VERB’s Lessons Learned
Have you ever found yourself needing to change the name of your business on a Facebook Business Page? We recently changed our business name from nFusz to VERB, and we learned, the hard way, that making this type of change is nowhere near as easy as it sounds.
Changing the name of your business on social media platforms is as simple as “Edit Profile.” Right? Not so fast. We have gone through a name change (or two) and want to share what we have learned in hope of sparing you hours of extra work and a couple of the headaches. Here are a few things to consider when changing your page name on social media.
Keep in mind, not all social media platforms follow the same protocol for name changes, so be prepared before beginning the process. For this article, we will focus on Facebook, specifically, because this was the platform that inspired this “Lesson Learned.” Although Facebook owns Instagram, the process to change our name on Facebook was quite different than Instagram. The Instagram change, along with Twitter and LinkedIn, was straight forward. Facebook was difficult and time-consuming.
There is no shortage of complaints to read through on the Internet about businesses being denied a page name change, even after appealing the decision with solid reasoning and proof that the name is already changed on the business website, etc. This process has become such an issue, that there are YouTube videos dedicated to business owners giving tutorials on how to jump through hoops to trick the Facebook system just to be approved. Here at VERB, we are certainly not claiming to be experts on this process, but hope that by sharing these lessons learned can help business owners get approved much more quickly.
DO YOUR HOMEWORK
First: check for availability. Make sure the name (handle) is available across all social media platforms. Before going through what might become a time-consuming process, do your research. Be sure that your name is unique to you and can be consistent throughout all social media sites.
After confirming availability, ensure that you have gathered the documents that will best support your request. Legal documentation will back up the request to give it that extra push for approval. Such documents may include things as simple as the name change document submitted to the state in which your business is licensed. In our experience, legal documentation was eventually required, as we were initially denied and forced to file an appeal. We recommend having as much documentation as possible, uploading the documentation with your initial request, in the hope that Facebook reviews the documentation on the first attempt.
In addition to submitting documentation, utilize your connections. Marketing agencies that pay for ads on Facebook are connected directly to the site through their own Facebook representative. If your business is using an agency, do not be afraid to ask them to use their connections for assistance. During our request, we reached out to our marketing agency and asked if they would notify their Facebook rep of our legitimate name change. Although utilizing our connection did not eliminate the wait time we believe this strategy helped speed the approval.
Make sure the person submitting the name change request is an administrator on the account PRIOR to beginning the process. Your request will not be granted if it is not made by an admin. Facebook provides only a small text box to plead your case when first submitting the request, so be sure not to rush through. Review your explanation of the name change before submitting, and don’t leave out any important details within the request.
The name change request will be a waiting game. Try not to stress about it. Depending on how many times you are forced to file an appeal (hopefully none!) it could take weeks to be approved.
PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE
It is understandable that you want to get the news about your name change out there as soon as possible, but DO NOT do this by creating a second Facebook page showcasing the new and improved name while you wait for the review and approval. This creates issues; we learned the hard way.
Be patient. Facebook is diligent about verifying that your business is a legitimate business and not some illegal scheme. Creating a second page with the same name submitted for review will be a red flag for Facebook, and your request will be denied.
Instead of creating a second page, begin notifying followers through your current page as soon as your team agrees that the business name will be changed. Though the name change request may be pending, you should consider changing the look of your page by announcing the new name with pictures and videos. Be creative! Post a video and consider inserting a tagg with taggCRM that will lead viewers to your business’s website or allow them to sign up to receive emails. Add a “Phone Pad” tagg in your videos that allow followers to contact you directly, and in real-time, for more information on your product. This is a great opportunity to engage with followers by discussing the reasoning behind the name change. Keep your followers up to date and post details about the decision and explain that the official Facebook change is coming soon. Take advantage of the capabilities you do have and update your profile picture with your new logo. Make changes to your background photo, as well, and begin introducing your followers to the change immediately.
Now that you are aware of the challenges that come along with a page name change on Facebook, we hope we provided you with a few good tips to ease the pain that might come with the process. Going into the request prepared should save you time and frustration. Remember, it definitely is not final if you get denied. Do your homework, utilize your connections, and most of all—be patient.
Please let us know if this article helped by sharing your comments.
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