Show Off Your Community! Tag Your Page in Facebook Photos!

Facebook users can now tag Pages in photos just like they tag their friends! Users can tag a Page without having 'liked' the Page. Currently, users can only tag Pages in the following categories:
-- Brand & Products
-- People

However, administrators can tag their page in photos regardless of the Page's category. Facebook is looking to allow users to tag more Pages (in reference to category) in the future.

Tag Your Business Page in Facebook Photos!

Privacy

Tagged photos will display in the Photos tab on the Page.

Tagged photos will respect the Page's current settings.

• Photos published to 'Everyone' will appear publicly on the Photos tab of the Page
• Photos published to "Friends Only" will only appear to their friends.
• Administrators can disable tagged photos from appearing on the Photos tab by going to the Edit Page > Posting Options > unchecking "Users can add photos."

Read more about Facebook's launch: Photo Tagging For Pages.


Are you going to start tagging brands and your community in photos?

Ideas! Tag your community in photos that....
residents post of resident events!
staff posted of the community on their personal pages!
show your community grounds or models!

Where Are You on Facebook Places? Claim it. Own it. Rock it!

Facebook is one of the most trafficked sites in the world with over 500 million active users (as of July 2010) collectively spending over 700 billion minutes on Facebook each month. Optimize your presence on Facebook by merging your Business Page with your Places Page(s). Claiming your Facebook Places page(s) will ensure all the information provide is accurate and up-to-date, and the claimed Places page(s) will add the following aspects to your Business Page:

• interactive map of your location
• option to get directions to your location
• 'Friends Activity' tab: shows the check-ins at your location
• 'Deals' tab: deals for users who check-in at your location
  
• number of check-ins visible in left column of page

Follow the instructions below to claim your Facebook Places page(s) which will merge with your Facebook Business Page.

Read our previous posts about Facebook:
March 31: Facebook Profiles and Business Pages...So, What's the Difference?
February 25: Why Wait? Upgrade Your Facebook Page TODAY!


How to Claim Your Facebook Places

1. Log in to your Facebook account at Facebook.com.
2. Type in your community’s name in the search engine and select your ‘Places’ listing. If there are too many results or you do not see the appropriate result, click the 'See more results'' link at the bottom of the drop down list. Find and click on your 'Places' listing(s).
3. Click the ‘Is this your business?’ link located near the bottom of the left column.
4. Click on the checkbox in the pop-up box to certify you are a representative of your community, and click the ‘Proceed with Verification’ button.
5. Enter the requested information and click the ‘Submit’ button. I would recommend adding a claimed and updated 3rd party listing (see earlier post for claiming Google Places listing) to possibly help speed up the verification process.
6. Enter either your company email (must include business domain name: example rachel@capturethemarket.com) or a scanned utility or phone bill which includes your business name and business address. Click the checkbox, and click the 'Submit' button.
7. Facebook will review your submitted information, and will email you once the verification is complete.
   

Troubleshooting
This verification process has been known to take up to 6 months. Be patient.

If you do not have a Facebook Places
1. Download the Facebook application on your smart phone and/or log in to the Facebook application.
2. Click on the ‘Places’ icon in the middle of the screen.
3. Click on the ‘Check In’ button in the upper right corner of the screen.
4. Type your community’s name into the search engine.
5. Click on the ‘Add "[Your Community]"’ link.
6. Add a short description about your community.
7. Click the ‘Add’ button in the upper right corner of the screen.



Visit our Facebook Business Page and see the effect of merging your Facebook Places with your Business Page.

Facebook Profiles and Business Pages...So, What's the Difference?

Personal Profile Information Page

Facebook Profile Page

A profile page is for a person and includes unique information such as a relationship status, birthday, work history, hometown, and more. You can use your profile page create a business page for the community and hold or grant administrative access to the business page in order to edit and maintain the information on the business page.

