Growing your fan base on Facebook can be something of a challenge especially when you are first getting started. This article looks at some tried and tested strategies to kick-start your Facebook marketing by getting more people to Like your Facebook page.
Cross Promotion
Promote your Facebook page at every possible opportunity – on your website, on your blog and on any other social sites you belong to. Where possible, link your social accounts and include your Facebook address in other online profiles such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+.
Be proactive and ask people to Like your page. Include a link to your Facebook page in your email signature. If you have a newsletter make sure you promote your Facebook page there as well.
Build a Custom Fanpage
A customised fanpage will help to distinguish your company or brand from your competitors and can be a great way to attract additional visitors. With customised pages you have much more control over the content you develop and you can build as many pages as you want. You can actually set up a whole website within Facebook if that’s what your business requires. By setting up a customised welcome page you can create an immediate impact and get your message across in exactly the way you want.
Offer an Incentive
In internet marketing circles it’s standard practice to offer something first to get something back in return. This approach can be used on Facebook to increase your fan base. One very effective technique is to set up a custom landing page with a “reveal tab” that provides access to something of value if the visitor clicks your Like button and becomes a fan.
You can offer free information such as a report or white paper, or any other educational content of interest to your visitors. Think about the sort of incentives which make most sense for your target audience. If free information won’t work, offer a discount or money off coupon for your products or services.
Run a Contest for Fans Only
Running a contest can be a great way to attract new fans and also to keep existing fans coming back for more. There are many examples of successful contests generating huge interest on Facebook. And there are hundreds of contest ideas applicable to just about any business you can imagine. Just remember to read the Facebook Promotion Guidelines before you launch your contest to ensure you don’t break Facebook’s terms and conditions.
Deliver a Great Experience
The more value you provide for your followers, the more you will be appreciated and the more likely they will be to promote your brand, services and products to their own friends and contacts. Although it takes more effort to create real value and a great user experience you will certainly reap the rewards if you can build a successful community and a loyal fan base.
User Engagement
Engaging your users, customers and visitors is the best way to keep people coming back for more and can help to win you more loyal fans. Think about the type of content you can post which will encourage communication and dialogue. Examples include:
- Asking questions to promote a discussion.
- Pro-actively asking users for their opinions.
- Visitor and customer polls.
- Fun activities such as quizzes and games.
- Photo and video sharing contests.
If you’ve developed your own customised Fan pages and want to provide the facility for user comments, you can use a third party commenting service such as Disqus or Intense Debate.
Facebook Ads
Facebook ads are an obvious way of driving visitors to your pages and this approach can be very successful if you have a budget to play with. However, as with any kind of paid promotional campaign, make sure that you can justify your expenditure and seek to obtain a measurable return on your investment. In particular, be specific about what you want visitors to do when they arrive on your landing page. If your objective is to get more people to Like your page make sure that you give them the incentive to do so.
Turn your Customers into Fans
Your existing customers may already have a good opinion of your business. You can capitalise on this by encouraging your customers to Like your Facebook page. A good way to do this is through your post sales correspondence. Email your customers to thank them for their business. Ask them for any feedback and at the same time encourage them to Like you on Facebook if they were pleased with your product or service. Offering further incentives such as a discount on their next purchase could easily help to win you additional fans.