It may seem like the best way to hike up the number of likes on your Facebook Business page is to buy Facebook ads.
But this can be a costly endeavor and is still not guaranteed to bring you the attention you need to grow your business if you can’t keep the ads running consistently.
A. Rather than running paid ads, post and share your own content:
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Create shareable posts.
Write posts at least five days a week. Write the content your current Facebook Fans want to read and will likely share with their friends. This is a great way to gain new Fans and attract additional traffic to your page.
- Change your status often.
Write a new status update every day. You may elect to do so more than once a day if you find that you generate enough attention from your viewership.
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Keep it short.
Write posts that are two to three lines long. If it is short, it is more likely to be read and shared.
B. Employ low cost options to engage more Facebook followers:
- Use a social media tool to keep you on time and improve your reach.
Explore your options for social media tools. “The main reasons to use scheduling tools are to be able to prepare posts in advance and optimally to have them post at the best times. Any organizing app should allow you to manage several accounts, schedule posts in advance, track messages, and monitor effectiveness.” Post Planner, for example, will help you to manage what times each day you post and to experiment with which times are ideal for posting and increasing your number of Fans, the number of shares for your posts, and likes for your page. An application like Post Planner will cost you between $5-7 a month to start a social media campaign. The application will help you choose content to add to your customized posts and status updates.
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Add visuals to increase traffic.
Photos and videos can be used to round out your posts and status updates. A social media tool can help you choose relevant content from Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and other social media, to bolster your page.
C. Take the time to build your strategy and target your potential audience:
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Identify to whom you’re speaking.
Think about if you are trying to reach current Facebook followers or attempting to attract new Fans. Consider your client conversion rate. What questions do new clients want or need you to answer before they purchase your product or sign up for your service? How can you address these questions in your page content?
- Write content that speaks to this audience in as natural and compelling a voice as possible.
Your posts and status updates should be written in your voice, all the time. Each post should sound like you are energetic, focused, ready to talk about your business, about the field your business is a part of, and about the news and stories you have made it your business to report.
- Share content that aligns with your written content.
It is important to do so in your efforts to create a recognizable brand for your business, of which your Facebook page is a part.
- Demonstrate that you are knowledgeable and excited about your business.
People are more likely to revisit your page and share your posts, when you post information that is not only interesting to them but shows that you know what you are talking about. You won’t be the only one speaking about various topics but if you synthesize complex information into helpful tips or highlight the niche or specialty your business offers, you will stand out.
- Budget to cover your strategy for increasing likes and shares on your Facebook page.
A lack of financial planning will limit your options so that you cannot invest in a paid ad campaign or social media tools that can help you analyze your page traffic. Being able to track your page traffic, purchase editing tools for your photos and video, and hiring someone to help you post, are several of the options you may want to prepare for financially in a Facebook savings plan.
D. Don’t just add, add quality:
Your strategy should revolve around adding quality fans so that your Facebook page is meaningful online and offline for your business. People often worry that marketing their services or product on Facebook will not pay off. It may seem like the amount of time and resources you will pour into getting a like here and there and acquiring Fans isn’t going to translate into new clientele or additional revenue. Truth is, it won’t if the Fans you gather aren’t “quality”:
- Quality fans are people with whom you can build relationships.
You can create a knowledge base for them on your page. Building a rapport and giving advice are intertwined in bringing people to want to do business with you. Before Facebook fans turn into real business you have to first build an audience on Facebook, then drive inbound traffic to your website then turn that traffic into qualified leads, and then nurture those leads into customers.”
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Build your email blast from Facebook.
Building your email list from this group of Facebook fans will mean that you have a base that likes to hear from you consistently with whatever news and guides you send out. Instead of blindly email blasting from a random list, using your cultivated Facebook fan base will help you connect your emails to a more receptive audience.
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Wait to pay for Facebook ads.
Some would encourage you to run Facebook ads only when you have built a quality fan base and not a minute before, so that you get the most out of your Facebook ad dollar and your Facebook savings plan. You may decide to try out a couple of ads to speed things along or wait it out and use the ads when it could have the most impact, launching from fans that are already familiar with you.
- Link your business page to your personal profile.
The benefit is personalizing your business, though a drawback you have to consider is the effect on your privacy. Linking your page and profile, even if you utilize your administrator and privacy settings to the maximum, could result in you losing some of the distance you’d like to create between your business persona and your “personal” Facebook sphere. Sure, Facebook privacy is somewhat of a façade, but depending on how much you rely on it, attaching your business page to a separate Facebook profile might make you more comfortable and make posting to everyone, some friends, and only you, much simpler when you have two profiles designated for different purposes.
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Brand your page to attract quality.
If you want them to invest their time in you and to show support for your page to their friends, make it worth their while. Your page should have a cover photo that represents your business and it should look professional and be edited carefully if needed. All of your photos and videos should be relevant and appropriate to your business. Be careful about posting content that belongs on your personal profile and about allowing friends to post non-business related content on your timeline. Be sure to filter out spam from your page and do your best to redirect personal comments and tags to your personal Facebook profile or hide those posts from your business page.
E. Hubspot published a post on 9 ways to build a Facebook audience that is really interested in what your business or company has to offer.
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Facebook SEO
Fill your Facebook page with searchable information. Many tips and guides focus on the content you should be creating for your immediate page visitors but it is key to also consider how search engines will pick up the information. Some page visitors will find their way to your site from a key word search rather than a perusal of Facebook pages. Search engine optimization should be considered on your Facebook just like on your website pages. Lindsay Kolowich of Hubpost recommends making sure your page includes an overview of what your business offers, a link to your website, and any other information that will explain your business more thoroughly.
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Facebook Like Box
From posting content regularly to utilizing the Like Box, you can boost the number of likes and shares for your page at little to no cost, at least until you are ready to employ a paid ad campaign to enhance what you have already begun with the methods above. Without implementing some or all of these, an ad campaign may or may not get you more likes and shares but will generally prove pretty useless in generating new business, while implementing these methods alone will get you some or all of the way to turning fans and followers into leads and clients. Ironically, Facebook marketing is not a hoax if quality content and time are invested instead of just money
Images: Multiple sources / Origins unknown
Kerry Creaswood
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- How To Really Get Noticed on Social Media - May 22, 2016