How to Attract More Facebook Fans (Without Wasting Your Time!)
When I started thinking about this blog post, my goal was to give you 21 tips and strategies to attract more fans on Facebook. And as I started working on those tips, I realized that I hardly used any of them.
I wasn’t using them not because they didn’t work, but because there’s no need to do 21 things to attract more fans on Facebook. That would be a complete waste of time, not to mention that there are more important online marketing strategies to focus on other than getting more fans on Facebook. Fans are important, but engagement and list building on Facebook are so much more valuable. (You’ll hear more about those two topics from me in the very near future!)
Let me back up for a minute. . . I’ve been teaching online marketing strategies, specifically Facebook marketing, for almost five years now and just over the past year I’ve changed the way I teach. In the beginning I would teach what I called “everything you might want to know about Facebook,” and by that I mean that I would teach you strategies that worked because I’ve tested them myself, but not necessarily strategies that I use daily to succeed in my business.
In the past I felt that I had to make sure you were “well-informed.” However, I should have realized that as a busy business owner, you don’t have time to read a bunch of info that is “good to know” but that is more than what you need in order to be successful. My apologies. It won’t happen again. Instead I am now committed to giving you information that will ensure you are “well-equipped” to use Facebook as a powerful tool that will help you start meaningful conversations with your customers and potential customers, build your email list and attract new customers. Simple as that.
Let’s dive in . . . First let’s start out with the WHY. Why do you want to attract more fans on Facebook? There are three main reasons, and ALL of them are tied to making a bigger impact in your business and revenue.
Quality Fans = Real Relationships
When you have a large, quality fan base on Facebook AND you combine that with strategies to start meaningful conversations that your fans care about, you can easily become your fans go-to-source in your niche for A LOT OF PEOPLE. These fans will learn to trust you and when the time is right, want to do business with you. It’s easier to turn a fan into a lead when they truly trust and like you.
Quality Fans = Lucrative Leads
When you have a large Facebook fan base, you can more easily build your email list with quality subscribers who are eager to hear from you on a consistent basis. The energy of your business is directly tied to the strength of your email list and using Facebook to build your email list with your ideal audience is a very smart strategy. (Facebook is the #1 resource I use for list building – click here to get instant access to a free training where I show you how I do it.)
Quality Fans = Money Saving Strategies
This last one will give you a surefire competitive edge, so lean in a little close so I can whisper it. (I don’t want your competition to hear!) When you grow a solid fan base on Facebook, you can then create Facebook ads that will only be seen by your existing fan base. When you run “fan-only” campaigns, you will pay MUCH less per click than the ads where you target non-fans. I am talking hundreds if not thousands of dollars in savings. (Side note: If you don’t yet use Facebook ads to build your email list and drive more profits, you are 100% missing out on the best opportunity online today. I mean it. Check out my free webinar all about Facebook ads here.)
Tried and True Fan Growth Strategies
#1: Link Your Facebook Page to Your Profile You can add a link from your profile to your Facebook Page, by doing the following steps:
- Go to your profile, and on your timeline cover image, click on, “Update Info.”
- Under “Work and Education,” in the field that says, “Where have you worked?” type in the name of your Facebook Page.
- As you type in the name of your page, you’ll likely see several pages that will appear beneath the field. Click on your page to select it.
- Add in your position, description, etc.
- Leave the box, “I currently work here” checked and click on “add job.”
#2: Add a Facebook Like Box to Your Website. Adding a Facebook Like box to your website is a great way to grow your fan base. This works especially well because the people on your website are warm leads and likely to be interested in the content you post on your Facebook Page. In addition to that, it keeps visitors on your website (the Facebook Like icon takes them away from your site). I also like to add this plugin to my thank you pages. Click here to grab embed code for your Facebook Like Box. If that seems complicated, you can do a Google search for a Facebook Like Box plugin for your website.
#3: Brand Your Page There’s nothing worse than a Page that has no Timeline cover photo or has one that’s poorly designed. If I came to your Page right now and spent five seconds on it, would I instantly know what your business is about? That’s the goal of your Timeline cover photo – it’s an introduction, a handshake. Make it count.
#4: Post relevant, entertaining and meaningful content two to five times each day and get involved in the conversations on your Page. If you want a great lesson on what and how to post on your Facebook Page, check out the Facebook chapter in Gary Vaynerchuk’s book, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook. It will change the way you look at your content on Facebook. The goal with your content is to ignite actions in the form of likes, comments and shares – because these three actions create stories on Facebook and therefore create opportunities for your posts to see a greater reach. A greater reach means you increase your changes of organically attracting new fans.
Consider These “Going The Extra Mile” Strategies
Link to Your Facebook Page Consider linking to your Facebook Page in a blog article or embed a status update inside your post. When you find relevant, natural ways to include your Facebook Page into a conversation, you are more likely to attract the right kind of audience for your business.
Get active outside of Facebook It used to be that when people wanted to find out more about you and your business, they would Google you. These days, they Google you AND search for your inside of Facebook. It’s become the norm. That’s why what you do outside of Facebook matters to your fan grown inside of Facebook. When carried out strategically, your activities outside of Facebook will drive traffic to your Page and grow your fan base. Be seen where it really matters. Here are a few suggestions:
- Participate in webinars and teleseminars
- Get interviewed to gain exposure to a new audience
- Participate in online and offline training courses (either create them yourself or be a guest)
- Blog more often
- Guest blog on popular sites
- Create more videos
Use Sponsored Like Ads Another surefire way to attract quality fans is to actually go out and find them inside of Facebook. What I mean by that is to run a Facebook ad campaign that will target your perfect ideal audience on Facebook. Sponsored Like ads do just that. I talk all about “Like ads” in my free webinar, Facebook Ads that Convert. Check out the details here.
Avoid These Strategies
Don’t buy fans. Don’t ever spend a dime on buying fans. What will happen is that you will get a bunch of fans from far off countries that will never like, comment or share any of your posts. And when that happens, your engagement score on Facebook will plummet and it will be extremely hard to reverse the damage.
Don’t create a bunch of Facebook Pages. The more Pages you have, the more stress you will cause yourself and your team. Less is more here.
Don’t focus too much on trying to get more fans. Once you hit 1,000 fans, your fan growth will start to happen more organically, especially if you do the strategies I’ve mentioned above! So don’t stress yourself out with your fan attraction efforts.
Remember this. Your number of fans on Facebook means nothing if you are not attracting QUALITY fans that are genuinely engaged in your content, interested in what you are about and paying attention to what you have to say. How do you do that? Be human. I know you’ve heard this before, but are you really doing it?
Here’s a quick test:
Take a look at your last 10 Facebook posts. Ask yourself:
1) Would I engage with that post if I saw it in my news feed?
2) Did I ask for or encourage action (like, share, comment)?
3) If there is a photo, would you want to share it if you saw it in your News Feed?
4) Does this post truly add value to my audience?
5) Does this post educate, entertain or empower?
1) Would I engage with that post if I saw it in my news feed?
2) Did I ask for or encourage action (like, share, comment)?
3) If there is a photo, would you want to share it if you saw it in your News Feed?
4) Does this post truly add value to my audience?
5) Does this post educate, entertain or empower?
Now it’s your turn! What’s been the #1 more effective way you’ve attracted fans? Have you used any of the strategies above? If not, what’s one thing you can take action on in the next week?
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About Amy
Amy is a social media strategist and co-author of Facebook Marketing All-In-One for Dummies. She helps entrepreneurs across industries establish strategies to maximize the power of social media and increase the success of their online marketing efforts.
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