It’s estimated that 40 million small businesses are using Facebook to raise brand awareness and connect with potential customers. Running a successful marketing campaign on Facebook is however NOT easy.
That’s because the platform keeps on making regular changes to their algorithm – done to determine which posts gets to appear in the increasingly noisy user newsfeed.
The constant shifts has seen to it that lots of pages experience a sharp drop in their reach over the recent past, mostly dues to demands between users and marketers.
Users want a constant supply of interesting content, while brands want to populate their newsfeeds with super-salesy content in the hope of squeezing a purchase or two from them.
That pretty much explains why Facebook is constantly updating their algorithm – because, come what may, they have to find a way to strike a balance between these two seemingly conflicting interests.
One solution for this is Facebook Ads. But that doesn’t seem to be the only solution to leverage.
This posts looks at the different ways you can still manage to drive a huge amount of traffic to your site without spending a penny.
Read on to find out:
Ask the Followers you have on Other Social Media Channels You’ve successfully established to consider liking Your Page or Following You
You want to direct a monstrous amount of traffic to your Facebook page, so why NOT ask the followers you have on the other social media channels you run to consider following you.
Make it known that your Facebook page is the center of it all. That’s where the real action happens and if they’re NOT following you or are yet to decide if they’re going to like your page, then there’s a whole lot they’re missing out on.
There’s no harm in using one social network to promote another. Depending on the need at hand, you can dedicate some time to promoting your Facebook page on twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest.
It’s however important that you try to avoid over-promoting yourself. In whatever you do, you don’t want to come off as that desperate marketer who’ll do anything for a page like. One witty trick you could employ is to try and come up with a series of offers that can exclusively be accessed via Facebook, with the only requirement being they at least make an effort to like your page.
You can still do this from your website or blog. At the end of your post, just make it known that there’s some missing piece of information that they’d have to visit your Facebook page to find. It can be something simple such as a coupon code or a post on offers.
You could also end an article with a cliff hanger and make them visit your page for the rest of the content.
Run a Content that Requires Participants to First like Your Page to Participate
This suggestion flies against Facebook Page Guidelines, but there’s no harm in asking them to like your page as one of the requirements for participating in a contest you’re running.
There’s nothing complicated about how to go about it. Just list your requirements as part of the steps one has to follow to qualify as a participant. It can be something simple as:
Step 1: Like This Facebook Page
Step 2: Share This Post
Step 3: Follow this Link to Participate in the Competition.
The only problem with this approach is that you might end up attracting low quality followers. That is, followers with little to no intention to take action like purchasing a product you’re offering on your site.
Display the Page on Your Blog or Website
If you’re running your website or blog on WordPress, you have a large collection of plugins that you could use to display your page on the blog. By doing this you’ll be giving your visitors the opportunity to like your page without having to leave your website or blog.
You can customize the sidebar to include a call to action, encouraging your visitor to consider liking your page through a simple click.
If you’re NOT running your website on any Content Management System, then you have the option to use an image that says “Like us on Facebook” to link your site to your Facebook page. So every time your site visitor clicks on the link, they’ll be directed to your page to like it. Just try to make the link open in a new tab and you’ll be good to go.
Run an Email Campaign asking them to
If you can promote your Facebook page on other social media platforms, then why NOT promote it via email?
Your email subscribers are the only people you can trust to promote you in virtually anything. Whether it’s to increase your site traffic, sales, leads, or social media growth, you can trust them to help out.
Start by alerting them on all the changes you’re making on your Facebook page. Be sure to also inform them of the importance of liking your page and why they should consider checking it out when they get the time.
Make the post interesting and you’d be surprised by the sheer volume of your email subscribers that end up complying. Some of the people may even write to congratulate you on the improvement you’re doing and even offer to help you out by sharing the page to their Facebook connects.
Be Active on Facebook Groups
Facebook groups should be among the places you frequently angle around for potential customers to direct to your site. Start by running a series of search terms relating to your area of specialisation on the Facebook search bar and narrow your list to groups. You’ll be presented with a list of groups to join.
Remember to join the group using your Facebook page instead of your personal account to increase the chances of people liking the page. By doing this, every post or comment you make on the group will also be serving as an indirect promotional post.
Users that get to like your post may also consider checking out your page and liking it in the process.
What makes this option even better is that whenever a user hovers their mouse on your page name, they’ll be able to see the like button of the page in lieu of the ‘Add Friend’ option as with a personal account. This increases their chances of liking the page, which goes to ensure a constant growth for your Facebook page.
Remember to abide by the groups rules to minimise the odds of being kicked out. The core being you should steer away from any form of self-promoting post. Don’t go on asking group members to like your page. Instead focus on creating valuable and interesting content for group members to consider making an effort of checking you out.
Take your time to study the group and how its participants interact with each other and you’ll figure out a better approach to join in as one of the active participants.
It’s a Wrap
Everyone struggles with improving their social media engagement. So there’s no need to fret or overthink the whole thing. Just follow the tips above and watch as things begin to take shape.
Read this bearing in mind that consistency is the key to achieving real success in the world of online marketing. So unless you’re willing to put in the hours without giving up along the way, then there won’t be much to be achieved.
Good thing is that MediaOne will always have your back. So just in case you’re frustrated with anything or happen to be in dire need of help with the regards to the strategy you’re employing, feel free to contact MediaOne today for a free social media marketing consultation.
