You’ve got a business page on Facebook, but you want more likes? Join the queue. Everyone is chasing that next milestone in a bid to increase their Facebook following.
But before we get into tips on how to build you audience, we need to understand that it’s not all about the number. Having 100 engaged ‘fans’ – people who interact with your posts, is better than having 1,000 people who never like, share, or comment.
However, it can be demotivating to produce quality content and distribute it to a handful of people who have liked your page.
So what can we do to give ourselves the best chance of building an engaged community?
Ask your Facebook friends
Sometimes the simple answer is the best. Facebook allows you to invite your entire friends list to like a page – and don’t worry, you can deselect people you don’t want to be invited.
The tool also doesn’t send the invite to anyone who has already liked your page, so you won’t be spamming anyone.
This technique is the best way to build your following fast, especially if you have just launched your page.
Also, if you invite them from a desktop or laptop, you can edit the message that your friends receive.
And if you ask your family and friends to invite their friends list, you are getting potentially getting thousands of eyeballs on your page from the get go. This is a sure fire way to increase your Facebook following.
Invite people who have reacted to your posts, but not liked your page.
This is something I do almost religiously. I am constantly clicking to see who has reacted to my posts on Facebook and if they haven’t liked the page, Facebook gives you the option to invite them. So the more engagement your post receives, the more people you can invite to like your page, and the more people you can invite, the more your Facebook following will increase.
Interact with people who comment
Facebook rewards meaningful conversation over everything else. So if you can strike up a conversation in your comments, it’s in your best interest to do so.
Especially in the early hours of a post, when the algorithm is determining how good your content is, you want to be answering as many people as possible.
Even if someone has commented “Great post” a simple, “Thank you so much, which part did you like the best?” would work wonders.
Be consistent: Post regular, relevant content.
The more someone interacts with your posts, the more chance of them seeing future posts. So you want to be posting quality content on a regular basis, but don’t just post for the sake of it.
Cat memes are great, but you don’t want to clutter your feed with them. Instead, you want to be providing educational content.
For example, take a massage therapist who posts cat memes in between advertising appointments, yes the cat photos might get a few likes, but it does nothing to educate a potential customer.
Instead, compare it to a competitor who is posting articles such as five common tasks that cause back problems and ways to alleviate it.
Then, when a customer is ready to book a massage, who do you think they are going to book in with? The therapist that posted about cats or the one who provided them with valuable information.
Don’t always sell
Following on from the last point, you can’t simply sell all the time. You have to set up the sale by giving. It’s better to give, give, give, and then sell. Or even better, give enough so you don’t even have to sell. Give enough valuable information and people will trust you and come to you when they are ready to buy.
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