Facebook is the social media platform that has always been most productive for me. …WELL… second to email. Facebook feeds my email list…so it is still #1 in platforms.
My customers are comfortable on Facebook. That is where I can reach them. Twitter…not so much. Some of you are on twitter, but not consistently enough to have it be worth a large investment of time. LinkedIn is a good platform…it demands more time and as I grow and have more people who can help me keep up, I will put more time into that. Google+ is another platform I intend to spend more time at when I get more people on my team…and Pinterest is a platform that would be useful as well. We go in spurts on Pinterest…depending on free time.
The thing is
Social Media takes time.
It takes time and effort because it is based on social interaction. If you throw an ad out there and walk away from social media for a week…it doesn’t work because social media demands interaction. By walking away, you just let all your interested people move on to the next best thing.
As a small business person, we are limited by resources like time, money and manpower. So it is best to tackle social media one platform at a time. Put your best efforts into it and you will see results.
You need to decide where your ideal client hangs out most and that is where you should concentrate your efforts. Mine are in Facebook. I have been here long enough and seen enough changes. studied enough “experts” and taken enough classes that I know that there is not a formula that works for everyone. That is why you need to open yourself up to analyzing results. I don’t mean just the Facebook Analytics, I mean listening to your people and seeing what they want. Then giving it to them.
The Health Coach Group is a breath away from 50,000 followers! 2 years ago we had 500.
That is a big jump and it came from providing interesting info and interaction with our ideal client.
Cathy’s Tips to Excel at Facebook
1.
Change things up. Don’t always just post quotes or info. Do a little bit of everything to give your fans variety. Use photos, infographics, questions, informational, inspirational, statistics, current events and videos (but not too many of the last).
2.
Post to your fans – it is all about them. Watch what they are interested in and let that guide you.
3.
Share your personal life experiences (a little…don’t over do that). That could include family events, recipes you tried or things that work for your family and friends.
4.
Tell your customers what you want them to do. “Share this and then like it if it is meaningful to you.” or “Click on the picture to……” or “Join me for my new webinar…”
5.
Share quotes in graphics…people love graphics.
6.
Boost your fans. Offer fanpage Fridays or ask them to list their accomplishments or post a bio and a link to their Fanpage to help them to grow.
7.
Don’t be afraid to promote yourself. Don’t do it all the time, but, let’s face it, that is why you are on Facebook.
8.
Offer useful tips and tricks that your fans will appreciate it.
9.
Experiment. Observe and Discern. EOD – Don’t be afraid to make changes or break my rules or any other Facebook Expert’s rules because your fans will show you what they want and sometimes that is much different from what my fans or (especially) social media expert’s fans want. Think for yourself and try out new things.
10.
Boost your more popular posts to pull in engagement.
11.
Don’t ever buy likes. You end up with the wrong people and you are better off with a smaller fan-base than a bunch of followers who never will be potential clients.
12.
Use your “opt-in” offers to build your list and build your followers at the same time.
Have fun!
Join in the conversation below. Tell us about your Ideal Client and what has worked with them and even some of the things that won’t work. Share this blog with your friends!
Notes:
Mentoring Monday
We will be on gotowebinar again this week and we will be talking about Facebook – engagement, reach and what kind of posts, how often. I will have a special surprise for everyone in attendance.
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Answering all your questions about the Inner Circle; the programs and how to best use them to make money in your business.
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We have a new Facebook Marketing Package being released August 18, 2014. It is in answer to a ton of requests we got after releasing the other Packages. It is the:
Profit Package
This package is less expensive than the others, it is strictly marketing. It is perfect if you already have the programs, you have something to promote…and you just need a plan of action and instructions for execution. There is everything you will need to educate, entertain, empower and entice your fans.
Great information! Thanks so much. I’m just starting out, so just at the start of my experimentation with Facebook, buy you’ve given me a bit of the inside track, I think. I’ve bookmarked the page to refer to later.
Great suggestions Cathy – I had only one social media for my business for over a year – Facebook! I’ve recently joined Pinterest and do like the photos, but don’t think there’s as much interaction as Facebook.
So many great Facebook tips Cathy! Each platform requires unique attention. So good that you talked about limited number of platforms too. Fabulous
great information Cathy. Have been consistently posting and it is working – yay!
Great advice! Facebook can be overwhelming at times and figuring out how to reach your ideal client effectively is such a skill to learn- one I’m just starting to get to gribs with! So thank you, really helpful article 🙂
Great list! Thanks for the info! 🙂
thanks, cathy – i really appreciate your 12 tips. facebook is definitely where i concentrate my social media marketing efforts, and you’ve outlined several ideas that i hadn’t heard before.
thank you for some awesome tips! i agree that FB is an awesome platform, and its nice to have some specific things to try to maximize the use of facebook. I really love the idea of fanpage fridays – awesome idea. thanks!
I agree- FB has been my favorite social media platform by far. However, I am getting to the point with my biz page – just 45 likes from 1000 – that with all the change they make, I lose motivation. I took a course on FB ads then it all changed!!! It can be quite frustrating and it makes me want to just focus on my personal page…do you have thoughts on this for someone like me (without 50,000 followers on my page)? Thank you in advance!
I know what you mean Ana, I spent last year learning how to get organic reach…and then Facebook changed the rules. Don’t give up on your Fanpage Ana. You can’t conduct business on your personal page. Focus on providing entertaining and useful information and you will do well.
From 500 to 50,000 in 2 years! WOW! I am paying close attention to your list above. Thank you so much for sharing!
this is a very useful list. Sometimes FB can seem like shooting in the dark.
Thanks Cathy! That’s a lot of helpful information! I like the format with the numbers down the middle, it’s easy to read and looks great. Facebook is still my fav social media, it seems to have the best all in one capability
Cathy, I love your 12 facebook tips here and will use them to help my business. Thank you for always giving us such great ideas!
Cathy, thank you! Awesome tips. your growth over the past two years is inspiring and phenomenal! I have been playing more in Instagram and Twitter world over the past few months because I find them much more fun! But, I know FB is the platform for business 🙂
Facebook has become so unreliable for small business. Most persons get no clients or customers from Facebook. But you are obviously doing a great job! Thanks for tips!
That is why all of these tips are so important. If you do it right…there are results. There are lots of people, including me, who are doing really well with Facebook!