Upgrading your personal Facebook profile to a Facebook business page can be advantageous for entrepreneurs, small business owners, brands, and organizations looking to establish an online presence on the world’s largest social media platform. With over 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook provides a massive potential audience and opportunities to better connect with customers. Converting to a business profile unlocks additional features tailored for promoting a company, managing interactions, analyzing page metrics, and more.
Benefits of a Facebook Business Page
Some of the key benefits of switching a personal profile to a business page on Facebook include:
- Increased visibility and reach – Business pages show up in Facebook search results and are completely public, allowing you to be discovered by new customers.
- Credibility – A business page gives your brand an official presence that builds trust and shows you are invested in engaging with customers.
- Analytics and insights – Facebook provides analytics on business pages like number of followers, post reach, engagement, website clicks, and more to measure performance.
- Promoted posts – You can create Facebook ads and boosted posts targeted to your audience to grow your following.
- Customer service tools – Features like messaging and being able to assign others access to your page helps manage all your communications.
- Separation from personal content – Keeping your business presence distinct from your personal profile ensures professionalism.
In summary, a Facebook business page makes your brand more discoverable, gives you analytics to track growth, and provides advertising options to further increase your visibility and traffic. The additional tools help streamline managing your presence.
How to Convert a Personal Profile to a Business Page
Switching your existing personal Facebook profile to a business page is a simple process:
- From your personal profile, click on the dropdown arrow in the top right corner and select “Create Page.”
- Choose the category that best describes your business – Local Business or Place, Company, Organization or Institution, Brand or Product, Artist, Band or Public Figure, Entertainment, Cause or Community.
- Select the more specific subtype of page you want to create.
- Fill in your business information including name, category, address, description, and profile picture.
- Agree to Facebook’s terms for business pages and click “Get Started.”
- Your new Facebook business page is now created. You can begin posting content and inviting followers.
Once you create your business page, you can switch between managing your personal profile and business page from the dropdown menu at the top right of Facebook.
Things to Know When Switching to a Business Page
Here are some important things to keep in mind when converting your personal profile to a business page on Facebook:
- You will not lose any of the followers, posts, photos or videos from your personal profile. All of that content will still be visible on your new business page.
- You can continue using your personal profile for non-business activity without affecting your business page.
- Any ads you previously ran from your personal profile will need to be redone from your business page and manager account.
- Facebook offers 24/7 chat, email and phone support for issues with business pages.
- Facebook will want to verify your business by having you confirm information like your website, email address or phone number.
- You can appoint additional admins and assign Page Roles to help manage your business presence.
Overall the process is designed to be hassle-free. Facebook makes it easy to get your professional brand name and identity established with all your existing network and content seamlessly transferring over to the new business profile.
Setting Up Your New Business Page
Once your business page is created, here are some tips on filling it out and optimizing it:
Complete the About Section
Make sure to thoroughly fill out the About section with your business description, contact info, website, hours, location and more. This helps people understand what your company is about.
Choose a Profile and Cover Photo
Pick photos that represent your brand visually. The profile picture is square and prominently displayed so use your logo if applicable. The cover photo spans the top of your page and can showcase your products, storefront, team, infographics and more.
Pin Important Posts
Pinning posts like your catalog, services, contact info or new offerings to the top of your page ensures valuable content is highly visible.
Create Call-to-Action Buttons
Call-to-action buttons help drive actions like signing up for a newsletter, reserving a table, booking an appointment or shopping. You can add buttons like Contact Us, Shop Now or Learn More.
Use Facebook Insights
Analyze the built-in Facebook Insights to assess how your content is performing and identify followers, engagement and traffic trends to optimize your strategy.
| Post Type | Ideal Frequency |
|---|---|
| Updates on new products/services | 1-2 times per week |
| Industry news | 1-2 times per day |
| Responses to follower comments/questions | Daily |
| Contests/giveaways | Every 2-4 weeks |
| Behind-the-scenes photos/videos | 1-3 times per week |
This table provides a recommended posting frequency for different types of content to help you establish a consistent publishing schedule.
