Are you having trouble reaching people with your Business Fan Page? I know I have and I try to use all the tools that I have learned over these past months. My reach is getting better but I use Facebook Ads to make sure I get into the newsfeed.
I have read articles where some people are thinking it is a conspiracy, that Facebook is making it hard for Business Pages to reach the newsfeed. The only way small businesses can survive is if they use Facebook Ads. It is just another way for Facebook to make more money.
Not all of the Business Pages are having this problem as most of them have a huge following.
I am not sure what is true or what is not. Some of the posts that are hitting the newsfeed is spammy, people are posting too frequent, what is being posted is irrelevant or misleading. They are using the drop down box and reporting to Facebook that it is spam.
I also have read that only 300,000 pages, out of 42 million pages, have actually use promoted posts or sponsored stories as of March 2012. So the number of pages using paid ads to increase their Edge Rank is small.
Here are some ways that you can use to help reach your customers:
1. Analyze your top 10 content items
This is where your insights on your page come into play. Look and see which of your posts are going viral. Is it the content, the pictures or the videos. Whatever is working, keep doing it.
2. Post awesome content
If you have found what is working, post more of it. Don't be pushy with your content by trying to sell your opportunity to people. They will view it as spam. Post good content. Post a solution to a problem that your readers may have. Not only will your readers be happy, you will attract more people to you.
3. Optimize targeting
Now you can target the people, if you have more than 100 likes, by gender, relationship status, age, location, language and education.
4. Don't cross post
Cross posting is when you post the same content to all your social media channels. It is easy to do this and I do it as well. Most people have all their social media channels connected and it is easier to make one post and have it go to all the channels such as Twitter, Linked-In, Google +, and Facebook.
5. Post at the best time
Some people think posting at night is the best time as a lot of people work during the day. I think you should post more than once a day. I try to post around 10 am, 2 pm and one in the evening. This way you get all kinds of people. Not all people work and they check their posts during coffee breaks, lunch, during work and in the evening. You do need to post what best suits your customers.
6. Post on weekends.
Just because it is the weekend does not mean you should not post. A lot of people are busy but they still get on the internet and surf the web and especially look at status updates on Facebook.
7. Blog
Your blog can be a key component for traffic. You can incorporate relevant page posts with your blog posts. Not only does it help make people aware of your Facebook Page but also it shows readers how much you care for your customers.
8. Create interest lists
People want to be friends all of the time, so why not make categories to put those friends in. You do not want to market your business to your friends and family so keep your business friends separate by putting them into a list. If they are business prospects, put them in a list that you can market to. When you post to this group, only those people will see it leaving your family and friends alone.
9. Use Events
If you have something important coming up, like a webinar, a course or a contest you, you can create an event and invite people to it. Great way to increase your fan base.
10. Use Webinars
Webinars are a great way to promote products and give great content. How you can incorporate this into Facebook is you can have your attendees make comments on your page either during or after the webinar. It is a great way to leverage your fan base.
11. Use E-mail marketing
E-mail marketing is a must for online marketers. When I write an e-mail and it gets sent out, it also gets sent to my Facebook Business Page. My fans have a chance to read it and what a way to leverage them to be potential clients.
12. Use Pinterest
I use Pinterest all of the time. I promote videos I make, products I am selling and I also share fun photos that I find. If your fan base is mostly women then you should be using Pinterest. If you have a great photo, post it on Pinterest and link it back to your Facebook page.
13. Tell fans to get notifications
Just because you have fans, they may not always get your updates through the newsfeed. Tell them how to get your notifications.
Share your thoughts and how this could help you with your business. Just put your comments in the boxes below.
To Your Success
Anita Levesque
207-694-0314
http://facebook.com/anitawaltonlevesque
