For any business, Facebook can be an invaluable way to market your product or service and attract new customers to your page. However, this isn’t always easy—there are plenty of other pages out there vying for attention, so it’s important to stand out from the crowd and show people why they should choose you over all the rest. If you want your Facebook page to grow quickly, you’ll need to think of creative ways to attract followers from the get-go. Here are ten ways you can do just that.
Have Real Friends
It may seem counterintuitive, but having friends that you actually know and interact with in real life will make your presence on social media more effective. It’s easy to see why; users feel a connection with people who share their interests and keep up with their day-to-day lives.
People are also more likely to share your posts (and even reshare them) if they think you’re a real person rather than just an anonymous username.
Make sure your profile photo is representative of you as a person (rather than something cute or stock photo-ish) and try interacting with other users for a sense of your social media voice before diving into conversations about relevant content.
Post Regularly
In order to grow your page, you’ll need to post regularly. This means at least once a day—ideally at different times of day and on different days of week.
When you spread out your posts, you make sure that someone who has been on Facebook for hours will always be able to see one of your posts. Posting regularly also makes it much easier for new people discover your content, which is how most people grow their fan base organically.
Use Relevant Hashtags
Hashtags are a great way to get in front of people who don’t already know about you but may have interest in what you do. By putting your keywords into relevant hashtags, you’re exposing yourself not only to new people, but also engaging with communities that would be interested in your topic.
Try looking at what topics and hashtags are trending locally or on Twitter and use those to find out what users might search for when they’re searching for something.
For example, if you run a restaurant and are running a promotion or special during that week, include #promotion as part of one of your posts and see how it affects engagement over time.
Go Live
There are a number of options for going live on social media, including Periscope and Meerkat. The latter was founded by Twitter’s head of product, Kayvon Beykpour.
Although it’s only been around since March 2015, Meerkat has quickly become one of your best bet for going live—and is available on iOS or Android devices (while Periscope is just on iOS).
As with anything in social media marketing, simply having a large following doesn’t mean you’ll instantly attract large crowds when you go live. It helps to get creative when thinking about ways to keep people engaged during your broadcast. For example, some brands have chosen theme days or used special guests or giveaways as incentives for viewers.
Upload Videos
Uploading videos helps you provide useful information for those who are following your page. After uploading a video, be sure to include an enticing description and entice users to subscribe by clicking like.
If you choose relevant and interesting topics and show off unique perspectives, users will find it easy to share your videos with their friends; more subscribers means more people viewing your page regularly.
This can only help lead to growth on Facebook. As people become more familiar with your brand, they’ll click that like button even more often than before. To grow a Facebook account effectively, post three times per day about topics that connect with your customer base.
Give Free Stuff
Another way to grow your page is by giving stuff away. Give your fans a reason to engage with you, and they’ll not only return frequently but also recommend you to their friends, bringing in new followers every time.
Giving away freebies and special offers is a great way of doing just that. You could run a competition on your page or give them special access or sneak peaks of upcoming products and discounts.
People love exclusivity, so if they know there’s something available exclusively for them (and those close friends they always tell everything too), they won’t want to miss out!
Run Contests
One way to grow your following on Facebook is by running a contest. Set aside some time and come up with some creative ways for people to enter, such as share a story that begins with ‘The first time I visited New York…’ or tag me in a video of you doing something awesome.
When you have an idea, create a post inviting people to participate. You can get lots of shares if your post is short and sweet; make sure it includes clear instructions on how people can enter. If they like what they see and want more information, they’ll click through.
Comment on Competitors’ Posts
If you see a post on one of your competitors’ pages that isn’t getting much traction, jump in and comment with a link back to your business. The chances are good that you can get more engagement from their audience than they did.
If they posted something that is relevant and useful, then they might even thank you for sharing it and give you credit by linking back to your page. This takes some tact, so do it carefully! You can always look at their recent posts or try searching for them on Google Alerts.
Some of these tools will alert you when someone has mentioned you online; set these up before taking action so that if anything blows up (whether positively or negatively), you know exactly who said what about you!
Send Personal Messages
One way to grow your account quickly is by sending personal messages (PMs) to people. If someone has commented on one of your posts or shared one of your articles, send them a message.
They will appreciate you taking time out of your day to reach out and connect with them. And if they’re not already following you on Facebook, you might even gain a new follower! Remember that PMs are just as easy as sending an email—you don’t need any fancy software for it; it comes right from within Facebook itself. You can also use it without ever needing to see your target’s public profile or know their email address, so let that be incentive enough for you!
Add a Facebook Call-to-Action Button
One of your primary goals in growing your Facebook following is converting non-followers into followers—which you can do by implementing a call-to-action button on your page. This step is simple: To create a call-to-action button, open your Facebook page, then click Create Call to Action Button.
From there, you’ll be asked for a headline and description of what happens when people click on it. You can also customize placement and color for added pizzazz. Once you’re done, click Publish. That’s it!
