When we see a Facebook page with lots of fans, we understand that most of them give the credit for such a success to paid ads. But who wants to pay for promoting the page from scratch? In this letter, we’ll tell you how to attract your first followers without spending a cent.
Do you think it’s impossible? Let’s turn to an interesting case of Maxima Media. Guys from this small marketing firm had a passion for wildlife and hunting. So they decided to kick-start a Facebook page Whitetail Overload and built a base of 500K fans. No paid tricks were used.
You may wonder HOW they could capture so many people. Here’s what they did to make hunters interested in joining their page:
- drove traffic from other hunting-related pages they ran (none of them had so many fans);
- did some promos and giveaways;
- cross-promoted their giveaways with other hunting-related pages belonging to someone else;
- published both educative and entertaining posts (mainly high-quality images) every 3-4 hours a day.
The strategies guys from Maxima Media applied are simple yet effective. They didn’t reinvent the wheel. They just were consistent with their branding, partnered with similar resources, and gave some products for nothing. Are you ready to give something away? LOL
Now that you are inspired enough, let’s get down to the page you created 2 weeks ago. As you published 2-3 posts during the last week, you have enough content to show the audience. Now, check what you do to grow a fan base without paying a cent on promotion.
Step 1. Use Facebook options.
Facebook has default options to spread the word about your Facebook page. Under the cover photo, you can access a “More” button and the following options on hover:
- invite friends from your personal account;
- suggest your page to email contacts you already have (say, from any other social network or work);
- share your page on your own and your friend’s timeline, and in a group, event and private message.
Step 2. Leverage the power of cross-promotion.
Follow the example of guys from Maxima Media and cross-promote your posts. Pages with a huge fan base are unlikely to help you for free, so try to reach pages with fewer fans.
Step 3. Hold contests and giveaways.
Holding a contest is probably the most effective way to activate your page at the initial stage. If you can’t imagine what type of contest to run, check out some cool ideas here. What you may also find helpful is availability of free tools to run contests on Facebook.
Step 4. Comment on other business pages.
To spread the buzz about your business, be ready to plunge into Facebook communities. Join other pages related to your niche and start or get involved in conversations. Make sure you write insightful comments that can help people solve their problems. It will take time, but will also bring results.
Step 5. Link to your page on forums
Discuss hot issues on forums and question-and-answer sites like Quora. At the end of your comment, insert a link to your Facebook page.
Step 6. Promote your page by email.
Each time you write someone an email, use a call to action with a link to your Facebook page. You can add it to the bottom of your email as a P.S. or, say, signature.
Step 7. Promote in other social networks.
If you have accounts in other social networks, ask your friends to join you on Facebook as well.
Step 8. Mention your page everywhere else.
Can you think of any other places to mention your Facebook page? Use them! It can be anything from a business card to oral conversation with a colleague.
As you can see, there are simple ways to promote a Facebook business page without investment. Take this week to implement the tactics you see above. When sharing your page in private messages, don’t be too spammy. Don’t send a message to all your friends at once. If you have, say, 140 friends, reach 20 of them a day. Facebook doesn’t tolerate any forms of spam, so be careful.
In our next letter, you’ll learn how to increase your business exposure on Quora. Stay tuned!