reach your target prospective customers and invite them to “Like” your Facebook page
• Offer a contest to obtain more “Likes”

Step 5: Integrate Facebook into your Displays

Timeframe: 8 weeks after go live date

• Update your point of sales and other on-site signage to include your Facebook icon and the URL to go to access your Facebook page
• Use QR codes in your point of sale displays and signage for customers to scan with their smartphones to access your Facebook page

Step 6: Integrate Facebook into your Traditional Marketing

Timeframe: 10 weeks after go live date

• Add Facebook URL to your printed marketing materials including invoices, statements, magnets, company ID stickers, vehicle wraps and decals, newsletters, postcards, TV ads, newspaper ads, etc.

Conclusion

The most important part to take away from this short timeline guide is that this process is continuous.  Always be talking about, promoting, and encouraging customers to visit your business’s Facebook page.  Getting visitors isn’t the only important part to getting Likes.  The more engaged you are with your business page–status updates, shared images, replying to followers comments–the more successful your page will be in the long run.

---