Why You Should Set Up a Facebook Page
Everybody and their uncle are on Facebook these days it seems. It's a medium that can't really be ignored (however tempting it may be). But, for those of us to which so-called "social media" does not come naturally, signing up to Facebook can seem a daunting prospect.
Creating a Facebook page for your organisation is an excellent and relatively pain-free way of clambering aboard the social media bandwagon.
First, a quick word on the difference between a Facebook page and a Facebook profile.
A Facebook page is specifically designed to promote organisations / businesses. Most people who use Facebook, however, have set up a personal profile - which is intended for one person only. They can then choose which business / organisation pages that they wish to connect to.
The purpose of this brief article however is to focus on the benefits of setting up a Facebook page for your charity / organisation.
So why set one up?
Well, there are several good reasons to set up a page for your charity / organisation* on Facebook, including:
- First of all, it's free - with no set up or maintenance costs, the only expense you will incur is the time and effort that you invest.
- Reach all the right people, instantly - when you post a story about your latest fundraiser or initiative on your Facebook page, you don't have to wait for people to come to your page to read about it (as you would have to do with a website). This is because the story will be immediately visible - via the News Feed section of Facebook - to all those who have connected to your charity / organisation page. Thus, your updates will be immediately visible to dozens, or hundreds of people all at once. You have their attention!
- Photos, videos and information at your fingertips - on a traditional website (can websites really be 'traditional' already?!), videos and photos are typically hidden away in a dedicated section gathering dust. Luring people towards them is often more difficult than you think. Heck, even posting them to the website in the first place can be a challenge. Posting videos and photos - as well as links and podcasts - on Facebook, however, is a breeze. What's more, video and photos have become part of the currency of communication on Facebook - people don't feel obligated to watch them, rather, they want to watch them. In the concise and highly visual medium of Facebook, photos and videos are elevated to the revered level of weighty substance and, as such, they are held in high regard - it's a point that ought to be remembered and exploited.
- Marketing and administration tools for all the family - when you set your page up, you'll have administrator rights to control what goes on the page and what does not. You'll be able to delete content of which you do not approve and block users who are not suitable for your page. What's more, you can use the built-in marketing tools to track the activity on your page: from the number of people who have connected with your page in the past month to the most popular content. Again, all of this is free!
- Optional extras you can agree with - if you've set your page up, connected with lots of your supporters (by inviting them in your emails, on your website and in other communication channels, to join your Facebook page), then you should be pleased with yourself indeed. You now have an exciting and ever evolving method of keeping these people up to date on your adventures in the Irish community and voluntary sector. However, why stop there? You can delve deeper by: creating custom tabs for your Facebook page; adding a Paypal 'Donate Now' option to your page; promoting your organisation / page across Facebook with paid adverts; creating events for your organisation and promoting them through your page and via updates to all of your connections.
There's a whole ocean of Facebook options under your feet and everyone can get at them - you just have to dive in...
A good place to start with is to watch this video which, although fairly basic, features the latest layout for Facebook (which, in fairness, does change quite often) and which walks you through the steps of how to set your own page up.
