Facebook 101 - Fake Profiles and Your Business Page [Social Media 101]

All businesses, especially any IT company like Managed Service Providers are, should definitely be on Facebook. Unfortunately, when you go to set up your company’s business page, you need to be signed in to an existing user profile.

As the owner of that company, you want to be the one who has complete control over the page. The problem is, you may be anti-Facebook, and not have an account yet. So, what are your options?

You could create your own account right then and there, then set up your Facebook Business Page with your brand new Facebook account as the page’s admin. Or, you could do what many small businesses do and attempt to create a ‘dummy’ or fake profile.

Why Do Companies Set Up Fake Facebook User Profiles?

There are quite a few reasons that an individual might choose to create a Facebook User Profile that’s not based on them. But, let’s focus on why a small business might want to do this.

As we already mentioned, you need to have a user account if you want to create a Facebook Business Page. A lot of small businesses only want a singular account to have any sort of permissions to this page, and don’t want that account to be that of an employee.

Some concerns they have may include the following:

• If you only want one employee to have Page Permissions, then the page can’t be managed if that employee is out for the day.
• An employee could leave the business. Then, the company could lose access to their Business Page if the employee refuses to relinquish control and they are the only Page Admin.
• A disgruntled employee could post something on the page as the page itself that could damage the company’s online reputation.
• If you choose to just give multiple employees Page Permissions, then someone could have access to the Business Page if one of their accounts is hacked.

These are all logical concerns.

To circumvent these concerns, some business owners will try to set up a fake profile. Then, that profile isn’t attached to any person, and they can give the login credentials to that fake profile to anyone who they want to have a part in their social media marketing efforts.

The problem is, Facebook has gotten quite good at spotting these fake profiles, and they are actively trying to shut down any fake account they find - it’s against their Terms of Service. Their official stance on accounts like this reads as follows:

“Your account should represent you, and only you should have access to your account.”

If they discover you trying to set up a fake account, they will immediately close it. Then, you may lose access to your Facebook Business Page altogether.

Your Options

Unfortunately, your Facebook Business Page needs to be attached to at least one ‘real’ user profile. Your only option is to create a profile for yourself or have one of your trusted employees be your page’s admin. Note that if you are setting up your own profile for the first time, you may have to spend a few days proving to Facebook that you’re a real person by filling out your profile, adding friends, etc.

We do suggest having two people with full Page Privileges for your Facebook Business Page in case you run into any issues down the road. You can also give one or more of your employees' limited permissions if you want anyone else to assist in your Facebook marketing.

Remember, it's important to provide visitors to your Facebook page a great experience. When your audience has a great experience, they are more likely to "like" your page, which provides you additional opportunities to reach out to them. For more information about using "likes' as a marketing strategy, visit our Facebook Like Campaign page.

We’re Here to Help!
If you’ve already made the mistake of creating a fake profile and have been locked out of your Facebook Business Page, we can help! Our Ultimate Social Media Rig will take care of this issue and get your company established on Facebook the right way, in addition to setting you up on the other social media platforms that you should be on. Be sure to keep up with blogs like this by following Social Media 101, or follow all Facebook-specific blogs instead by following Facebook 101. Have any additional social media-related questions that you would like us to write a blog about? You can ask them by filling out the form here. You can also reach out to us directly to ask about our other social media marketing services.