Everybody who has a Facebook page is always trying to find different ways to get new fans. This is especially important for small businesses as relationships on a social and casual level can be converted into sales. I asked entrepreneurs what methods they have used that were proven to increase their Facebook fan base – take these tips and run with them – experiment and see what works for your business! Oh, and don’t forget to like Small Businesses Do It Better on Facebook!
We have followed 3 paths to more followers. First, interactivity. It’s hard for people to “like” a lawyer. But we are very interactive with our fans giving free advice in a tough economy.. We try to change the way people think about lawyers. Secondly, we have fun- posting “weird laws” daily and more. Third, about every quarter, we have a “like raiser” where we donate $1 per like to local charities. We’ve donated a a couple thousand dollars giving back in this way and were one of the first to do it.
John M. Phillips, Facebook.com/knowthelawyer
Providing great content. I believe that you will naturally attract fans when you provide valuable, interesting content. Your current fans will want to share your posts with their friends and fans and you’ll not only generate more “likes” from that, but your followers will be more engaged—and that’s what matters most!
Dana D’Orsi, Facebook.com/danadorsi
We use our Facebook page to promote our in-store events, and to give our fans information and show them other fun stuff. We’ve gotten our fans from a variety of sources. The largest number is from having them like our page while they are in our store. We’ve also integrated our Facebook link into everything we do – from our email, to our website, to our email newsletter, to our print ads, it is everywhere.
Tim Holliday, Facebook.com/childrensworldu
Podcasting is truly becoming an incredible way to gain Facebook fans. With the explosion of smartphones and tablets, and wi-fi access cropping up everywhere, people are flocking to the on demand, targeted content that podcasts provide.
John Lee Dumas, Facebook.com/EntrepreneurOnFire
Many of our Facebook fans hopped onboard through the various giveaways, sweepstakes and freebies events on we conduct, where we usually make a requirement for our company’s existing customers and prospects to “like” our page in order to participate. And if they choose to do so, they can share our events with their friends and family via Facebook, or other social networking sites like Twitter and Google+ in order to obtain additional entries to the giveaways. With so many eyes on what’s free, inevitably some people will explore our business just a little more and become our fans.
Ian Aronovich, Facebook.com/governmentauctions
It was recommended to us by a Social Media guru that we start regularly pushing out engaging and interesting content on Facebook, and using ads to expand our network to new users directly and consequently virally. It is clear that our “Like” traction has been impacted most significantly by our paid advertising, which we spend a good amount of time on to ensure that we are properly targeting our users with messaging and relying on the demographic tools that Facebook provides. Because our ad strategy focuses both on new users and “Friends of Friends,” the viral nature is definitely important to our success.
Corey Leff, Facebook.com/spendLO
What methods to you use to get more Facebook fans?
Image courtesy birgerking
If you log in as your page and like lots of other pages in your niche, then interact with them repeatedly and thoughtfully, you will be noticed by lots of Facebook members who share your interests. Some of them are sure to check out your page and a certain percentage of those who have will like it, too. It’s a way to get new likes slowly but surely.
Matt Hayden recently posted..Continual participation in social media is crucial