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There’s no question anymore whether taking the time to tap into social media for small businesses is worth it. It is. But you can’t build a Facebook following overnight. It takes a special enthusiasm and love from your customers for them to spread the word about your business. Using the right tactics to build your Facebook for Business page, you can quickly make it one of your best marketing platforms that encourages customers to spread “brand love” for your business.
There are two solid reasons why you should put time and effort into building your Facebook following on your page.
The first is that the people who “Like” your page have already taken an awesome action expressing that they like your business. They’ve decided that you’re worth following because you provide them with something special or useful, so the chances of them utilising your business are probably good.
The second reason to work on building your presence with your Facebook page is that these followers can be used to amplify your marketing messages by sharing your brand content on their news feeds with their friends.
Below, you’ll find some straightforward tactics on how to build a Facebook following and grow your community.
1. Leverage your existing community.
Tap into the community you have in your back pocket. These should be people who are already on board with your brand and its mission. Think: employees, family, friends, loyal customers. Encourage them to follow your page and share your posts with their friends. Here are some ways to spread the word and build a Facebook following:
- Send a dedicated email blast with your social handles and a CTA to follow you. You can also add messages on your receipts using Square’s POS system asking them to “Follow Us” and share on their social channels. The same can be done for your vendors, as well, when creating invoices.
- Connect your Square online store with your Facebook for Business page. No matter which sites your visitors go to, they can see the link and could help increase your Facebook following.
- Set up a physical sign in your storefront with your social handles and a “Follow Us” note.
- Include an insert for shipped goods or in-store purchases that lists your Facebook Page URL, relevant tags, and requests that customers share them on their own accounts.
2. Build quality content that’s shareable with new audiences in mind.
Think about what your existing community would actually hit the “Share” button on, and create posts that emulate that so your content reaches new people on their timelines. It may be a funny or relatable photo, a heartfelt story about a team member, or simply a BOGO promotion to share with friends.
Is there a business presence on Facebook that you follow as closely as your friends? What is it that the business is doing that makes you look forward to their next post? See if you can emulate some of those tactics to help build a Facebook following for your business.
3. Build out contests or sweepstakes.
Contests may seem like an old-school tactic, but there’s no denying that they work when it comes to pushing your community to share your posts and reach new audiences to help build a Facebook following. Posts should have CTAs such as “Share this post to win XYZ” or “Comment and tag a friend for a chance to win XYZ.”
Of course, these contests should comply with both your own company’s legal policies (we’d recommend running it by your counsel, just to be safe) and Facebook’s Promotional Terms & Conditions.
4. Test the waters by “boosting” published posts from your page.
You may have heard the phrase “pay to play” before. If you’re curious about circulating content that can teach users about your business — or want it to reach untapped audiences — you can put a few dollars (even just $20 to start) behind posts and test out what resonates with people.
These posts can be tailored based on the audience’s location and interests to make sure you’re strategically reaching your desired audience, too. Need some help getting started on using this tactic to increase your Facebook following? Check out this guide for boosting Facebook posts to your existing customers.
