Engagement and conversations are what drive online marketing today. If you’re a small business owner, you’re probably using Facebook to promote your brand and connect with your audience. You’ve probably already learned that the more your posts get liked and shared, the more your reach and visibility increase. And you’ve probably already learned how tough it is to get more of those valuable Facebook likes to your page. It’s important to understand, however, the difference between the quality of the likes and the quantity of them. This difference must be understood before you can determine how important and worthwhile Facebook likes are for your business.

How Valuable is a Facebook Like?

The debate about quality versus quantity is still around. You must engage your audience with relevant and valuable content that people will interact with regularly, and you must offer value for likes to truly matter. The more value you offer, the more engagement or traffic you’ll drum up for your business.

In 2013, one researcher estimated a Facebook Fan’s value to average $174, up 28 percent from 2010. This value varies from brand to brand though, and the higher the average purchase price, the more valuable the fan.

So the answer to the question above is, it varies from business to business and from like to like.

What is the Best Way to Increase Quality Facebook Likes?

The number of likes your page has indicates the potential size of your audience, not the guaranteed size of it. You can increase likes through Facebook ads or buy likes for your page, but buying likes lacks quality. So don’t do it. Investing in Facebook ads to increase page likes works well. (By the way, there are lots of ways to increase quality Facebook likes without spending a dime. And as a small business owner, that sounds pretty good, right?)

How Can You Increase Facebook Likes to Move your Business Forward?

Here are eight ways to increase likes to move your business forward:

1. Set smart goals

Setting goals is important. There’s no refuting it. How many new likes do you want to gain on Facebook? Set a specific and measurable goal by calculating on average how many new likes you receive each month. Use this information to set a realistic goal for the next month. Setting goals gives you something to measure progress and helps you see what is or is not working. Measuring your progress lets you see where you should continue investing your time and resources into your Facebook strategy.

Check out “Don’t Just Create Social Media Goals – Reach Them” if you need help setting S.M.A.R.T social media goals.

2. Improve and update your Facebook Page monthly

Many visit Facebook to find out about a business. If someone were to visit your Facebook Page, would they find out everything they want to know about your business? Would your Page make a good first impression? Your profile photo and cover photo should be high quality images and on-brand. Every part of the “About” section should be filled in and up-to-date, so make time to improve and update your Facebook Page monthly.

3. Increase the visibility of your Page

If people can’t find your Page, you can’t get more likes on it. Increase the visibility of your Page by:

• Including a linkto your Facebook Page in your newsletter or email signature.
• Embedding pluginsand integrating social media on your website. (Read how to add a “Like” or Page plugin and 5 Ways To Integrate Social Media On Your Website)
• Cross-promotingyour Facebook Page on Twitter and other social networks. Let people know you’re on Facebook. Include a link to your Facebook Page in Tweets and posts. Let people know why they should like your Page, too.

4. Create better content

Don’t post overly promotional posts. People don’t want that kind of content. Overly promotional posts have one or more of the following qualities in common and should be avoided:

• Push people to buy a product or install an app
• Reuse the exact same content from ads
• Push people to enter promotions and sweepstakes with no real context

You can create better content that people do want to see on Facebook with the following tips:

• Pay attention. Know what type of content people want from you. Listen to them.
• Experiment with videos, questions and answers relevant to your audience’s interests about your business and pay attention to what they respond to.
• Post Facebook-specific content at least once a week, and post links to your blog or website once a week, too. Promoting your other channels isn’t going to encourage interaction on your Facebook Page. If you’ll create content specifically for Facebook, you’ll increase the chances of engagement and give people more of a reason to like your Page.
• Aim for shares. Shares are one of the most valuable and important parts of your Facebook Page When Fans share your Facebook posts, it increases your organic reach, which gives you a better chance of getting more likes..

Shareable content:

• gives value and entertainment to those visiting your Page
• defines who we are to others
• builds and nurtures relationships
• gets the word out about your brand

Create content that falls into one of these categories, and then pay attention to whether or not it gets shared more than others.

• Post consistently. Facebook itself cited posting consistently as one of the best practices. Here’s what they said: “Being consistent in the quality and types of posts you create can help people know what kinds of messages to expect from you and how they tie into your business.” Create a content calendar and schedule posts in advance to keep your content strategy organized and consistent.

5. Be responsive and human (authentic)

Take care of the people who like your Facebook Page. View comments and questions and respond to them right away.

6. Plan monthly campaigns

Plan monthly Facebook campaigns and make sure they meet Facebook’s terms and policies for promotions.

Here’s how to plan great campaigns:

• Follow the Facebook Pages of competitors or brands you admire for inspiration. You can learn a lot about what might resonate well with your audience by looking at what has or hasn’t been successful for your competitors.
• Use user-generated content (UGC) in your social media campaigns. Answering questions or replying to comments and posts can help you generate leads and build your brand.
• Invest in video. When your audience views the videos you post on Facebook, it helps to increase your number of views and engagement.

7. Purchase Facebook Ads

On Facebook, desktop ads have click-through rates higher than normal web ads, and mobile ads, jump even higher with click-through rates. Facebook Ads are one of the most effective ways of getting more likes on Facebook.

• Promote your Page through Facebook Ads.
• Boost individual posts from your Page. If you notice that one of your Facebook posts is performing well, boost it

8. Use analytics to your advantage

Analyzing Facebook Page Insights will let you know who your current fans are to help you better target your Facebook campaigns. Facebook Page Insights help to identify which posts have the highest reach and engagement. This kind of information enables you to see what your audience wants from you on Facebook. Audit your Page’s performance monthly, then use these insights to set your monthly goals and develop a strategy.

What can you do to engage your audience to get more Facebook likes?

Now that you have a strategy for getting more likes on Facebook, let’s move on to the fun stuff – engagement. If your posts aren’t getting much engagement, you aren’t inspiring people to do anything, and your Page isn’t providing value for your business.

1. Use relevant and captivating images regularly to increase engagement and reach on your Page and posts.
2. Post content that meets the needs of your audience to keep more of the fans you already have.
3. Use Facebook’s Page Plugin on your website or blog to boost Page likes.
4. Engage with other pages in your niche. Leave thoughtful comments in response to other posts. Comment from your Page rather than your personal profile.
5. Promote your page on your other social media accounts. Point your Twitter followers or LinkedIn connections to discussions happening on your Facebook Page occasionally.

Put all this into practice and watch your Facebook likes grow!

Capturing the attention and loyalty of your target audience on Facebook is important. There’s no doubt about it. Since Facebook revolves around likes, it’s no surprise that anyone with a Facebook Page wants more of them. While getting more likes is definitely a key to success on Facebook, getting your audience to engage with your Page on a regular basis is equally (if not more) important.

Call Rockin’ Robin at (307) 631-1867 or schedule a free consultation today. Find out how I can help you grow those coveted Facebook likes for your Business Page.

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