Facebook (particularly Facebook messenger) has become a popular channel to source new clients. The most common barrier to getting started is having an account setup. If you don't have one at all, or you have one but are hesitant to use it for professional purposes, this collection of resources should point you in the right direction.

It's important to note that this post is for getting your user account set up professionally, not your business page. Business pages have very different functionality than user accounts. For instance, a Facebook page can't initiate a conversation on Messenger.

Already have a Facebook account?

If you're concerned about business contacts seeing your personal social media, the easiest solution is to make your FB account private. If done properly, non-friends will only be able to see your profile picture and general information. This is much easier than setting up a second page, which technically violates FB's policies. 

Here's the most up-to-date guide we found on getting your privacy settings right.

Setting up a brand new Facebook page

This guide is for pros who don't have a Facebook account, or maybe used to but don't have the login anymore. It's possible to follow these same steps to set up a secondary Facebook account, but note that you can't have multiple accounts linked to one email address.

Other suggestions:

Use your real name and real pictures.

Not only will this make it easier, but you get higher reply rates on Messenger if your profile looks real and natural. 

Engage before sending messages.

When you set up your account, before you start using it to send out messages, you need to make sure Facebook doesn't think you're a bot. This means liking pages, adding friends, posting some content, etc. It may take up to 2 weeks for your new account to be able to freely send messages without raising red flags. 

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If you run into any issues feel free to message someone from the Resquared team on LinkedIn and we can help troubleshoot!