Facebook Brings Out Handbook For Businesses [Businesses Wondering How Best To Use Facebook Pages To Promote Their Businesses Have A New Ally In Facebook Itself]

Posted on TFTS by Steve Anderson on Wednesday, 27. July 2011 under: Net Resources

A lot of businesses out there (and even some tech blogs near and dear to your heart) have been looking to Facebook as a way to promote their businesses. But considering that a lot of places’ knowledge of Facebook starts at “it’s a web site” and stops at “there was a movie about it”, it’s not surprising that some aren’t sure of the best way to use Facebook in promotions. Facebook, possibly feeling the breath of Google+ on the back of its neck, is looking to help with a new online guide to–you guessed it–Facebook in business.

What Facebook has assembled is nothing less than a step-by-step guide, starting with specific types of businesses (because what might work for Grandma’s Knitting Supply won’t really work for Granny’s Big Bad Harley Supply), and going on from there to include advertising measures, measures to create the right kind of page for your particular business, connecting with customers, and more besides.

But Facebook doesn’t just provide a list of instructions, it even provides links to all the various pages and apps and the like that they suggest using, making it much simpler to take a basic Facebook page and turn it into a complete customer service system.

It’s an interesting idea, and it’s probably a whole lot less embarrassing than being seen with a copy of “Facebook For Dummies” or the like. The timing of this move is somewhat interesting, given Google+’s rise in fame of late, but the move itself is no less valuable for those considering a deeper Facebook presence. And considering the sheer amount of trouble that Google+ has had lately with businesses wanting Google+ presences and being somewhat turned away at the door; at last report, Google was recommending companies pick a person to set up a profile and become that company’s public face, easy for, say, Subway who can tap Jared, but not so easy for, say, GM.

So what do you guys think about this particular move? Cynical ploy to try and short-circuit Google+’s launch? Or smart move to get more users and keep the ones Facebook already has? Either way, we want to hear from you, so head on down to the comments section and tell us what you think!