Sunday, June 1, 2014

3 Ways to grow your Facebook business page - By David Pride



The most common concern I hear from clients and conference attendees is, “how do I grow my Facebook page if I don’t have any money?” This is a valid concern especially since Facebook is moving closer and closer to a pay to play model where the small business owner is almost forced into purchasing advertising at some point if they want to grow their page and their reach. There are a few techniques that don’t cost anything that can also help to grow your page and below I will outline three of them.

Invite your email subscribers to “Like” your business. This, in my opinion, is low hanging fruit! These people have already signed up to receive special offers, breaking news, and announcements about your company – so of course they would want to connect with you on Facebook! 

Let me be clear about this, inviting your email subscribers to “like” you on Facebook does not mean including a little “f” at the bottom of your email with a “Like Us” icon. Inviting your email community to “like” you on Facebook means sending a single email where the sole purpose is to encourage and provide a reason or two why someone should “like” you on Facebook. Provide a few reasons why the recipient should do as you ask – “Like us on Facebook for special offers, new product announcements and an inside look at our company!” This is a lot more effective than, “Like Us on Facebook – Please.”

Post more often. If doing something only once a week would make us successful just imagine the type of physical shape I would be in by trudging to the gym once a week. Much to my dismay going to the gym that infrequently doesn’t do a whole lot for my fitness goals. Neither will posting to Facebook just once or twice a week. 

Plan to post on Facebook at least six times a week, if you can bump that up to once or twice a day, even better! Look at your Facebook Insights and figure out when the best times of day are to post and then be sure you have some great content at that time.

Revisit some of my old articles for advice of scheduling tools (that don’t cost a penny) that can help keep your posting consistent and worry free.

Use emoticons. J You know, those silly smiley faces, frowns, thumbs up and other cartoonlike images? A recent study by American Express showed that using emoticons in your status increases your “share” rate by 33 percent, “comment” rate by 33 percent, and on average brings a 57 percent higher “like” rate. 
That’s enough proof for me! 

Don’t know how to get emoticons in your status? Here are a few favorites:

: ) – will produce a smiley face
: ( - will produce a sad face
;-) – will produce a winking face
(y) – will produce a Thumbs Up

If you implement these tips I believe you will begin to see better reach, growth, and engagement on your Facebook page. There are a ton of other tips to talk about but we will have to touch on those next time!

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