I’m not going to lie, if you have a new Facebook Business Page, getting your first 100 likes can seem like a daunting prospect.  Not least because the Facebook algorithms are stacked against business pages with Facebook encouraging you to boost or sponsor your posts to get more engagement.

But before you spend your hard-earned money, let’s take a look at a few basics to set up your page for success.

It is a lot easier than it used to be to set up your page with Facebook guiding you through the essential stages and leaving them as live if you have not completed them. But, if your page is already set up you can go back and access any of your page information or features from Manage Page, scroll down to Edit Page Info or Settings at any stage.

So once you have your page, how do you increase your likes/follows? Here are my top 10 tips.

1. Improve your Facebook Profile

Make sure you complete all your profile information, think of your page as a mini-website, fill in the about, services, products, description sections. Make sure your opening hours, links and contact details are correct.

Are your profile and background images are eye-catching and tell people what the page is about?

If you are a sole trader it makes sense to use your face in the profile picture. However, it is also OK to use your logo. Choose a square or round picture – displays at 180 x180 pixels. Click the camera and upload.

Your Cover (Background) Image – this is the first thing that people see and it should be visually appealing and reflect your brand and your business. To ensure it promotes a clear message you can add words such as what you do, contact details or a strapline etc. You can use this as a promotional image such as showcasing your products/services and you should change it regularly. Click edit and upload.

You can now have a video or a slideshow for your cover image! https://www.pearcemarketing.co.uk/how-to-add-a-slideshow-to-your-facebook-business-page/

2. Publish your First Posts

I think you need a good few posts on your page so that visitors can see that it is an active page. Don’t worry too much about what you are posting, just try to be authentic. It can take time to build up confidence that people actually want to read what you are posting. You can start with an introduction post explaining who you are and how your business can help. After that you need to post consistently, I usually suggest an intensive first month of 5 – 7 posts a week for a new or inactive site followed by at least 3 posts per week.

3. Invite your Friends to Like your Page

New pages usually need at least 25 likes before you can change your user name (see below) so don’t be shy. This is going to be harder for you if you are not an active user of Facebook and you don’t connect with people you meet in business and at networking events to be friends.

You also can send out invites at a later stage as you gain more friends. You will find this option under the three dots under your picture.

Keep an eye on your Notifications, occasionally Facebook will tell you that someone has liked your post and invite them to like your page.

You can also trawl through your old posts and click on the blue thumb where people have liked the post, particularly those with a lot of engagement. You will get a list of people who liked it, to see if there is anyone else to invite. I find around 70% of people do accept the invitation.

4. Create your User Name

A User Name this is different from the page name which you chose at the beginning, but it should be similar e.g. the BBC News page is @bbcnews.

Otherwise, your Facebook URL (unique page reference) will look something like this

https://www.facebook.com/Kims-New-Training-Page-103610801614507

It has to be unique and be within Facebook rules. Make sure you choose a user name that is easy to remember and best reflects your business name so customers can easily find you on Facebook, so my username is @connectmarketingtelford and so is my page URL https://www.facebook.com/connectmarketingtelford

5. Don’t Cross-post to Facebook and Instagram

Unless you want to alienate the audience from one of your platforms. It can work, but it rarely does. You can use the same content but with slight tweaks. Facebook posts will allow links, Instagram won’t so you are unlikely to drive traffic to your website. Instagram posts work better with 15 hashtags and quite stylised images in a grid. Too many hashtags on Facebook just looks like it is duplicated from Instagram. Although it is extra work, try to make the posts different or stick to the platform that gives you the most business in terms of leads and sales.

6. Look at your Insights

You will find Insights under Manage Page – you can get a page summary for 1 -28 days and see your most recent posts, hovering over this and clicking through takes you to a more useful summary.

You can check when your fans are online, but these days with increased mobile usage and with lockdown my fans seem to be online from 8 am to 9 pm. Have a look at your recent posts and the reach and activity, which ones are doing well and why? Does it matter what time they are posted? Do they have links? Pictures? Do you ask questions? Are they authentic, funny or inspiring? Learn what your audience wants and repeat these types of posts. You will get more in-depth insights via Business Suite.

7. Post good images, Videos or Go Live

Our brain processes images a lot faster than text, so a good image will stop someone scrolling through, it might resonate because of the subject, the colour, it might be funny, it might be different, it might be in your branding so is instantly recognisable. Posts with images, on any social media platform, get more views, reach and shares. Don’t just Google an image and use it – images need to be free or royalty-free – like Pixabay or Unsplash otherwise, you could end up with a hefty bill.  Videos whether posted or live also do incredibly well in terms of engagement and there seems to be no limit as to how many videos people can consume. Personally, it’s not my ‘thing’ but you can quickly create or upload video on Facebook stories you can also create moving images in the form of carousels or animation on platforms like Canva.

8. Promote your page

Again don’t be shy, make sure there are links to your page from your website, on your business card and any promotional material, include in your newsletter, at the end of blogs and on your email sign off. Actually ask people to follow you. You can mention them on other platforms so if you post a picture on Instagram you can say ‘see my Facebook page for the full recipe/details/blog’ etc.

9. Share Testimonials

Testimonials, recommendations, feedback, reviews call them what you will, are all part of your social proof. What others are saying about you is not what you are saying about yourself and your business. Post them regularly to build up that trust and push people a bit further along the decision making journey. You can share snips of LinkedIn testimonials, links to website reviews, copy and paste Google or other reviews and make a comment or thank the person.

10. Create Good Content – Engage

Your posts need to be interesting, entertaining, educational or informative tips and tricks. Be consistent and post regularly and keep your posts short so they are quick and easy to read. Always think about your target audience and what they want to read, what keywords they would search on and what language they would use. What are they struggling with? What solution or insight could you offer them? Try to add value so you become known as an expert.

Check your notifications and always reply to comments. The more likes you get on your posts, the more likes you will get on your page. You need to get people to engage (click on a link, like, share, comment). The more people engage with a post, the more the Facebook algorithms will show it to other people.

There is so much more to say about creating good content but that’s a subject for another blog….check out my blog posts for more great tips and advice for improving your digital marketing.

If you follow these tips you stand a good chance of increasing your Facebook followers and whilst Facebook might not be your chosen platform, there is no doubt people do research companies and products on Facebook before making buying decisions so it makes sense to have a presence on what is the largest social media platform in the world!