It is a fact: Facebook is the place to be if you want to grow your business. With over 1.7 billion users, there is no doubt in my mind that your audience is on Facebook and just waiting to discover you and your brand. But one thing I’ve noticed from my clients is that while they have these awesome Facebook Pages that they are developing, a lot of them have no idea how to use it to promote their business.
Building a business on Facebook takes a lot of hard work. It takes time, consistency and most of all teachability. We know that not a week goes by without Facebook making some change to an interface, an algorithm, or a policy. And the best thing we can do is rely on the experts to keep up with those changes and learn from them as they patiently teach us how the newest change is going to affect us.
One thing that hasn’t changed, at least in the last 10 years that I have been doing Social Media, is the importance of a list. And by “list” I mean an email list. And by email list, I mean the contact information of YOUR potential customer.
Although Facebook does it’s best to give users exposure and reach, it is not a good idea to count on it for your long term business strategy. It does not matter how many Facebook “Likes” you have, as Facebook has demonstrated in the last couple of weeks, they can change the algorithm at any time and this can totally affect your page and who sees it.
Email subscribers, on the other hand, are your real online assets. You have complete control over your email lists and should be targeting into your sales funnel. So instead of relying completely on Facebook, the smartest approach is to use Facebook to build your email list.
The real question then becomes, how do you create good content on Facebook that will engage the audience to the point that someone will actually respond to the “Call to Action” button and sign up?
Here are 7 Ways that will Help you Grow Your List with Facebook…..
- Post like you mean it - Be sincere. Be honest. Be vulnerable. Do not just post pictures or image quotes. SAY SOMETHING ABOUT IT!! I have been guilty of this too…..posting an image with a quote and thinking that everyone will feel the same way I do about it and give me a million likes. It does not work that way. People want to know what you think so say something about what you post. Ask a question, make a statement, share a quick story that relates to what you’re posting. The more real you are the more engaged your audience will be.
- Post other people’s stuff - If all you post is your own content, and your own products and you’re own agenda, you won’t have an audience. Constant self promotion is an engagement killer. Facebook is not about self promotion, it’s a place for conversation and just like in real life, no one wants to only hear about you all of the time. It is totally ok to share content that you enjoy and find interesting and funny with your audience. Be professional but be diverse. There is sooooooooo much content out there, that there really is no reason not to find what interests you and tell your audience about it.
- Give stuff away - I love getting free downloads from other Facebook experts and I love creating free downloads to give away to my audience. It brings out the creativity in me as well as the fact that it meets a need that my audience has. A Lead Magnet or freebie, can be anything from a pdf, link to a video, a coupon, a checklist, an e-book, swipe file, or even some creative images. Whatever it is, it is downloadable, free and a way to get people interested in you and your content which will, in turn, lead them to a potential sale.
- Go Live - I’ve talked about the Live Video feature on Facebook before. But now, more than ever, going live is a must if you want to build your list and here’s why…… 100 million hours of video is being viewed on Facebook every single day. And most of those videos are being viewed on mobile devices. So, let’s do the math together shall we? Facebook just changed their algorithm to make sure that people are getting more relevant content in their newsfeed which sort of pushed the content from Facebook Pages down in the newsfeed meaning it won’t be seen as much. BUT….. doing Live Video gets Facebook excited and so the algorithms are designed to push that kind of content up in the newsfeed. Get it? If you can go Live on Facebook once or even twice a week…..more people will see that content, be inclined to engage and since seeing your face will create trust, they will more than likely want to subscribe to your content, thereby growing your list.
- Tell Your Audience What You Want - I have a hard time with this because I hate rejection! But the thing is, your audience needs you to tell them what you want them to do. Like “click on a button”, “sign up” or even “download now”. So whether you’re going Live, writing a blog post or simply posting something to your Page, you can’t just assume they will see the button or know what to do you have to tell them what you want them to do.
- Create a Killer Landing Page - If you’re going to give away free stuff, you’ve got to have a place to send your audience to get it. A landing page is the perfect place to explain what your Lead Magnet, or free content is all about, what problems it solves, and why someone needs it. This is where the real magic happens because once someone ends up on your landing page, you have the opportunity to totally WOW them with you, your business and how you can serve them. When they realize how awesome your freebie is, they will give you their name and email and that online asset that I talked about above…..your email list, will become more valuable with each new name.
- Facebook Advertising - I am not going to say too much about Facebook Advertising, other than the fact that it is a great and quick way to build your email list IF you know what you’re doing. There are a lot of detailed factors that go into Facebook Ads. The person who just throws up an ad or boosts a post with no goal or objective in mind, is totally wasting their money. The business owner that actually has a strategy to build their list, using Facebook’s precise targeting system will have the best results and highest click through rates.
So there you have it……7 ways to build your email list. Are these the only ways to build your email list? Heck no…there are a lot more. And hundreds of digital marketers have published all kinds of articles and courses and downloads that are available to get you started. If you don’t have an email list yet, click on my FREE Email Comparison Cheat Sheet below to Download a list of the top 8 Email Service Providers and how they compare to one another in a side-by-side chart.
One thing for sure is that marketers do agree…..Facebook is the best place to get started if you want to use Social Media to build your business, so the very fact that you are here, reading this, says you are serious about your business and want to move forward with your marketing on Facebook.
And I am so glad to hear that because something is coming…….something big……..something totally awesome that I can hardly stand it. And the best part about it is that you asked for it! Yes, you wanted it and your wish is my command.
That is all I’m going to say for now. But definitely keep checking back and if you think you have an idea as to what is coming, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Until then, the best way you can get ready for what’s to come is by joining the 5 Days to a Fabulous Facebook Page Challenge. This will get your Page all ship shape and ready to go for what lies ahead…..
Thank you so very much if you tuned in Live today and if not, you can view the video below.
Also published on Medium.
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