According to a Hubspot study from 4,000 businesses with a Facebook
page, fan count does matter. Businesses with 501 – 1,000 fans had 3.5
times more traffic than those with one to 25 fans. Businesses with more
than 1,000 Facebook fans had 22 times more traffic.

Strategy #1: Link Your Business Page to Your Personal Profile.

Our personal and business lives are meshed together on the Internet.
People are organically finding you all the time, so you always want to
promote your business if these people are potential clients or
customers.

To link your business page to your personal profile, first go to your
Facebook page. Click “Edit Page” and then “Basic Information.” Copy and
paste the ID number. Go back to your personal profile, click “Edit
Profile,” click “Education and Work” and type in your Facebook page
name exactly as it appears. The name should pop up, but if it doesn’t,
hit enter and you will be able to add it regardless.

Next, click on your web developer toolbar, click “Forms,” click
“Display Forms Details” and paste your page ID number in the box
entitled “Employer ID Number.” Click “Enter.”

Strategy #2: Create a Custom Welcome Tab

A custom welcome tab is a tab you create on your Facebook page that you
set as a default. Anyone who comes to your page for the first time will
land on your custom welcome tab where you can welcome them and tell
them what your page is about. Once they click the “like” button, they
will be dropped into your wall.

A custom welcome tab is crucial and can increase your “likes” by up to
50%, according to Porterfield. Provide an opt-in and a call to action
by telling them to click the “Like” button and offer them a freebie,
such as a video or contest to win products.

Provide a tagline, your website URL and large, enticing product
images – 180×540 is the maximum image size you can use on your page, so
take advantage of that space.

Strategy #3: Give the Why

Why should people join your Facebook page – what’s in it for them? People
won’t click the “Like” button unless you give them a reason. Provide an
incentive for people to like your page, such as insider tips, news or
strategies. Do this in your Facebook welcome tab video, e-mail
signatures and anywhere else you tell people about your Facebook page.
Use your other social networks to help drive traffic to your Facebook
page. This will dramatically help to increase the amount of “Likes” you
will receive.

Strategy #4: Embed Facebook Videos

When you embed videos directly onto your Facebook page, you can take
the source code and use that to embed it on your own blog site. If
somebody is looking at your video on your blog and they are not a fan,
they can click “Like” and they instantly become a fan of your page and
you will end up in their news feed without them having to actually go
to your page. Upload your videos to YouTube in order to get a white
watermark hotlink of your Facebook name.

If you upload a video to Facebook and other people who are not fans of
yours see that video, they will also see the watermark. Fans of yours
will comment on your videos and their friends will see that, which
creates a trickle-down effect. Use as many videos as possible on your
Facebook page because it’s the No. 2 thing that people look at on
Facebook, next to photos. Upload images to your page and talk about
their benefits and what’s in it for the consumer.

Use wisestamp.com on your Facebook page and blog to display the icons of where people can go to connect with you.

Strategy #5: Create a Giveaway Campaign

One great way to get more “Likes” is to hold a contest or have a
giveaway; for instance, free products or coupons. To make it simple,
have the only requirement be that fans “Like” your page. Promote your
Facebook giveaway on your other social media sites to spread the word.
Place a banner on your website to prominently show your visitors that
something cool is taking place on your Facebook page.

When you give away a prize, you may get people entering your
sweepstakes who are only interested in the prize and not interested in
your company. If you can make the prize connected with your business,
you will have a better chance of connecting with the right audience who
will buy from you and become loyal fans. You don’t need to offer
big-ticket items to get people to engage.

Facebook has strict rules about contests. The biggest rule is that
contests and promotions may not be administered through Facebook unless
they are administered through an application. You can build the
application yourself or use a third-party application designed
specifically for contests and sweepstakes.

For more information about promotional rules, visit http://apps.facebook.com/promotionshq.

Test Out Facebook Ads

Increase your fan base by grabbing the attention of your ideal audience with enticing Facebook ads.

Engagement ads are the ads you create when you advertise something
inside of Facebook, such as your Facebook page. When advertising your
page, the “Like” button will be included in the ad. Users click the
“Like” button inside your ad. This makes them an instant fan and they
will start to see your posts in their news feed. Ninety-nine percent of
users will never visit your Facebook page again after becoming a fan,
according to Porterfield. Most people will only see your posts in their
news feeds, so because of that, it’s not as important to get people to
visit your Facebook page as it is to get into their news feeds.

Create ads that incite action. Create emotion, such as excitement, for
your product. Questions work great for engagement ads. Track your
engagement ads closely to ensure you are getting the biggest bang for
your buck.

You will be charged when a user clicks the “Like” button. Facebook
tracks each time a user clicks the “Like” button as “Actions” in your
“Insights” dashboard. You will be able to see how many times users
click “Like” inside the ad versus the number of users who actually
click on the ad to visit your page. Track closely and tweak as needed.

Porterfield will be a
featured presenter at the SEMA Online Marketing Conference, October 31 (Las Vegas Convention Center) on the topic of increasing engagement with your Facebook fans. 

From SEMA eNews