Facebook: Profiles vs. Pages

Which should you use to promote your real estate business and online presence on Facebook – a “Profile” or a “Page”?   The answer is that you can use both in some way, but use them wisely! 

When it comes to promoting your business on Facebook, you should familiarize yourself with their Terms of Use as there are strictly-enforced restrictions. Below is a breakdown of how both Facebook Profiles and Facebook Pages are intended to be used, and some insight into how they can be used effectively. 

Facebook Profiles

Facebook Profiles are designed to keep you in touch and up to date with friends and family members.  You can promote your services among your family and friends to some extent, but keep in mind that, with Facebook Profiles, there are lines that should not be crossed.   The only thing you should really be doing with your Facebook Profile from a business perspective is sharing links through your Status Updates to promote your Facebook Page, which is designed for your business.  

Aggressive marketing (e.g. mass business-related messages, excessive “Status Updates” related to your business etc) through your Facebook Profile is strongly discouraged as you will likely annoy your friends (possibly even lose some) and, most importantly, risk having your Facebook account disabled.  It is important to note that most people don’t consider Facebook a business marketing tool, including Facebook themselves, so generally only the people who sign up for, or “Like”, your Facebook Page would invite Status Updates related your services or business. 

The good thing about Facebook Profiles is that they give you an opportunity to spread the word about your professional, business “Facebook Page” to your existing network of family and friends, which is a great start. Be sure to add your employment information to the ‘Work’ section of your personal profile as well!

The Facebook Page will then allow you to focus solely on advertising and promoting yourself on a professional level without infringing on Terms of Use.  And, because people will choose to “Like” your page (formerly referred to as “becoming a fan”), you don’t have to worry about annoying anyone!

Facebook Pages

Facebook Pages are less invasive as followers have chosen to know about your business or what you have to say on a professional level.  Conversely, if they want to stay in touch with you on a personal level but don’t want to be bombarded with information about your business, they can simply be a “Friend” of your Facebook Profile but not “Like” your Facebook Page.  If that happens, don’t take it personally.  It actually helps you to interact appropriately with those who care about you personally (via your Facebook Profile) versus on a business level (via your Facebook Page) through two separate Status Update streams, which can be seen on their respective profiles. 

The layout is similar to a Facebook Profile, but the administrators are hidden and anonymous. Any Status Updates are posted using the Facebook Page name.

Here are some features and advantages of Facebook Pages:

• They are indexed in search engines, so they will come up in search results on Google, Bing, etc.
• They can be viewed by the public without having to be registered on Facebook, whereas  Facebook Profiles cannot (depending on your privacy settings of course).
• You can create a URL appropriate to the content of your page, for example “facebook.com/realwebsolutionsblog”.
• They allow an unlimited number of followers, whereas Facebook Profiles are cut off at 5,000 friends.
• Followers can post on your wall; think of it is as easy testimonials! Although, you may want to monitor your posts just in case someone posts a negative comment, which is sure to be untrue!
• Status Updates are a great and easy way to keep up to date with your Page’s followers.
• There is an abundance of applications you can use with your Facebook Page, like an application which imports your blogs directly into the Notes tab of your Facebook Page OR your Status Updates, depending on the application.
• Similar to the way your website functions, you can select a landing page, or “tab”, for your URL.  The landing page is the first tab that people will see when they visit your Facebook Page. This is useful if you’d like, for example, to have the ‘Info’ tab be the first tab, rather than people directly going to your wall.

Now that you have a better idea of the uses of both your Facebook Profile and your Facebook Page, you’re ready to start marketing your real estate services using Facebook!  This is an easy, free, and fantastic way to increase your web presence while keeping some distance between your business contacts and your personal life.

For a great resource to get you started, see http://www.facebook.com/FacebookPages.

Authored By: Sevi Najafova, Client Relations