Often we read posts on Facebook written by small businesses like ourselves. Frequently people are complaining that Facebook is working against them, that no-one sees their posts and that they are generally unhappy with it as a marketing medium.
Yes, Facebook wants us to pay for advertising as they want to generate revenue (and who can blame them) but actually there is a lot of things that we can do to get our posts seen by our followers (and their friends) that costs zero.
Their new rule of thumb is that they show your posts to people who care about them. Makes sense to me because I follow A LOT of businesses on Facebook and, to be honest, am not that bothered if In see everything they post. I want to see, however, posts from the businesses and brands that I love, rather than the ones that I’m mildly interested in. And they know that you care because you comment.
So if your page is seen by people who engage with you, like your posts, comment regularly you need to go and engage with them so that they can see you in their feeds.
This week we posted a photo of a pair of vintage roller skates. As I write this post, it has been liked by 1032 people, has had 151 comments, been shared 127 times and most importantly been seen by 20,000 people. We only have 8000 followers but more than double have seen this post.
Why? Because it sparked interest and people shared it. We engaged with them. And we didn’t spend a penny.
Here are our 10 things you can do to build and keep your Facebook audience. And the best thing is, it’s easy!
1. Post interesting, engaging posts regularly. This means up to 3 times a day.
2. Include an interesting photo that will inspire people to press that like button.
3. Try and reduce external links: Facebook hate it if you drive people away to different sites (makes sense really)
4. Be consistent. Post the same kind of thing at the same time every day. Remember this can all be scheduled.
5. Don’t be spammy! Facebook is far slower than Twitter, people procrastinate there so don’t write 140 characters with typical twitter jargon
6. Ask questions. Ask advice? Talk to your followers.
7. Answer their comments, like their comments…engage!
8. Then when you have engaged: tell them about your products and your services. Add your shop onto a link at the top of the page.
9. Be personal, people want to hear and see the people behind the business
10. Finally….add your contact details and website in your bio so people can contact with your further.
We know that young people are turning away from Facebook (although they are still on there believe me) but remember it still has the largest audience out there so go grab their attention!
Have you heard about our new venture VintageBizClub? It is a year long distance learning version of our popular Vintage Academy, broken into 4 terms of 12 weeks that covers all (and more) that your would learn at our one day events.
We have a scholarship to give away. All you have to do to apply for this scholarship is email us as info@vintageacademy.co.uk telling us about yourself, why you would love to win a place at our club, how you would benefit and how it could change your business!
For more advice on social networking and how to engage with your customers, check out our business Vintage Academy. We offer one day events as well as year long remote learning on all aspects on running a vintage business. www.vintageacademy.co.uk
