The #1 Reason You Need a Business Page

Are you ‘Doing Business As YOU’ on your personal Facebook page? In other words, are you posting your business content from your personal page?

Yesterday a REALTOR® asked me, “Why should I bother with a company Facebook page? Can’t I just post everything from my profile page?”

The answer lies in what I call division of content. As you may be aware, social media began as just that…social. It was never truly intended for business use. Over time, as businesses began to see the potential in reaching the masses in a fresh, new way, they began to intrude on this communication. Today, it is widely accepted that business will be conducted on all social platforms, but the manner in which we do so (and in which we are received) is still a touchy subject at times.

I believe it’s important to be transparent on social media. Draw the line between communicating as the Person and the Professional. Not only does this help you keep your content separate and appropriate, it also gives the control to your network of family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances and customers. They get to decide whether to ‘like’ or ‘follow’ your company page. They get to decide whether they want to see your business related posts. User control is the #1 reason you need a business page if you’re conducting business on Facebook. Wouldn’t you rather have a willing and engaged audience over a forced, potentially reluctant one? I know that I have personally eliminated many of the ‘DBA’ offenders from my news feed.

As in all controversial social media topics, there is some gray area. And that gray area is often subjective, so consider this post food for thought and decide for yourself. I try my best to keep my professional content on my business page, with a couple of exceptions:

1. Philanthropic Promotion: I’m in favor of posting anything that will help an organization in need on both your personal and business pages. Nonprofits often have little to no marketing budget and rely on all of us to promote their good works, so I believe that’s a good line to cross (as long as it’s about the organization, not you).
2. Recognition Tagging: Facebook does not allow you to tag an individual on your business page. Yes, there are some tricky work-arounds, but they are inconsistent at best. So when it’s truly important for me to recognize and tag an individual, especially someone who has done something nice for me (inviting me as a guest on their radio show or podcast, for instance), I will generally post that on my business page first, then share it from my personal page, along with a comment recognizing the individual(s) or business who helped me.

Either way (personal or business), remember to be true to the social aspect. Our participation on social media should be about giving, helping, recognizing and connecting…especially when it comes to your business.