If you are serious about building your business online and creating buzz for your business using Facebook, you have to accept the fact that you are going to have to work at building your following. Understand that just because you create a Fan Page or Page for your business, does not mean people will automatically follow you.
When consulting with new business owners, I find the most common mistake being made is creating a Fan Page without a purpose. Realize that your Fan Page is another marketing tool for your business which first requires planning a strategy to implement.
Before you jump right in and start a Fan Page because “it’s what everybody else is doing”…Determine Your Purpose.
Why You Should Have a Plan…
Easily put, you need to know what your working to build your Facebook following for (leads, traffic, etc.) and to establish who are the people you want following you. Once you’ve figured that out, you now have an audience to market too.
Here are 3 Reasons Why You Must Work at Building Your Facebook Following:
- To Create a Niche Community – Once you have your plan in place and know how to proceed and in which manner to encourage “Likes”, you want to keep your page engaging and interactive so your followers keep coming back. You have to provide a blend of posts that provide valuable niche content along with audience interactions. Finding an equal balance that flows with your community will come from you, “listening” to the needs of your followers. Posting once a month simply won’t cut it…you have to be your communities most engaging and biggest fan.
- To Nurture Relationships and Build Connections – Another reason to work at building your Facebook following is so that you can stay connected with the people already in your networking circle, loyal blog readers and the such. Your Fan Page opens up another platform for you to stay in touch with the important people in your business world. You can of course, develop new relationships and establish new networking connections from people you meet in Facebook groups and are recommended to you by your raving fans.
- To Attract Collaboration and Partnership Opportunities – What better way to come across new ventures than to have them presented to you? When you properly work at building your Facebook following and use the right strategies to market to a predetermined audience, you place yourself in a position to receive more quality offers that will help leverage your business building efforts.
So, if you feel you don’t have the time to work at marketing your business on Facebook and taking full advantage of its free social media tools, you may not be ready to build your business online. Marketing a business online using social media takes work, but proven to pay off greatly when done right.
My suggestion, invest in the time it takes for you to learn the steps to successfully marketing with Facebook. Develop the skills required to build genuine connections, nurture relationships and establish community.
You have 2 options – Work hard for yourself or work hard for someone else…the choice is yours!
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A niche community…genius! I wish you would have written this (and I would have read it) two years earlier. I still struggle to find success on my page.
You like that idea huh Ty…lol! Don’t worry, you can always make changes and go forward with a bang!!!
This is excellent information! Thank you for sharing.
Thanks Dee! Glad you find it helpful.
Hi Tamyka,
I like your tips, especially your mention of putting in the time necessary to grow your following.
Be persistent in building your Facebook following. Be less concerned about actual numbers and more focused on connections. Gain the trust of your audience by providing immense value on a consistent basis.
People need to become fans, or fanatics, over a period of time. Very few are sold immediately on someone; this is the “growing on someone” period of time we hear so often.
Thanks for sharing.
Ryan
Thanks Ryan! You made a great point and that is to be “less concerned about actual numbers and more focused on connections” very important! I appreciate your feedback.
I love that last piece. Work hard for yourself or work hard for someone else!! Right on!!
I have a fanpage, but haven’t figured out a way to get people to interact with me. I post quotes and my blog posts on there along with questions and discussion provoking comments. People just don’t want to communicate. Not sure what I’m doing wrong.
Thanks for a great post,
Tammy