If you haven’t already figured it out… your business needs to be on Facebook!
Forget about the recent #deletefacebook craze. People are always mad about something… but the fact is there is still no viable replacement to Facebook and there are over 2 Billion active monthly users on the Facebook platform. If your business isn’t on there, you’re missing out. It’s as simple as that.
But getting on Facebook is just the beginning. You also need a targeted audience to pay attention to what you have to offer. How do you get a targeted audience? Start by following the six simple steps outlined below.
1) Complete your Facebook profile page
Fill everything out, from business history, to hours, services, and contact info. The more complete your page info, the easier you will attract a strong audience.
2) Don’t sell Anything
I know, this one always seems counter-intuitive to people. If you want to sell yourself on Facebook, how do you do so if you don’t… sell? Actually, it’s pretty easy. But you need to have patience.
People are not interested in being sold to. But they are interested in what you’re doing and what you offer. Provide posts that make people want to pay attention. Tips, images, video, comedy, facts… mix it up. The more people pay attention to your posts, the more likely they are to reach out to you when they’re ready to purchase.
3) Be Consistent
People tend to like patterns… even if they don’t realize they like patterns. If you randomly post something every 2-3 weeks, you’re going to lose your followers. Instead, create consistency in your posts. You can play around with how often you post, or what times of day you post… but start with 2-3 posts every week. Every. Week! Don’t let a week go by without at least a couple posts to keep your Facebook thread interesting
You’ll start to see that as you build consistency, more people will start to like your posts, and follow your page. Consistency also tends to create more engaged followers, so when you put out a Call to Action (promotion or sales message), people are much more likely to engage.
4) Tap Into what you have
Do you have a website? Do you have an email list or marketing list? What about your own personal email contacts? These are all great places to start inviting and building your Facebook audience.
Within your Facebook settings there are options to find or invite friends. One of the easiest ways to build a list is to upload an email list and send out an invitation via Facebook – or to connect to email providers like Gmail to auto-send invitations.
You can also invite friends via other channels, such as Linkedin or YouTube… wherever you might already have some followers.
Besides directly inviting people, you should also put a like button/logo on your website, as well as place an invite/like link in your email signature. You want everyone you connect with to see where to easily follow you on Facebook.
If you’re starting at ground-zero with no contacts, no colleagues, and no other platforms to pull from, then Facebook Advertising is your next great option. We’ll need to cover ad strategies in another post, but you can set a budget of say… $100 – $200 per month and create targets for the type of people you want to get in front of.
When you create the ad, you set its purpose to Page Likes, making the actual goal of the ads to bring people back to your Facebook page and like it, so that they will see future posts from you as well.
5) Network
We’ve all heard it… “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” In social media, it might be a little of both. But let’s focus on the ‘who you know’ part for a minute. The more you engage on other people’s pages and walls, and the more you network with others in your industry, the more people are likely to follow you on Facebook as well.
For most of us, persistence is key in this regard. The more you strike up conversations, the more you comment on blogs, the more you put yourself and your business out there for others to see… the more opportunities you open for people to come back and like your Facebook page.
Keep at it! Don’t just post on your Facebook page. Get out there and follow other people and companies – and start engaging with them. You might be surprised by how well this works to build your own fan base.
6) Measure
Most people drop the ball when it comes to measuring. If you want to become a Facebook Rockstar, you’ve got to understand which of the above tactics work best for you – so you can drop the ones that don’t work and double-down on the ones that do work.
As you try each method mentioned, be sure to split them up as you’re able. In other words, do them one at a time. If you’re tracking your results, you’ll then be able to quickly see which methods were more successful than others.
Building a targeted Facebook audience isn’t rocket science. There is no secret formula, although some tactics do work better for some than for others. Put some time into it, be persistent, and track everything you do. It doesn’t usually happen overnight; but over time, you can continue to grow a well- targeted and engaged Facebook audience.
For more social media and marketing tips check out Social Media Tactics for Screen Printers and Website Options for Screen Printers.
