Any hints and tips on getting your Facebook business page better followed.

[peppie]

Being fairly new to the Facebook world I am looking for hints and tips on how to get my Facebook business page better known and followed somewhat better.

Yes I understand the general SEO concept and setting up leads back to a page, but in the case of something like social media I need a better "picture" of how this works. Just what does/should attract/lead other users to your page.

I have been fiddling around and experimenting with the sort of information I should be showing publicly in my page and private profile. I am interested in sharing hints,tips and experiences with fellow experimenters etc..

[TheWebExpert]

Hi Paul

If you are using Facebook Pages to get exposure - you need to expose it to people.

The more people in your network (friends, family, colleagues, clients, etc), the more people that know of your service, the more opportunities.
So Facebook like your in-person networks - works just the same.

Build up more friends, join more groups and pages you are interested in, and participate.
I would also suggest joining Linked In if you havent already

V

[web3k]

As the TheWebExpert mentioned, get friends to follow you first - this will help others think that your facebook page is credible and worth following - Think snow-ball effect.

Do you run monthly or ad-hoc email campaigns to your customers? Mention you've got a facebook page and give them a link to easily follow you. Continue to include it in email campaigns so you get some repetition.

Do you have an email signature? Why not include it as part of that? Think of how many people you might email every week.

Place a link to it on your website.

Getting followers on social media works in the same was as attracting customers to your services, however depending on your business, you might find the propensity for someone to follow you through social media is higher as there is less commitment needed by them.

[mexham]

Competitions and giveaways seem to be a good way to get new fans , eg they have to join to be eligible for the prize.

But also you have to decide if the time/money/effort on creating a fan page is worthwhile or would it be better spent on getting people to your website to start with.

Don't get to caught up in fans, when as for any business the most important thing is sales!

[peppie]

Very worthwhile points one and all. I understand the need to balance investment of time and effort against results (the old ROI thing) but I have also seen the worth of developing networks. My strategy in part is to create something of a web of connections (not meant to be a pun) and using lots of different ways to introduce people into my network.

LinkedIn was mentioned above, but that may not work as well for me as yet, since my target market is much more individuals, more of a retail area. Networking "events" for instance probably would not necessarily work for me being much more business based. Still, we do not discount anything until tried.

I have begun to experiment with expanding my private profile connections in Facebook and that came about almost by accident. This last week I added the other 3 or 4 email addresses to my account registration that I use and suddenly the "suggestions" of possible friends multiplied considerably. So I decided to try making connections therein and subtly introduce them to my work interests and my business page. As has been suggested above. Twill be interesting to see how that progresses.

This is all a bit of a paradigm switch for me, moving from an essentially localised area advertising model to much more of a national, almost viral, network. I guess for now it's just that I need to get a picture of how this sort of connecting works.

[ClareS]

Something that I have found, that may or may not be of use to you is once you have a few fans of your business, make sure that you post regularly. Not just sales or business posts, but general interest posts. Posts that are appropriate of course. It makes you more accessible.

Have fun in your test and measure.

[Emroy]

I just printed out some DL flyers for a customer of mine - He puts them into correspondence that he mails to his customers.

You would be amazed at the result offline advertising has with driving traffic online.

- Jake

[MediaMsg]

Originally Posted by Emroy

I just printed out some DL flyers for a customer of mine

This is one of the methods we use with our customers, and it's very effective. Unlike the spammers out there, this is more ethical marketing as the 'customer' is already your customer. A lot of the times their friends live geographically close to them, so the viral aspects of Facebook are more targeted.

Regards
Mark Sandford
MediaMsg - Social Marketing for Small Business
www.mediamsg.com.au

[vstacy]

Originally Posted by ClareS

Something that I have found, that may or may not be of use to you is once you have a few fans of your business, make sure that you post regularly. Not just sales or business posts, but general interest posts. Posts that are appropriate of course. It makes you more accessible.

Have fun in your test and measure.

Yes! Even better, don't just be all about YOU YOU YOU and YOUR BUSINESS... encourage participation.

PRESS LIKE: If you XXXX

JOIN IN THE CONVERSATION: How do you XXXX ?

etc

Because with participation comes even more exposure as not only will each person who pushes "like" or posts a comment will re-expose you to each participant in that comment thread ... it also gets you on those peoples' walls/pages... so you get further exposure.


Post links to your group where appropriate in other pages.

[Brenda Thomson]

Originally Posted by peppie

Being fairly new to the Facebook world I am looking for hints and tips on how to get my Facebook business page better known and followed somewhat better.

Yes I understand the general SEO concept and setting up leads back to a page, but in the case of something like social media I need a better "picture" of how this works. Just what does/should attract/lead other users to your page.

I have been fiddling around and experimenting with the sort of information I should be showing publicly in my page and private profile. I am interested in sharing hints,tips and experiences with fellow experimenters etc..

Hi Peppie,
Start by putting it everywhere including in a prominent place on your website.
What you do is really interesting - I bet you have some fantastic stories AND Pictures? Make your facebook page welcome more visually appealing - add pictures - I am sure you must have restored plenty that you can show off. Also other media - old sound tracks etc.
Perhaps start a blog about an interesting piece of history that you are preserviing. Then have the updates post directly onto your FB Business Page.
The thing that stands out to me THE MOST when I look at your website and your facebook page is the focus on what you do instead of the beautiful stories and memories you save. People LOVE stories!