If you don’t know the importance of social media when it comes to internet marketing by now, well it’s been nice knowing (or not) you and your business. For the rest, the question is no longer about if you should participate but how you can keep up. The number one question I get from clients about social networking is “How can I get more likes on Facebook?” so it seems there’s no better time than now to share a few tips.
The first thing to keep in mind is that it’s called “networking” for a reason. While there is the seemingly easy option of buying likes, the thousands of people all of a sudden liking your page are most likely done with it once they hit that button. The chances of them actually liking or sharing a post from you page are slim to none, and ultimately these are the actions that are going to help you continue to grow. The idea is to get people interested and interactive in what you have to say, so in turn they start promoting your business for you. Every time someone likes and best of all shares, what you are posting, you now are potentially reaching every single person in their social media circle who may in turn start following you and better yet visit your site. Networking, when done right, is a beautiful thing.
Ok, you’ve just set everything up and asked everyone you know to like your page (thanks Mom) and you now have a total of….4 likes. How do you build a circle, when all you seemingly can get is a square? There are ways to get the ball rolling. First make sure to include social media buttons on your site. May seem simple enough, but this is often overlooked and a missed opportunity with every person coming to your site. Secondly, a little advertising never hurt anyone. While paying for likes, may not do you any long term good, looking into putting some money into Facebook advertising is a relatively low cost way to reach people who will legitimately be interested in what you have to say. I recently had a client spend the minimum daily budget ($5) for a week just to test it out. He went from 0 Page likes to over 1200. All real people who now comment, like and share his posts. $35 for 1200 like-minded friends..not such a bad deal.
As you’re building your following, it’s important to know that ever post counts. Every post should have the goal of getting a reaction of some kind, which may seem hard to do when it’s a business page. How do you keep things fun and exciting while staying professional and not getting to personal? Begin deciding on what to post by defining your field. Medical office: health (and possibly fitness). Business card design: advertising and promotional items. By taking yourself out of the niche category and placing yourself into more board category it will allow you to expand on topic ideas as well as your audience. Sure, you can (and should) post your latest business cards, by why not talk about what’s going on in the advertising world in general. Post unique advertising ideas, ask your followers their opinions, ENGAGE. While this is a place for building a customer base, it’s also a place for you to share with other’s in your similar field (Wait, what? This is business networking too?!?).
The other thing to keep in mind: quality of quantity. Everyday posts are great but keep fluff posts to a minimum. Sure everyone loves a good “hang in there baby” post on Thursday but posting cute pictures of puppies and cats every day will probably not bring you social media power you are looking for (unless you have an adorable inspirational poster business, then that’s all you). Nothing screams, “I know I should be doing this, I just don’t know what to do” more than ten Anne Geddes photos in a row especially when you a construction company. Take your time in deciding your Facebook post game plan. Look at what your competitors are doing, and begin liking businesses in your broad feel to begin getting ideas. Put yourself in the consumer’s shoes and notice what you like and what you don’t. Look at what posts get people talking. Begin building a resource list of places to get ideas and links to share. Setting some time aside in the beginning to map out how you will approach it will make it a lot easier in the long haul.
Elisa Houghtelin is one of the Account Managers at SEOhaus. If you would like to stay up-to-date on all of the latest SEO industry news and tips, you can subscribe to our blog here. Thanks for reading the SEOhaus blog!
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