Since 2010 we have worked with over 85,000 Facebook pages. We’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly happen to businesses on Facebook, mostly by their own bad decisions, or decisions made out of ignorance.
Today, the vast majority of businesses have a page and it’s not a “Profile” masquerading as a page (that’s a basic 101 mistake) but a true Facebook business page. However, many business owners have not been closely connected to the creation or maintenance of their Facebook page and that’s a big “no-no” which can cause them a lot of unnecessary problems and hassles.
The fact is, business owners need to be aware of the status of their Facebook page just like they need to ensure their website domain name doesn’t expire!
What could happen you ask?
What if you lost control and can’t access to post on the Page as the Page?
What if all the “Likes” and community interaction were gone because no one active with the company now has access, therefore requiring you to abandon the Page and the custom URL?
What if you as owner, don’t have control at all over the posts on the page that bears your company name?
You don’t want this to happen!
Here are 5 “Never Do This!” Items for Business Owners:
1. Never make one individual the sole Page Admin Manager of a company Facebook page.
Maybe the Page was created by an intern, or perhaps by a employee. If this employee ever leaves your organization, your page is essentially out the door with them. Not good!
How many Admins are there on your Facebook page? What roles do they have? Are you as owner a Manager?
2. Never give an employee access to your personal Facebook profile.
This is like your Passport or Drivers License. It’s YOURS and FOR YOU. If you give someone access to your Facebook profile or any online identity that is linked directly to your real-world identity, you’re taking a major risk. There is NO NEED to give them access to your profile. Pages can have multiple managers, and they should! We’ll get into the types of managers further on down in this post.
3. Never allow your hired Marketing Agency to create your Facebook Page and not add you as a Manager.
We’ve seen it happen too many times. The business relationships ends and the Page manager access has basically slipped out of the country quietly and there is no forwarding address! DON’T DO IT! Yes, you can add the agency but YOU should remain as Manager as well! I did mention already that you can have more than 1 Page Manager. I think it’s worth repeating!A
4. Never, ever, ever create a “dummy” Facebook account and name it “My Company Name”.
Facebook will automatically give that profile the URL “Facebook.com/MyCompanyName” and you will not be able to claim it for your business page URL! Doh!
As well, creating a dummy account is against Facebook terms. They shut down dummy accounts as they find them! Yes, they do. We’ve seen it happen.
5. Don’t create a Business-Only Facebook Page Not Connected to a Profile.
Facebook, for some reason, gives pages the ability, if they want, to create a Page and the only login is the “Business Page” login. It’s not tied to a profile. This seems smart to some, but it’s not!
A business-only Page has several limitations including:
- No Search bar at the top of the Facebook Page. You will not be able to search for and navigate to other Pages when you are logged into this account.
- No way to like other Pages as your Page. If you have a business-only account, you can’t like another Page to show your support for that Page or connect with that Page.
- No Page Home Feed. Since you can’t like other Pages as your Page, you won’t get updates as your Page through your own Page’s News Feed.
- You may have to provide a separate cell phone number to verify this account. This feature is different and not consistent, but many people who have created a Page this way report that they need a separate cell number that is different from their personal profile account to verify this business-only Page. Not everyone has two different cell numbers.
- Most importantly, you can’t add Apps! Facebook’s API for things like TabSite Apps are tied to personal profile users. Business-Only Pages cannot add all the versatile app features that providers like us offer to Pages!
Read more about the limits of Business Pages and the differences between profiles and business pages in this Social Media Examiner post by Andrea Vahl.
So what should Business owners DO?
Share this Infographic, then scroll down past it for more info!
1. Always have yourself as the top level Manager of the Page. Be careful who else you add at this level. Ideally you should have 2-3 people you trust wholeheartedly at this level, regardless if they actually post on the page or not.
2. Set Page Access Roles Carefully. Most of time other employees and service providers DO NOT need to be top-level managers. They can be Content Creators to create posts and reply to comments as the Page. Heck, most of the time Agencies only need this permission as well! Got someone doing Facebook Ads for your company? They only need the Advertiser level of authority, not the kitchen sink and keys to the office!
Here’s Facebook’s breakdown of the roles and a link to the Facebook Help area on the topic.
3. Regularly check the Page Admin settings to ensure roles are accurate.
The Business Owner makes sure their accounting is done accurately, that the keys to the office are accounted for, and that the domain name for the website never expires. They need to also review the Admins on the company Facebook Page! Your Page is your calling card on the largest, most active social network in the world. Take care of it.
I’m guessing at least a few readers here will go check their Facebook Page Admins and find someone or something out of date or out of order. Anyone willing to admit it?
So, what happens if it’s too late? What if you lost control, is there anything you can do? I’ll give you a slight glimmer of hope. You may be able to reach Facebook and you may be able to access back, but it’ll be work.
The easiest route to get access back is to request the person who is Manager to give you access. Facebook specifically says the only way to become an Admin is for an existing Admin with Manager control to add you. Facebook also does have a way to report that you are the authorized representative of a page. You may need official company documentation that you would need to submit and have reviewed.
In the words of Winston Churchill, “Never, never, never give up!” And if he were around today…”Never, never, never neglect managing the Admin’s of your Facebook page!”
Yo! I’m lonely here. Tell me what you think, or at least say “hi”!
Hi, @mikegingerich:disqus! Completely agree about solo access. Just don’t do it.
Yes! That’s exactly right @dracedwards:disqus! JUST DON’T DO IT! Spread the word!
If I understand the point correctly, the need is to tie authentication to the owner’s profile and not another Admin of the Page. Perhaps in that case something like a “GotoMeeting” or “Join.me” screenshare where the owner is led through the process by the agency in a 1x, 10-20 minute process can work. I believe Twitterfeed, for example has a email/pw option to login to the service that can be used after authentication is completed to do service on the items in Twitterfeed. You understand the premise though, whenever possible a owner needs to guard and find alternatives to giving out their Facebook profile as much as possible.
Yes, I do understand the premise. The thing is, though, I’m the guy asking for those credentials. While your idea about the GoToMeeting sounds like a nice idea that is soooo never going to happen. These are busy business owners who just want things done. Making them get on a GTM would be an onerous non-starter that I would/could never ask them to do. Not an option. While I totally get your point (it’s like asking someone for their ATM PIN number and card) it’s something necessary we have to ask for. While we are trustworthy individuals I “get” the discomfort. But if they want it done the ways it needs to be done, that’s the deal, sorry to say. Your article would just make it harder for us to do our jobs if they read this and took it to heart. If anything, I should forward it to the folks at Twitterfeed!
Or perhaps move on past Twitterfeed because I’m not recommending anybody give out their PIN equivalent and gotta stick by my point.
I don’t think you can create a business only account any longer. I never understood why Facebook let people do this anyway. But I think it’s gone.
Let’s hope it never returns!
Well, unfortunately, I DID create a business only account. (I didn’t realize ….) And I’m suffering all the problems as a result. WHAT CAN I DO TO FIX IT??? (No, cancelling the page and starting over is not an option. I have too many “likes” already from people I don’t know.)