Facebook for Authors: Setting up an author page, Pt. 2

In part one of our tutorial (click here to read Pt 1), we covered how to set up an artist or author profile page on Facebook.  After going through the setup process, many artists are still asking, “What’s the point of an artist profile page on Facebook?”  In part two, we wanted to highlight some of the features that make a profile page beneficial to your promotional efforts.

The benefits of an author’s professional profile page on Facebook

Anyone can see your content – With an artist/author profile page, all Facebook users can go to your page and see your content.  They do not have to be a fan or have your approval.  This makes it easier for your content to be shared with other Facebook users.

Fans, not Friends – An artist profile page allows anyone on Facebook the ability to become a “Fan.”  This means they can choose to see your content in their live stream without having to get your approval.  This is ideal for your readers.

Multiple Admins – You probably spend most of your extra time writing. The “multiple admins” feature allows anyone designated with “admin status” to post on your author Page. Admins also have the ability to make changes to the page details. This is great for the people on your team (agent, spouse, editor, etc.) to help out with your social networking efforts.

Facebook ads – Of course anyone on Facebook can run a Facebook ad, but one of the most effective ad campaigns for an artist is a campaign designed to increase the fan numbers on your artist page.  This type of campaign can only be accomplished with a Facebook artist profile page.  How is it different?  With a normal ad, you might link to your official website where users might click through to find out more about your writing and then move on to other web browsing.  With an ad geared towards increasing your Facebook fans, when a user clicks through they are becoming fans of your page. Your content will now show up in their Facebook stream, increasing the chance for interaction.

Page Insights – Also known as analytics, this section of the profile page gives you all the info you need to improve your Facebook marketing efforts by showing you info like impressions per post and a full demographic breakdown of your fans and page visitors.

A few more tips:

Once you reach a certain number of Fans (Some say it’s 100, but we’ve seen it work with fewer), you can set a username for your page.  This creates an easy to remember Facebook URL http://facebook.com/YOUR-USERNAME.  Just go to http://facebook.com/username to create the URL for your page.

A Facebook profile page always displays more info for anyone with admin status.  It’s easy to get confused, but your Fans will not see the stats and admin links that show up on your page when you are viewing it as an admin.

That’s just the beginning; there are even more advanced features for those of you who really want to invest some time and tweak your Facebook profile page. If you have some advanced tips, please share in the comment section below!