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10 Marketing Tips to Grow Your Small Business Facebook Page Audience
1. Create sharing opportunities
People tagging other users prompts Facebook to share the post on more news feeds because it likes to promote popular content. Either ask people to tag directly e.g. “Tag a friend who does this,” post things that ask a question like “choose A or B” or ask people to vote for a tutorial you will do, a giveaway you might run or comment on a celebrity news item/trend that is topical at the moment.
2. Get creative
Use free design tools, like the Canva app or similar, to turn your photos into eye-catching poster-type images with text overlays, speech bubbles etc. Adobe Spark also has a cool feature to help you create moving videos using slides of imagery, text and even sound overlays of your own voice recordings, making expensive-looking graphic design accessible to the masses.
3. Go Live!
Facebook LOVES video and Facebook Live is the platform’s very own built-in I’ve streaming service. (Facebook has been busy trying to overtake YouTube for video users for the last few years). Unlike a normal post which will only reach 2-5% of your fan base, a video will be shared far and wide by Facebook, so try to use it where you can and tell your page fans in advance so they can learn to tune in. Popular live content includes Q&As, how-to videos or behind the scenes event footage.
4. Peer pressure
Encourage your customers to check-in when they’re with you if you have a physical office space, or your products are stocked in the store. Make a Wifi code obvious if you have one, perhaps on a sign reminding people to check-in. You could even offer to pick a monthly small prize winner for those who have checked-in or tagged your page in their posts on Facebook.
5. Spend a little
Try your hand at Facebook ads. Pretty much all branded pages need to Boost Posts every now and again. This is because if your posts are consistently getting the low engagement of likes and comments, it will signal to Facebook that your content isn’t useful and Facebook will start to mark you down for it, showing your posts to fewer news feeds. So at least once a month, even a £5 boost on your best performing posts will improve your engagement score for the following month.
6. Make friends online
Don’t forget to shout out others, especially other small businesses. As with all social media, networking is the key to it, and people like karma online. So telling people about your favorite YouTubers, local companies you support, cafes you’ve visited, etc. and tagging them not only increases your own page’s visibility but shows a good brand personality that is approachable enough for people to want to try your services.
See also: 10 Ways Facebook Has Changed the Way We Do Business
7. Capture “fly-bys”
Fly-by-fans are people who have the potential to become committed fans of your Facebook page, but only happened across one of your posts (and liked it) perhaps because one of their friends was tagged in it, or commented on it, so Facebook put it into their news feed. An easy way to convert these people into Page fans is to click on the hyperlink of people who liked a post or picture (on a computer) and this will bring up a list of Facebook usernames. Beside each one that hasn’t liked your page will be an “Invite” button to send them a reminder to like your page. This will quickly grow your likes organically AND in among a genuinely interested audience.
8. Old is still good
Keep repurposing your old content, particularly your most popular pieces. As your audience grows, don’t forget to remind them who you are and what you do, imagining that each month at least one or two people who see your posts are completely new to your page. And remind customers new and old about the great things you’ve done with Throwback posts and “on this day” memories of events, awards or business milestones.
9. Research your fans
Look at the other types of content and pages your fans are interested in by using Facebook’s Search Function. Just type “pages liked by fans of *your small business*” into the search bar. Look at the specific posts on these popular pages (posts with the most likes, shares or comments). See what they have in common and then try to replicate their subjects or tone through your own posts.
10. Avoid article links
Content that takes people OFF Facebook is something Facebook hates (which makes most bloggers and websites hate Facebook!) So if you see an article you want to share with your fans, try where you can to save the photos from it and create a Facebook post that gives an overview of what you learned/liked. This way, you’ll get the engagement from your fans, whereas if you just post a link to a site with your comment above it, Facebook will show it to fewer fans, because it doesn’t want you directing people away.
Other general content tips include:
– Talk about your business: don’t just promote what you do, promote things related to what you do – things you know your fans will be interested in. Remember that your product or service is only one tiny element of the big, full life your ideal customer leads.
See also: 8 Tips on How to Write a Truly Funny Facebook Status