As social media becomes more essential to the success of your business, leaning how to get the most out of your social media efforts is also becoming more important.
Whether you are a small company or a large corporation, using social media effectively can create and maintain lasting relationships between your brand and your customers. Building an audience on Facebook can be challenging at times, but once you get started, the rewards will be worth the effort. Here are some tips on how to build your Facebook audience and start reaching more consumers with your brand message.
1.Create Awesome Content
The most basic and effective way to get the attention of Facebook users is to simply create great content. Don’t just send out an inspirational quote
or a cliché call to action. Create content that is going to be interesting to your target audience. Take a look at your brand, who is your customer? Is it women over 30? Is it the young professional that you are targeting? If you create awesome content that inspires and provokes emotion then you will inevitably build an audience of engaged followers.
2. Create a “like” gate
Creating a like gate for something visitors want is a very effective way to build an audience. If you are running a promotion such as free playoff tickets, a trip to Hawaii or you’re giving away online coupons, using a like gate will Incentivize people to like your page or post, before they can enter the contest or redeem a coupon. There are many Facebook apps that can help the common marketer with this.
3. Use Facebook ads
Using Facebook ads can also be very effective when trying to build an audience. If you want to promote a giveaway, contest or just your fan page, you can set your own budget and determine whether you want to go with cost per click or cost per impression. You can even set specific requirements for whoever sees the ads. For example, if you only want single women, age 24-35, who are interested in cooking, wine, business and travel to see the ads, then you can do so by just setting the adjustments.
4. Always promote your page
Add a link to your Facebook fan page whenever you write anything online. If you write a blog post, comment on someone else’s blog or comment in a forum, you should always include your link. Make sure you create a vanity URL so the link isn’t too long. You can also make sure to add your fan page URL in your email signature and include it in every email you send out. If you own a store or restaurant, make sure you promote you fan page on your take out menus, table tent flyers or display a URL or QR code that links to your page.
5. Share the love
Become a fan of other Facebook fan pages. Then as much as possible, comment on their posts. You can tag people in your comments, engage their fans with questions and remarks. Don’t be afraid to add the link to your fan page and promote your brand if the timing is appropriate. You’ll most likely get the best results by posting your comments to pages with hundreds, thousands or even millions of fans. But remember, be very tactful when taking this approach, you don’t want to annoy anyone.
Howard D. Smith 