With all the fuss about making strategic use of Facebook Fan pages to grow influence and build business, today I am happy to share a guest post from Leslie Irish Evans who added 1,500 Facebook “Likes” in less than a month. You can check out her Fan page here.
Leslie’s tell-it-like-it-is approach is one of the reasons harried moms around the world turn to her for Peeling Mom Off the Ceiling advice through her blog and her radio show. Now her truth telling shows you how you can follow her lead to attract Facebook “Likes” of your own. Take it away Leslie!
As a speaker, author, and radio host, I know the importance of generating good “buzz” about what it is you do. And as a long-time Facebook user, I’ve watched this social media giant completely transform the way “buzz” happens.
It was with great excitement that I set up my Facebook business page, bearing in mind the great “Field of Dreams” line: “If you build it, they will come.” I built it … but, would they really? Indeed, they did. I credit the five following steps to making it happen:
Step 1: Learn to Love Facebook Ads
How did I go from 500 “likes” to 2,000 in less than one month? I paid for them! Money may not buy you love, but it can buy you likes if you play your cards right. Facebook advertising can be very affordable (you get to determine your price, your budget, and the demographic you want to pitch to) and it’s a great way to generate followers who self-select to be a part of your marketing. Think about it: for mere pennies a head, you can have people who say “Yes, I want what you’re selling.” How great is that?
Of course, throwing an ad up on their screen is only the start of things. You have to make the ad interesting enough for them to click on it, and then you need them to find your page enticing enough to click “like.”
Step 2: Come Up with a Snappy Title
Want to join “Stress Relief Tips for Busy Moms”? Me neither. Yet that’s what I could have named my page, because that’s basically what I do. That kind of title, though accurate, lacks spark. Here’s how I came to name my page (which is also the name of my internet radio show).
During my massage career, I was attending a seminar where the leader said we needed to be able to say what we did in one sentence. In front of the whole classroom she said to me: “What do you do?” On the spot, I blurted out “I peel moms off the ceiling!” Thus, “Peeling Mom Off the Ceiling” was born. Much more fun and funny than “Stress Relief Tips for Busy Moms”, yes?
Step 3: Get the Coolest Graphic You Can
My graphic rocks. No, seriously, check it out. It was pure serendipity that I found this picture of a crazed mommy trying to do everything at once on a stock photo site. The graphic precisely shows my target audience in a fun and humorous way, and the picture of the mommy alone was the “profile picture” for my business page for several months. But once I made the choice to work with a professional graphic designer, who took that image and made an entire customized banner for my page, I saw many more people “liking” my page. It looked much more polished and professional. Clearly I was a person who meant business!
Step 4: Continuously Generate Strong Content
So, you’ve set up your Facebook ad. You’ve got a snappy title and a kickass graphic. They click. But, do they “like”? And, more importantly, do they stay? This is probably the most important step, and the one that requires the most dedication. Keep your page active and interesting, and provide value to your guests. How? Make sure you know your target audience. Mine is busy, stressed-out moms. You won’t see me pitching band saws to them. In fact, you won’t see me pitching much at all (because constantly being pitched to is a drag and will get you “unliked” very quickly). I let them know once a week what’s going to be on my radio show, but other than that I tell funny stories or link to interesting things. Keeping my page interactive is what keeps my guests coming back for more. How can you do that? Ask them questions. Where are you posting from? What’s the weather like where you live? If you had a magic lamp … , etc. If your guests feel ownership and involvement in a page, they will be more likely to stay, to pay attention, and to tell their friends.
Step 5: Back to Facebook Ads
Wait, wasn’t this Step 1? Yes, but this time you’re coming in with a different intent. You did your first ad and with your snappy title, your awesome graphic, and your delightful content you’ve generated a following. You’ve got a few hundred “likes” going and people seem to dig it. What’s next? Buy some “word of mouth”! We’ve all heard that “word of mouth” advertising (i.e., friends telling friends about your product) is the best way to go. Personal recommendations carry extra cachet in the marketing world. Can you count on your new page guests to tell their friends about you? Probably not. But you can do the following: design a new Facebook ad that targets friends of people who already like your page. You genius, you! You now are targeting your same demographic, but this time when the ad appears on the page it will tell your prospective guests about their friends who are already there! Making this one little fix sent my number of “likes” into the hundreds-a-day category.
There you have it! Five simple steps to generate buzz and get people talking about you and your fabulous products or services. Thank heaven for social media and the ability to be our own buzz boss. Now go get busy getting “liked”!