Growing Your Facebook Business Page Followers
Building a loyal community of engaged followers is critical for Facebook business success. Here are some top tips for getting more fans:
Leverage Existing Networks
Invite your personal Facebook friends, email subscribers, existing customers, and colleagues from business networking groups to like your page. Offer incentives for current customers to share your page.
Run Targeted Facebook Ads
Create Facebook ads directed at your target demographics and location to get your page in front of interested potential customers. Offer discounts or exclusive content to incentivize likes.
Encourage Check-Ins and Photo Tagging
When customers check-in or tag your business on Facebook, it shows up in their friends’ newsfeeds which exposes you to new people. Offer specials for check-ins to incentivize more.
Partner with Complementary Businesses
Team up with strategically aligned companies to co-host events, cross-promote each others’ pages, and share content. This taps into their customer base and broadens your reach.
Interact with Industry Influencers
Build relationships with bloggers, brands, and leaders in your field. Getting shares and mentions from accounts with an established audience helps increase followers.
Monitor and Respond to All Reviews
Being proactive in thanking happy customers and resolving negative reviews builds trust and shows you value feedback. This level of customer service earns loyalty.
Taking Advantage of Facebook Business Features
Once you convert your profile to a business page, Facebook unlocks powerful built-in tools to further enhance your brand presence:
Facebook Ad Manager
This robust advertising platform makes it easy to create customized ads that appear in feeds and the sidebar. Target followers by demographics, interests, behaviors and location.
Facebook Business Suite
Business Suite provides an integrated overview of your page messages, notifications, posts and more. You can access Insights analytics, Creator Studio and Ads Manager.
Appointing Page Admins and Roles
Assign teammates or employees editing access and specialized roles like analyst, advertiser or content creator. This allows collaboration and delegation.
Adding More Business Details
Input extended information on your products and services, location and hours, appointments and menus to help people better understand your offering.
Messenger for Business
Messenger allows customers to message your business page directly. You get notifications of new messages and can enable auto-responses.
Facebook Events
Promote special events, workshops, and gatherings. Interested people can RSVP, get reminders, and invite friends. It provides event management tools.
Shop Tab
Add Shop sections with your product catalogs, individual item listings, and online stores. Customers can browse, click to purchase, and track orders.
Best Practices for Facebook Business Marketing
Here are some top tips for effectively leveraging your Facebook business page:
- Post engaging content daily including photos, videos, links, questions, live broadcasts, events, etc.
- Respond promptly and professionally to all user comments and queries.
- Create shortened URLs with UTM tracking parameters to monitor website traffic from Facebook.
- Split test different post wording, imagery, captions, and CTA buttons to determine what resonates best with your audience.
- Collaborate with influencers in your industry to expand your reach and tap into their captive following.
- Use A/B testing for ads to experiment with different targeting options, placements, creatives, and pricing.
- Provide value and entertain people with a healthy mix of promotional content and more general interesting or educational posts.
- Analyze Insights and Ad Manager reports to track growth, engagement, clicks, cost per lead, conversion rates, and ROI of your efforts.
Adhering to best practices and consistently posting high-quality content that sparks genuine engagement is key to growing your Facebook presence long-term.
Conclusion
Converting from a personal profile to a Facebook business page opens up powerful marketing opportunities for brands looking to tap into the platform’s immense user base.
With 2.95 billion monthly active users, Facebook provides unparalleled reach. The ability to target customized ads to your ideal demographics and location enables extremely cost-effective promotion.
Facebook business pages establish your brand identity. You gain credibility through an official presence and community of followers. This strengthens trust with current and potential customers.
Robust built-in analytics like Facebook Insights equip you with data to fine-tune your social strategy. The additional tools help streamline managing communications, events, ads and more.
For small businesses, Facebook provides an affordable way to drive brand awareness and sales. The platform makes it easy to create a polished and professional presence that engages with people worldwide. Converting to a Facebook business page can help take your ecommerce or brick-and-mortar organization to the next level.