Like it or not, Facebook is still on top of the social network world. With 2 billion (yes, billion) monthly active users, Facebook is a social network that businesses ought to be in. Big businesses have tons of budget for utilizing Facebook’s reach. They have teams that ensure audience engagement, marketing teams for producing compelling ads and more. Their spending is matched by the amount of reach they can get.
But how about for small businesses without budget?
Turns out that gaining Facebook likes is more like a competition. Getting people to turn their heads your way takes more than posting articles, finding friends, liking, poking, or what have you.
It is hard – but not impossible.
10 Proven Ways to Get More Facebook Likes
One of the key things is to constantly create awesome contents and add value to your audience. But this is not the only thing to do. The following is a list of tips to help increase Facebook likes for your posts.
1. Email Links
Many of us communicate through email most of the time – that is if you aren’t using Slack or other team collaboration apps. You may have noticed that some emails have links beneath the sender’s signature. Some of these links are like “think before you print,” “if you are not the intended receiver…,” and some include a link to their social media accounts.
If you haven’t included a link underneath your signature yet, try it now. Add a link to your Facebook page, a “like us on Facebook” link, and even your online portfolio. This will not gain you tons of likes, but a trickle of likes still matter a lot. Below is an example of sending social links in an email newsletter.
2. Give Something In Return
People love free stuff. We are guilty of this, too. You can setup your page to display a coupon code or a free download when they like your page. When you do, people will probably be more than ready to click that shiny like button. Mobile apps can also use this kind of incentives by giving away a premium subscription, unlock a feature, etc. Explore other ways, too. Be creative. If you worry that this can be a daunting task, know that there are third party plugins available to help you do this.
3. 404 Error Pages
Dreaded, yes, but useless? No.
Since the 404 page’s inception, many things have changed. Instead of just informing the user that something is broken, why not provide other contents below it? Show other related contents, some fun stuff, and yeah, why not show your Facebook page or a Like button? Search other big names out there and see how they use their 404 pages to show a lot of other stuff as well as their social media profiles.
4. Thank You and Confirmation Pages
Why not?
Popping a big Like Us button after thanking your subscribers is not a bad idea after all. It’s pretty logical and psychological – subscribers love your content that’s why they subscribe in the first place (unless you make them subscribe before giving the download link to a free eBook). Thanking the subscriber lifts one’s spirit and it is a nice time to ask them to like your page.
If you are selling products or services on your website or in Facebook (and if you flash a Thank You page after the purchase), it’s also not a bad idea to ask the client to like your page. Give the client more value by adding a “discount on your next purchase” vouchers after they liked your page.
You can also ask your audience to share with their friends.
5. Print It
Even if you don’t have a brick and mortar shop, you can produce materials in print. If you do have a physical shop, that’s better. You can print a QR code to allow the visitors to checkin on your shop, and give them something in return.
No shop? No worries. Print flyers with a QR code leading to your page. Hand it to a stranger in a shopping complex, send it through mail, put it on door handles – be creative. But again, people love getting free stuff; so don’t forget to be generous to your supporters.
6. Business Cards
In relation to prints, business cards are another way to hand people links to your Facebook page. But, read this: do NOT put the actual addresses in letters, numbers, and symbols. Use QR codes instead. QR codes are flexible (as well as other codes out there) and can be designed to include a picture of your brand or logo in the middle. This flexibility allows designers to make the QR code stand-out but not scream, be in the focus but not attention-hungry. Simplicity is key.
Handing business cards when you meet people may instill a nostalgic practice for others. But more and more people are trying to kill business cards altogether. Just don’t mind them, and continue handing out business cards with your QR code on it.
7. Advertise
There are those who say they don’t need to use money to grow their user base, and then there are those who can’t live without ads. Facebook has a robust system of presenting ads to users, and a great system for creating your ads. There is an ad for everything – boost post, get more Likes, app installs, website promotion, etc.
Try to advertise in Facebook using the minimum amount allowed for your country. There are only a few bucks to lose, but tons of likes to gain.
Another way to advertise is to reach out to other thought leaders and ask for an interview, do a guest post on their blog or website, or just ask them to broadcast your name to their audience. It may involve some money, but it can be worth it.
8. Launch A Contest
Here’s one example:
“Every friend you refer earns you an entry to our monthly contest. Liking our page earns you 2 entries. Sharing our posts earn you one entry. This month, one will take home a brand new Nikon DSLR camera, three will get a $200.00 gift certificate, and ten will win vouchers to 3 online lessons.”
Enticing enough? Yes. Expensive? Maybe, but launching contests mean your audience will get freebies. You know what happens next.
9. Use Facebook Likes As Currency
This is the same as using the likes/shares/referral as entry above. If you have paid downloadable, services, and/or products, you can ask visitors to like your page to get the download link for free. Extra: you can use this strategy to get email addresses, too.
One thing to consider is to make your product or service really worth the user’s like/share. If you will provide a lousy product or service, it will do more harm than good.
10. Just Be Socially Active
While many business owners and stakeholders are too busy running the company, they forget that it pays to be active socially, too. Facebook is a social network intended to connect people to people and to businesses as well. Being socially absent is a no-no. Big no-no. Connect, interact, share, like, message – your audience might more than happy to hear from you personally. You just need to make a good plan so that this will not eat your time. Being socially active makes people see you as credible and will trust you.
Wrapping Up
We hope all the above listed tips should help you in getting more likes. Which of these strategies do you use to increase your Facebook Likes? Which one are you going to use next? We’d love to hear from you. Tell us in the comments section below.
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