Earning dollars means earning followers. Social media proves to be a powerful tool in marketing your business. And, Facebook still reigns as king in its number of users. In fact, Facebook boasts 1.59 billion active users each month. Instagram and Twitter follow with a mere 400 and 320 million users, respectively. Other social media platforms still struggle to keep pace with these figures.
What this means for business is that a simple click opens a world of potential clients – 1.59 billion prospective customers to be exact. But, is it really as easy as a click? There are three things you can do now to widen your Facebook reach. Yes, ways to convert a world potential into a real kingdom.
Before we get to those things, (And, I know you are eager.), let’s add a tool to your tool belt that greatly enhances your success in building this kingdom. Facebook Insights enables you to gauge your impact. Insights reads the age, gender and location of the crowd that your posts engage. Also, Insights tracks the times of day users access the Internet to view your posts.
The features of Facebook Insights offer valuable information as to who your audience is, which content works for them and which does not, and the most effective time to post in order to get their attention. As you consider the ways to widen your reach, this tool becomes a powerful weapon. Be sure to keep it in mind as well as other avenues for gathering such information as you continue to read.
CONSTRUCT CONTENT
Quality content engages your audience and remains at the core of social media and online success. Crafting posts that followers desire to read and interact with boosts your reach.
Valuable
Consumers look for posts that offer value, information and are relevant. In other words, they want content that speaks to their issues and provides viable solutions. Plus, a bit of the personal and added humor up the attraction factor.
On the contrary, product-focused content tends to turn off readers. Self-promotion via post in a virtual space gains no more friends than it does in the actual world. In fact, the 80/20 rule for success applies in this regard. In short, keep 80 percent of posted content focused on what helps and is valued by your audience. And, use 20 percent to promote your product or service.
Fresh
Quality content also retains the characteristic of freshness. Frequent posting of new material helps develop this trait. While no hard and fast rules for success exist here, start with two to three postings per day. From that point, evaluate what works for your business and audience. Also, material that retains longevity due to its relevancy often remains fresh and finds itself recycled in news feeds.
Finally, using a variety of mediums to get your message out speaks to a broad range of personality types and learning styles. Videos, multimedia productions, competitions, polls and promotions keep followers engaged. Just like in face-to-face conversation, asking questions involves others and starts a discussion. Begin and continue the conversation for fresh material.
Visual
Images play a vital role in attracting attention. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. And, this adage holds true for social media as well. Visual images express ideas quicker and more efficiently than words. For proof, consider the facts. A post containing a graphic proves 44 percent more likely to engage followers than those without pictures.
In fact, opt for shorter posts coupled with high-quality images. Sticking to 70-word or fewer posts garners 23 percent more interaction than those over 231 words. Furthermore, photo-based posts receive 120 percent more social attention than their text-based counterparts. Consider the statistics and make your adjustments. Try funny or quirky photos, images that invoke joy, visuals that represent your staff or those that naturally draw the eye while being consistent with your content and brand.
CREATE CONNECTION
While quality content proves vital to meet the desires of followers, it is a connection that gets them to the point of engagement in the first place. Befriending strangers on Facebook proves less socially acceptable than on other social networks. So, making new links may be more tricky. However, several methods cultivate your online presence and widen your reach in this way.
Comment on Others
A great deal of fantastic content exists on the web. Seek out blogs that post material relevant to your company and its interests. Leave interesting and thought-provoking comments on these posts. Stepping outside the confines of your account illustrates a broader interest and increases likeability. Also, by linking the comments to your business page, this action widens reach by connecting you with the blog readers.
Share Great Content
Passing valuable content of others on to your followers helps similarly as well. When you interact with a post in this way or through a comment or likes, the fans of the other page see your actions. In other words, you become visible to them, which increases your presence and the chance they will interact with you also. As a note, add sharing buttons to any content you post to encourage the natural spread of your message as well.
Use Hashtags
While the meaning of this symbol seems ever-changing, in this age, it equates with social media influence and power. Begin by searching for hashtags that apply to your business. If they are used, join in. Also, keep an eye out for trending and viral hashtags that connect with your interests. Again, jump in, no need to reinvent the wheel. Facebook offers a Trending feature that identifies popular hashtags. Check them out, try them out, but use them with moderation.
Interact With Followers
Just putting great content into your posts falls short of the purpose of the Facebook platform and therefore, misses the mark of this marketing king. Remember, this is social media. Users jump in to interact socially. So, get in the conversation. Participating naturally in discussions, answering questions, responding to comments and expressing thanks when kudos come your way create an online presence that draws a following.
Connect With Other Companies
Using “Like” to create bonds with other businesses increases your reach by connecting you with their followers. Leaving a comment on or sharing the post boasts the same results. In other words, your comments could just inspire fans of this company’s page to click over to yours.
Like or Follow Industry Leaders
While Facebook does not naturally engender networking, following other individual leaders, influential bloggers and brands reap rewards. Look for those in your industry creating valuable content and target the audience you seek. (Avoiding direct competitors proves wise in this venture.)
CAPTURE CONSUMERS
Facebook offers options to customize the audience you target. These helps not only widen reach but help you reach in the right direction. While the sheer size of your following may excite you, this number proves irrelevant if it does not represent those interested in your product or services.
Select Targeting Options
Reaching your ideal audience, the one likely to engage with your dynamic content, comes through the help of Facebook’s organic post targeting. With a set of criteria adjusted by you, content can be targeted to specific groups of fans for increased relevancy and engagement. These sorting factors include gender, age, relationships status, location, education level, language, interests and post end date.
Find Lookalike Audiences
With targeting and relevance in mind, Facebook helps you identify people similar to your followers. The liking of pages and interests relevant to your business builds a database of those likely to engage with your content as well. Graph Search provides similar offerings.
Engage Custom Audiences
Aiming for the right target improves with Facebook’s feature, Custom Audiences. Using this option, drives likes, conversions and sign ups. In other words, the potency of your reach explodes. Your fan base grows.
Call to Action
While you might think of a call to action (CTA) as “Contact us today!”, there are other ways to employ this technique to expand your reach. Think of this method as a way to increase engagement, not just the final step toward conversion. The goal of the CTA in this regard is to draw people to interact with your posts and share them widely. Several approaches offer variety with CTA’s. For instance, you can ask for a like, encourage a share or implore users for a comment. Just be natural.
Widening your Facebook reach proves vital to your online presence and business success. As you look to employ these methods for getting there, you can also seek out the example and advice of others. Find those succeeding through LikeRank and follower status results. Benefit from their expertise. A social media manager or expert proves useful in this pursuit as well.
But, above all, build loyalty in your following by constructing quality content, creating social connections and capturing the attention of consumers. And, do not be afraid to throw in a bit of delight along the way. As you widen the smile of your readers, certainly your reach will expand as well.
Get started today if you are looking for more help on your social media marketing campaign. Contact us today and we will help you get started in the right direction.