Facebook profile page tips and hints
SMEs and companies will benefit from a presence on Facebook but there are certain ways to do it in order to market your business effectively.Most businesses will find that their key target market are active on Facebook and it will allow them to tap into key data including their actual name, link to their facebook page and date of birth.
You will also be able to request additional information by selecting 'extended permissions' that will enable you to keep in touch with your new userbase by posting updates from your company on their wall.
It's important to note that you should create a page for your business and not a group. A group is generally used for discussion that lasts a set amount of time and you have to post from the individual user instead of from your company.
To create a page, visit the Facebook create a page tool.
We recommend that you select the business type that closely matches your company as this will help with the SEO.
Remember, even though Facebook is effectively a walled garden, all Facebook pages are completely public which is great exposure for your company.
Agree to the terms of the conditions and before you know it, your page has been created.
The first item on your agenda will be to create a profile picture or 'avatar' for your company.
Coast recommends that you produce a web optimised logo that measures 200px square for your Facebook avatar. This will ensure consistency throughout Facebook because it will automatically repurpose your profile picture in different areas including your wall. You may see some mistakes with profile pictures because they will be cropped incorrectly. This is because of the 'safe area'. If you ensure that your picture has a 15px border, your logo will not be cropped throughout the world of Facebook.
So, for example, the Coast logo below does not infringe on the 15px safe-zone that surrounds it.
Remember, you can make your profile picture to any height you want, but this will infringe on your wall avatar.
Benchmarks
Here are some examples of how major brands are using their Facebook profiles.
Jack Daniels
As you can see, Jack Daniels opt for a full bleed image but ensure that the main section of the image is within the 'safe zone'.
Google
Google also use this technique but ensure that the emphasis of the logo is within the 'safe zone'.
Starbucks
Starbucks utilises the same technique that Coast employs. They are quite lucky that their logo fits within the 200px square and naturally fills the 'safe zone'.
Disney
You can have a little fun though as can be seen on the facebook profile pages of Disney and Coca-cola. It's a simple hack, but very effective.
Tools
If you haven't got Photoshop to effectively resize and crop your company logo, you may want to use any of the following free tools.
- Photoshop.com - Online photo editing
- Resizr - Online photo resizing
- Gimp - Software download, free equivalent to photoshop
- Picnik - Flickr's photo editing application
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