Your “Face” on Facebook

Promoting Your Dance Studio with a Public Profile Page

First, a Bit of Background

Whether you currently use Facebook or not, by now you have probably heard of it. Initially introduced at Harvard University, the service was essentially (although not exclusively) a way for students to attach names to faces. Expanding to high schools and then large corporations, Facebook has developed into the gigantic social network service (definition found here) it is today.

Image: Massimo Barbieri

I have been a member of the site since 2006, when it was first opened to anyone 13 and older with a valid e-mail address. For much of these three years Facebook lived in the shadow of MySpace and I was lucky to find one or two people I knew with personal profiles. Recently I’ve witnessed the rapid increase in popularity and growth that has brought to the site friends, colleagues, former classmates (and their parents). Someone I know joins almost every day. New websites, applications, and online tools come and go but so far Facebook has been savvy regarding trends and proactive in updating and improving their service.

Why Create a Facebook Page for your Dance Studio or Organization

With the addition of (and recent changes to) what Facebook calls “Pages” or “Public Profiles” local businesses are finding Facebook useful for word-of-mouth advertising. Customers can become “Fans” of your organization and directly interact with your business in nearly the same way they would interact with their “Friends” on Facebook. In addition, their interactions with your page are visible to the Friends they’ve added, helping to spread the word about your business. Facebook describes the process this way:

When your fans interact with your Facebook Page, stories linking to your Page can go to their friends via News Feed. As these friends interact with your Page, News Feed keeps driving word-of-mouth to a wider circle of friends.

How Do Fans Interact? And, What the Heck is a “News Feed?”

As the primary method of interaction on Facebook, The Wall is an important feature of any profile. On your page, within a box that encourages you to write “What’s on your mind” you can add any kind of broadcast message regarding your business – these can include links (be sure to use http://), upcoming events, fun facts, or even questions. These are added to your wall. Fans (if you allow them), may also write something on your wall, add their thoughts to a discussion, or comment on a photo or note you’ve added.

Activity that appears on your wall will be seen by Fans via their News Feed. A listing of the latest activities and actions taken on the network, the News Feed is the primary method a user employs to keep track of the activity of his friends and now, also the entities of which he is a fan. Likewise when a fan adds or interacts with content on your Page, his activity appears as an action/activity visible to his friends in their News Feed.

Therefore, the more interaction between you and your Fans, the better. If you don’t feel you can do it alone, you can add administrators to help you simply by sending an invitation from Facebook via email.

Examples of a Page

Here is Arthur Murray Dance Studio’s facebook page. NOTE: If you are not a Facebook user or are not logged in, you will see a more limited version. In order to interact, write on their wall, or comment on their activity, you must be logged in with a personal profile account. The “public” version of their page is searchable via Google – that’s how I found it. Here is another example of a Facebook Page… mine: Dance Advantage

How to Set Up Your Public Profile Page

Signing up is easy. Visit http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php and fill out the appropriate information. Most dance studios would be considered a Local Business, however there is not a specific category for dance so choose what you think is best, place your business’s name in the appropriate field, and submit. You need not have a Facebook account to set up a Page, however it can be a bonus in learning how to use and navigate the network.

At first, your new Facebook Page will appear rather blank. Prompts, however, will help you to get started. You might begin with uploading a picture (this will be your avatar throughout the site so you may want to choose a logo – you can always change it later). You can also click Edit Information and enter the basic details about your business. Clicking on Edit Page (under your photo) offers additional settings options.

Pages may feature and display Discussion Boards, Events, Links, Notes, Photos, and Reviews, as well as other applications. Many of these can be added or removed as a tab at the top of your page. For example, if you think posted photos may be important to the promotion of your studio, creating a Photos tab is a good way to feature them.

A Note on Pages and Privacy

It is imperative to remember that Public Profiles are exactly that…. public! Public Profile Pages do not have the extensive privacy settings that Personal Profiles do. Therefore, do not not add or show anything in the content of this page that you would not want broadcast to anyone/everyone on the internet! Items posted on your Wall can be removed.

In Conclusion

Like an interactive business card, Pages on Facebook represent your business, organization, or brand. They are visible in web searches to those not on Facebook. And, within Facebook, Pages offer a chance for any dance studio to directly interact and share news, info, links, events, and more with their fans and to spread the word about your classes or programs to others on this vast social network.

Should you desire to take this a step further and have the budget to do so, Facebook also offers advertising opportunities for Pages that can be targeted to certain users.

Learn about Personal Profiles and Privacy Settings HERE!

Also Check Out Comparing Pages and Groups — Which is Best For Your Dance Studio?

Does your studio have a Facebook Page?

Are there other social networks you use to interact with potential students or their parents?

What are some other ways you can advertise your dance studio online?

Related posts:

1. Comparing Facebook Pages and Groups — Which is Best for My Dance Studio?
2. Facebook Privacy How-To: Maintaining a Student/Teacher Relationship
3. One Feed to Read them All

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Nichelle Strzepek is the writer/editor of Dance Advantage. Equipped with little more than passion for movement education, she embraced her inner computer nerd and began this blog in 2008. She holds a BA in dance and is an instructor with over 16 years experience. Nichelle continues to perform as a contemporary dance artist, covers dance in the Houston area as a freelance writer and critic, and balances daily life as a full-time mom.

Nichelle has written 249 articles for Dance Advantage.