USING FACEBOOK
Facebook is a very useful platform for a creative business. You can access it on your computer or via an app on your phone or other device.
A personal profile is the standard Facebook account for sharing between family and personal friends. You can easily set privacy settings so your posts can be visible to anyone or only to people you have accepted as friends; you therefore control who sees what. You will need to set up a personal profile before you can set up a page for your business. You can also control who you allow to be a 'friend' and see your personal page as you have to 'confirm' friend requests which are sent to you before that person can see your posts.
Your business page can have different privacy settings to your personal page allowing your business posts to reach more people, but allows you to keep your private profile page private. When a Facebook user likes your business page, they are allowing updates from your business page to be shown in their news feed. People that 'like' your business page don't see your personal page posts as each page is independent of each other.
Getting started on Facebook
To set up a business page, you’ll first need to have a Facebook profile.
Step 1: Go to https://www.facebook.com/ and Facebook will guide you through simple steps to setting up a profile. From this Facebook profile, you can then create a page for your business and still retain the privacy of your personal profile.
Step 2: To create a page for your business go to your profile page and click on the 'create' option on the top bar. Click on the create 'page' option and follow the step by step instructions. You will be asked options on the type of business and be asked to name your page. Make sure you name your business page to describe who you are and what your do e.g. we chose 'Cam Valley Arts Trail'
What does it all mean?
News feed: The 'news feed' is what every Facebook user sees first when they log onto their account. It includes a selection of posts and activity from all the friends and pages they have 'liked'. This is where other people / followers will see any posts you make on your business page. By getting people following your page to: 'like',' share' or 'comment' on your post, will result in your post being seen by more users.
'Like': When someone who has ‘liked’ your page, 'likes' your latest post by clicking the ‘like button’ beneath it, that activity is recorded by Facebook and may then be posted by Facebook in the News feed of that person's 'Friends'. That persons 'Friends' may then see your post and look at your post and engage with it which spreads your post even further afield.
'Comment': When someone who has ‘liked’ your page, comments on your post, again much as above, Facebook may report the comment as ‘activity’ in the news feed. 'Comments' rank higher than 'likes' as they are seen as better engagement.
“Share”: When someone who has ‘liked’ your page chooses to ‘share’ a post with their own friends, your post will appear in their friends' news feed.
How to create a post about your art.
Go to your business page.
You will see a section saying:- ‘write something’ or ‘create post’ - click in this section and then you will be able to write. Below the bit you are writing in you'll see a little photo icon, if you click this you can access the photos you have stored on your device and select one or more to add to the post.
When you’re finished and ready to post click ‘publish’. You will have the option to post now or schedule your post for publishing at a later date and time. You can time your posts to be published when you think people will be looking at their phones. Posts with visuals will always attract more attention in the news feed. You edit a published or scheduled post by clicking on the 3 little dots on the top right of the post. This shows a drop-down list of various option, click Edit, make any changes and click Done.
Tagging: If your text or your chosen image includes someone else or another business that you want to mention (e.g. another artist that you are sharing a venue with, or that you have visited.) you can 'Tag' that person by including their Facebook account name - this is done by adding an '@' in front of their name i.e. @camvalleyartstrail creates a ‘link’ to the Cam Valley Arts Trail Facebook page.
When you 'tag' someone they can see your post and comment on it. If you tag us(@camvalleyartstrail) in your posts, this helps us spot your art posts so we can share and comment on them. Once we comment or share, other people following us will be able to see your posts and 'like', 'share' or 'comment' accordingly.
Hashtags: By adding a # ‘hashtag’ you can group together posts that share a link. E.g. with any posts that are relevant to Cam Valley Arts Trail it would be useful to add #camvalleyartstrail. Facebook users can search (search function is top left of the page) for a specific # and see all relevant posts under that #name.
Generally, the more interaction or ‘engagement’ you have i.e. likes, comments and shares, the greater reach your posts will have. However, if someone doesn't engage with your post then Facebook tends to stop that person seeing your post in their feed. So, think about how you word your posts; you are aiming to get a 'like' 'comment' or 'share'. Make it interesting and something that will prompt a response. If people comment on your post, it's good practice to reply to their comments. If other artists comment on your posts, it makes sense to like and comment on their posts. It's helping each other reach a wider audience. It is probable that if you ‘Love’ an item and make a 3 word comment that works better for everyone, rather than just clicking ‘Like’.