by Claudia Bruemmer

Social media is becoming a great asset that B2B merchants can use to engage potential buyers on the web, as well as for getting found. As you know, Facebook has over 750 million active users. Media services provider Compete puts Facebook in second place behind Google in terms of unique visitors. ComScore deems it the most popular social networking site. There is no doubt most B2B companies can benefit from creating a Facebook fan page.

With a Facebook fan page, B2B merchants can get found by people searching for their products and services. They can also connect and engage with their customers and prospects. There are many things a B2B merchant can do with a Facebook page, including creating a business community, promoting content like webinars or events. You can even generate leads for your business on your Facebook page. It’s all free, but it takes time to develop and maintain.

On Facebook, there is a difference between Profiles, which are personal, and Pages, which are for business. You get a lot more functionality on Pages.

• You can designate multiple administrators on Pages to help manage your account.
• By default, Pages are public, with the ability to rank in search results.
• Pages are divided into various categories: local businesses, brands, musicians, etc., which can help your company get listed in more relevant search results.

In contrast, personal Profiles have friends, which require mutual acceptance. On Pages, anyone can become a fan without requiring administrator approval.

Creating Your Business Page. Log into Facebook and go to Create a Page, where you can select from six categories: local business, company, brand, artist/public figure, entertainment and cause/community. Facebook has a wizard to help you create your Page.

You become the administrator by default, although your name and profile will not show on your Fan Page. You manage the page behind the scenes. If you post information or respond to comments, your input is posted by your company rather than you by name. As mentioned, you can have multiple administrators to help with Page maintenance. You can also become a fan. Click the Like button on your Page, and you’ll be listed among all other fans on your Page. As a result, all the Pages of which you are a fan will show up on your profile, giving your business more visibility.

Promoting Your Facebook Fan Page. You can attract fans by creating an engaging Page. Use applications like the Discussion Board and the YouTube Video Box to add engaging content. You can leverage the viral nature of Facebook with a News Feed. Every time a fan engages with your Page − from becoming a fan to posting a comment or attending an event – that activity is published to their News Feed, which is seen by their friends on Facebook. As a result, your Page gets shared with a greater network, giving your business more visibility.

You probably already have email subscribers and blog readers – let them know they can now become a fan of your business on Facebook. Consider a mailing to your opt-in mailing list that contains a link to your page in your email signature. You can also blog about your Facebook page and post a link or badge to your Page on your website or blog.

Your Page is public and will be indexed by search engines, giving you the opportunity to drive organic search traffic. If you don’t see your Page showing up in searches, check to see if you have it set to be publicly indexed and searchable. Go to Edit Page, click Manage Permissions and make sure the Page Visibility box is un-checked. That makes it publicly visible.

You can advertise a website or other properties on Facebook, including Pages, Groups, and Events. The system for building and running ads on Facebook is similar to Google AdWords. You can click here to get started with Facebook Ads for more visibility.

Measuring Results of Your Facebook Page. While you can use Google Analytics to measure the traffic, leads, and visitors, Facebook also provides analytics data. Facebook Insights gives Facebook Page administrators analytics data about Page visits and engagement. On the Page Overview section, you can take a quick look at how many new Likes your page received, as well as the number of fans who are actively engaging with your content. A key metric to note here is the percent change of active users. Increasing the number of active users can help you drive traffic and leads to your business. The Page Overview gives you engagement data so you can determine how many Likes and comments were received on your Page within a given time period. The Interactions tab shows you the number of unsubscribes. It is useful to look at spikes in these data to examine possible causes of positive and negative data and take action accordingly.

Hope this gives B2B merchants a foundation for using Facebook for business. Keep in mind that Facebook is changing constantly. As an administrator, you will have the information to keep up with the latest changes and to monitor your business Page’s development.