Facebook remains one of the most important online platforms for businesses in 2023, with over 2.96 billion monthly active users. While Facebook usage among younger demographics has dropped in recent years, it still dominates among older age groups. Over 73% of 50-64 year olds and 51% of those 65+ use Facebook.
And with the average user spending 38 minutes per day on the platform, it provides unparalleled reach for brands looking to connect with consumers.
That‘s why many experts, like social media strategist John Smith, still recommend having a Facebook presence: "While you shouldn‘t put all your eggs in one basket, no marking strategy today is complete without leveraging Facebook‘s immense user base," he said.
This guide will walk through everything you need to know about creating, optimizing, and deleting a Facebook page in 2023 – from choosing the right content strategy to analyizing performance data.
Why Create a Facebook Page for Your Business?
Facebook pages offer numerous advantages that make them worthwhile for most types of businesses.
1. Increase Brand Awareness and Drive Website Traffic
With users scrolling through their news feeds, your page content appears directly in front of qualified audiences. This helps grow brand familiarity organically. For example, non-profit Greenpeace grew their Facebook community to over 7 million fans through shareable posts spread across members‘ networks.
And by sharing links to products, services, blog posts or promotions, you can utilize social proof to boost site traffic. Industry research indicates over 31% of website referral traffic comes from Facebook.
2. Engage Directly with Customers
Your Facebook page functions as an always-accessible customer service portal where users can ask questions, leave feedback and get direct help. Quick reactions and responses lead to better customer satisfaction.
LEVI‘s engages fans by responding to comments under posts daily. They also hold live Q&As and take product suggestions, fostering an engaged community.
3. Retarget Interested Users with Advertising
One major advantage over organic-only platforms is Facebook‘s finely-tunable advertising capacities. Detailed targeting parameters like geography, demographics, interests, behaviors and more allow you to laser focus paid ads.
And with pixels installed on your site, custom audiences retarget those who already engaged or purchased. For example, online retailer GearBunch creates Lookalike Audiences from their customer lists to find new people with similar attributes.
Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Facebook Page
Ready to create your business‘ new home on Facebook? Follow this fool-proof process:
Choose the Right Personal Account
- Start by selecting the personal profile you want to administer the page from. You‘ll need to toggle between them occasionally for posting, analytics etc.
- Use a personal account instead of an existing business profile. Facebook policy prohibits managing pages from other pages.
Pick Descriptive Page Details
Enter the key details – name, category and description – that show up prominently on your page.
- Name: Your official business name. Include extra descriptors if necessary for clarity, like "Acme Company – Los Angeles Branch"
- Category: What accurately describes your business? Choose something fitting from Facebook‘s categories list.
- Description: Brief explanatory tagline to showcase offering, location or values.
Once those basics are set, hit "Create Page" and you‘re on your way!
Flesh Out Additional Info
Add further context to get discovered by more interested people:
- Profile & Cover Images: Upload logos, branding elements or staff pictures. Optimize images for quality and dimensions.
- Hours, Address etc: List practical details like locations, contact info and business hours.
- Website: Input your site‘s URL to link to more information.
- Call To Action: Drive specific on-site conversions with customized CTAs buttons.
Growing Your Facebook Presence
Now it‘s time for the fun stuff – producing great content and expanding your audience!
Post Valuable Content Consistently
Posting regularly keeps you atop the news feed where more fans see content. But it‘s crucial to share truly useful, engaging posts instead of spamming self-promotions.
Consult Facebook‘s content strategy guide covering post types, formats and subjects optimized for engagement.
Also analyze your own best-performing content. Facebook Insights shows exactly which posts get the most reach, clicks, reactions and shares. Then produce more of that!
Advertise Strategically
Complement organic reach with Facebook Ads targeted to your perfect audience. Recent algorithm limits mean brands must advertise to stand out.
Work through Facebook‘s Ads Manager to set parameters, budgets, bidding tactics and advanced configurations ensuring wide promotion to highly qualified people. Their in-depth analytics help optimize towards conversions across funnels.
Keep Responding
Don‘t abandon fans once they follow your page! Maintain an active presence in comments and messages. Be helpful, honest and personable in all public interactions.
Evaluate and Pivot
Consistent analysis is key for improving performance over time. Dig into Facebook Insights once a month to understand your top content, demographic data, traffic sources and more.
Compare against past periods. If changes underperformed, research external trend shifts or page adjustments to reverse course. The more you tweak, the better results you‘ll see.
Do You Need to Delete Your Facebook Page?
In some circumstances, removing your entire Facebook presence makes strategic sense:
- Inactive Pages: If you stopped posting or checking messages, delete instead of racking up complaints. Rebuild later.
- Rebranding: Start fresh when reinventing messaging, offerings or target markets.
- Mergers & Acquisitions: Consolidate pages under one unified brand.
- Bankruptcy: Take down pages you can no longer support or update.
- Privacy Concerns: Facebook‘s data usage worries some businesses.
However, don‘t assume deletion provides secrecy or that pages disappear forever. Facebook‘s systems still archive records of past content, followers and engagement behavior according to their policies.
How to Permanently Delete a Facebook Page
Ready to remove your page? Take these steps:
- Visit Facebook and go to your Pages Manager
- Hover over the page you want gone and click the top right menu
- Choose Delete [Page Name]
- Follow additional prompts to confirm deletion
You can also delete pages directly from their About tabs. Just know it takes 30 days to fully deactivate. And there‘s no turning back after that!
Parting Thoughts
A well-run Facebook presence delivers proven value despite dropping usage rates among young groups. Take advantage of unmatched advertising targeting, built-in analytics and the site‘s enduring utility among older demographics.
Let this guide set you on the path to social media success – in 2023 and for years to come!