Facebook Business Account

Create a Business Page

However, you do not need to have a Facebook profile page to create a business page. If you want a business page, but do not want a personal account, you can create the page without having a profile. Once the page is created, Facebook will then ask you if you have a profile. At this point you can simply enter your email address and birth date to create what is known as a Business Account. Business accounts are used only to administer pages and ad campaigns. They do not show up in search results or cannot receive friend requests, so if you do not want to have a personal presence on Facebook, but still want to use it for work, this is the way to go!

Business Information Page

Facebook Business Page
A Facebook business page is a page specifically for a business, your community. A business page will increase your community’s SEO, reach to potential residents, and maintain a conversation with current residents. A business page contains unique information such as contact information, office hours, description about your community, website, and if merged with your Facebook Places can offer deals, a map of your location, and information on who is ‘checking in’ to your community, how often people are visiting your community, and how many people ‘like’ your community. You can even link your Facebook Business Page and your community’s Twitter account. Check out our recent post about the new Facebook Business Page updates.

Moving from a Profile Page to Business Page

It is actually against Facebook Terms to run a profile page as a business page, and if your profile account is discovered by Facebook, there's a good chance they'll delete it without warning. We’ve seen it happen many times. Switching to a business page will minimize the impact of a deleted account.

Here is how to get your business profile “friends” to move with you to your new official business page:

1. Send a message to any "friends" of the profile page suggesting that they become a fan of your official business page. Let them know that's the place where you'll be posting updates from now on.
2. Post a link to your business page on the wall of your old profile page. Drive all that traffic to your business page.
3. When you get a friend request on the profile account, send them a quick note to say thanks and direct them to the business page for the latest updates.
4. Focus all your efforts moving forward on cultivating your audience on your business page.

Facebook Business Pages are a great way to reach your residents where they are and share information, pictures, and of course, video! Check out our Facebook Page to keep in touch with us!

UPDATE: 
Facebook has recently added the ability to convert Facbook Profiles into Facebook Pages. You keep your name and all your "friends" turn into "likes." But beware, you may lose a lot of your info and media in the transfer, so be sure to copy and save it to your computer first! Also, once you convert to the business page, there is no going back! 

Why Wait? Upgrade Your Facebook Page TODAY!

Facebook is switching all Facebook Pages to the new format on March 10, 2011. Embrace the new style! Here are some tips on how to best optimize on the changes.

Show Off Your Community

Choose which photos you want displayed at the top of your page.  Hide any photos which vary from your design to leave your page with the best photos on top to interest visitors. The order of the pictures will randomize with each refresh of the page.

 

Customize Your Navigation

Your navigation links (formerly tabs) are now located under your profile picture (left side of the page). You can customize the names for each link by clicking ‘Edit Page,’ then clicking ‘Apps,’ then clicking the respective ‘Go To App’ for the link you want to edit, and editing the ‘Box Title’ content to the desired name.

Solidify Your Branding

The new format lists wall posts in a seemingly random order. Remedy this by clicking ‘Edit Page’ and changing the ‘Wall Tab Shows’ drop down menu to ‘Only Posts by Page.’ Only posts by your page will display on the first page of your wall. This will keep your updates, deals, and information directly in front of the reader.

Change Your Posting Persona

You are now able to interact with areas of Facebook as your Brand. Clicking the “Use Facebook As” link will switch you between your human name and your brand’s name. Using this feature, you can upload pictures, comment, and ‘Like’ pages and posts as your Brand.

Claim Your Facebook Presence

Merge your Facebook Business Page with your listing on Facebook Places. Once the pages are merged, you can offer deals, provide a map of your location, track who is ‘checking in’ to your community, and how often residents and potential residents are visiting your community.

Customize Your URL

You can now create a customized URL for your Business Page. A short and branded URL is easy to remember and more likely to result in Page visits. To create your custom URL click ‘Edit Page,’ then click ‘Basic Information,’ and then click ‘Create a username for this page?’