The Fanpage is a page created especially to be a communication channel with fans within Facebook (fan page = page for fans, in literal translation). Unlike profiles, fanpages are spaces that bring together people interested in a common issue, company, cause or character.
If you want to understand about Fanpages on Facebook and more tips in addition to the ones in this post, don't miss the following video, you just have to press play!
At the beginning of the decade, Facebook launched a new feature on its network: fanpages .
Today it is something quite common and practically everyone who has a Facebook account can differentiate themselves with a brand fanpage or public figure.
However, what we still see is many companies marketing on Facebook incorrectly, using personal profiles instead of Pages.
In this post, we will explain what a fanpage is, how to create one, and why you should have a fanpage for your company instead of a profile.
Do you want to learn more winning tips to improve the results of your Marketing strategies on Facebook? Do not miss our eBook: Introduction to Marketing on Facebook.
What is a fanpage?
A fanpage (or Facebook page) is a page created especially to be a communication channel with fans within the social network (fan page = page for fans, in literal translation).
Unlike profiles, fanpages are spaces that bring together people interested in a common issue, company, cause or personality without the need for friendship approval. It is the fan who chooses whether or not to follow the updates of a certain page.
Fanpages are very valuable communication channels for companies. Imagine that in the past you needed to invest in a television channel, a newspaper or a radio station to communicate with your potential customers.
The fanpage plays a similar role. It is as if it had a space on television, newspaper or radio, but with a free option and a much greater range than any other vehicle.
By the way, do you already follow our Fan Page? Follow us here on 
facebook.com/RDStationES
How to create a fanpage
The process of creating pages on Facebook is quite simple. The first step you need to take is to access the creation link, you can check it here.
Once this is done, it is time to choose:
- Name of the page.
- Category.
- Description of the Fan Page.
These categories, in turn, have very specific subcategories, in order to make it clear what the objective of your business is. Select a category and description according to your sector/industry and the value proposition of your Company and your page will be created.
Once this is done, a tutorial from Facebook itself will open and will accompany you until the conclusion of the fanpage.
If you want this detailed step-by-step, we have a specific post on the subject: How to create a Facebook page: 6 details to keep in mind when starting.
Why use a fanpage and not a profile
Facebook makes it clear in its terms of service that everyone can have only one profile and that it must be personal. This means that any business profile is in breach of the terms of service and can therefore be removed at any time.
Surely it would not be good for your company to work on winning a friend base and then lose that.
1. Legal barriers
Facebook makes it clear in its terms of service that everyone can have only one profile and that it must be personal. This means that any business profile is in breach of the terms of service and can therefore be removed at any time.
Surely it would not be good for your company to work on winning a friend base and then lose that.
2. Limit of connections
Profiles have a maximum limit of 5 thousand friends. We know that 5 thousand is not a low number, but it is not impossible to reach it either. Also, how would you measure who and how old they follow you?
Fanpages for companies, for their part, do not have any restrictions on the number of fans.
3. Custom tabs
Only a fanpage allows you to edit tabs with the content you want. You can add photos, videos, discussion forums, information about specific products, events, and user reviews.
In addition, it is possible to create your own application if you need some functionality not offered.
With that, you can customize even more, creating tabs for downloads, menus, promotions, contests and others.
4. Mentions and check-ins
Your followers and other fanpages can publicly mention your page. On a personal profile, this can only be done for your friends.
Mentions can be made in practically any update on Facebook (photos, videos, links, status, etc.), that is, it is definitely something beneficial for any page that wants to increase its fan base. Getting mentioned is always a way to increase interest and interaction not only among your fans, but also among other pages.
If your Page has a physical location, people can check in and mention that they are at your location, like a restaurant, bar, or hotel, for example. In personal profiles this is impossible.
5. Calls-to-Action
Another advantage that a page has over a profile is the possibility of creating a call-to-action button to insert in the fanpage.
These buttons encourage the user to click and perform an action, as the name suggests.
There are several types of calls-to-action available to be inserted in your fanpage.
6. Data analysis
A fan page offers the option of statistics, which presents important data about the fans (such as location, age, language and gender) and the impact of the page (how many people visited, which posts were most commented on, how many photos and videos were viewed , etc.).
All this information is inaccessible to those who have only one profile. Take a look at the eBook Introduction to Facebook Marketing to see all the analytics possibilities available.
7. Multiple access
One of the advantages of having a fanpage is the fact that it can be managed by several people simultaneously. Also, you can stay connected to your personal profile at the same time.
There are levels of hierarchy in which each function has a greater limit of power over the others.
They are: administrator, editor, moderator, advertiser and analyst. To find out what functions each level can perform, visit this Facebook help page .
8. Ads
By running a fan page, your business has the ability to create a wide range of ads to reach a larger audience or to promote specific offers.
You can also choose a specific type of campaign objective and optimize it to achieve these results:
- boost your posts
- promote your page
- Send people to your site
- Increase conversions on your site
- Get installs of your app
- Increase interest in your application
- Reach people close to your company
- Increase participation in your event
- Get people to get your offer
- Get video views
All this through advertising campaigns provided by the tool to go directly to the Business Facebook Ads panel:
To learn more about how to accelerate audience growth and results with Facebook ads, download our free eBook 25 Practical Optimizations in Facebook Ads .
9. Facebook Business
And did I mention it? Facebook Business or Business Manager is a tool used to manage access to ad accounts and fanpages.
Business Manager is for companies that need to grant multiple and different permissions to a large number of users.
In summary, the Commercial Manager allows:
- Manage access to ad pages and accounts: to clearly see who has had access to your ad pages and accounts, and remove or modify permissions;
- Keep your professional activities separate: to gain access to ad pages and accounts without having to add your co-workers as friends on Facebook.
To migrate to Business Manager, access this Facebook support link.
The counterpoint: the friend request
One of the complaints I've heard from people who opted for the profile instead of the page is that with the profile it's possible to request a friend, while with the page it's not possible to do anything except wait for the user to click " I like it".
In fact that happens, but given all the other benefits of a fan page, maintaining the profile ends up not being worth it.
It is possible to try to create other ways to increase the number of fans and dodge this problem a bit. One of them is to create promotions and raffles.
Another way to attract more people is by promoting your page through Facebook Ads . The number of options and the possibility of segmentation when advertising on Facebook is incredible.
None of these forms is equivalent to requesting friendship. However, it is worth more than the risk of losing your account, having a limited number of friends, a standard page and no data analysis tool, which is the case with the profile.
How to turn a profile into a fanpage
If you were one of the people who made this mistake in your company and now you are convinced that the best thing is to have a page, there is no reason to despair.
You can solve this with a tool created by Facebook itself. In this way, you can easily migrate to a page and take with you all the contacts made as a profile.
Learn more
If you need more practical tips to get your business started driving results on Facebook, download our free Introduction to Facebook Marketing eBook .
In this material we show how and why to create a fanpage, effective ways to publicize your company, how to do analysis, how to create a campaign with Facebook Ads and more.
If you still have any doubts, feel free to explain your questions in the comments below!
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