Every following has to start somewhere and if you’re only just getting started on Facebook, it can seem a bit daunting.
I’ve often seen comments from new page owners asking for people to come and “like” them but I wonder if they miss the point.
So here’s a few tips to help you kick start a new Business Page.
1. Start with your friends
On Facebook, it’s no big surprise that you first need to reach out to your “friend” list before establishing a wider following.
But does that mean you need to invite all of your friends to follow your page or your blog? Well, no!
As with your followers, your friends “like” you for different reasons. That’s why it is always a good idea to segment your Facebook friends into lists.
I have about 10 different friend lists on Facebook. The close friends list sees everything I post but my business lists (i.e. business contacts that I’m acquainted with but not friends with in real life) only see posts I make public. And my “birthy friends” list sees any post related to my birth doula service (did you know I’m a qualified birth doula?), whereas my family (who don’t really care about any of that) doesn’t see any of those posts. You get the picture?
So, when you’re deciding how to kick start your following on your Business Page, first segment your friends into lists and invite only those friends who have an interest in what you’re doing business-wise.
2. Ask for the “share”
Once you have a number of friends signed up, and interacting on your page, you may want to suggest they share your page with their friends.
If you don’t ask they may as well have said “no”. So you may as well ask. And when I say “ask” I mean “ask” and not “demand.”
It’s okay to invite people to share but it’s not cool to demand they share, and yet I see businesses doing this all the time.
3. Focus on building relationships
One of the services I offer is to help businesses really understand and focus on their ideal clients. When you understand what your clients need and what they are struggling with, you can truly serve them.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: Marketing on Facebook is less about promoting products and more about creating conversations with potential clients.
This means listening as well as talking. And I think a lot of business owners forget that first one.
4. Don’t focus on numbers
A healthy following is one that is engaged with your posts on a daily basis, that feels part of a community and valued for their input.
Whether you have 100 followers or 1,000, if you are able to keep the interest and interaction of your followers, you are doing well.
One of my clients has a 20% engagement rate and didn’t understand how great that was. Even some of the most popular pages I know of only achieve 2-5% engagement at the best of times.
By keeping her page relevant to her following, she is able to build meaningful relationships and make it easy for her followers to invest in her services down the track.
If you’re wondering how to get started on Facebook or your other social platforms, these four tips should get your started.
What have been your most effective page building strategies?
This post has been adapted from one originally published on the Content Marketing Cardiology Blog.
