There are many small ways to try and build your fan base on Facebook. Add a link in your eNewsletter, put widgets on your website, promote through your other social media sites, and so on. One of the easiest is letting your friends and family know. The “Suggest to Friends” link is displayed prominently under a page’s main profile picture.
Too often, however, you get those blind requests from your friends that are just irritating. Even more so when they’re from mere acquaintances you haven’t heard from in five years. If you think about it, how likely are you to accept one of those Page Suggestions? Profiles are still profiles – they’re supposed to be indicative of who you are as a person: things you like, things to vent about, your friends, – all of which describe your overall network, of course. So are you really going to become a fan of a new landscaping company someone from high school just started? Yes, it would be the nice thing to do, but with so many being sent these days, the truth is, people are becoming more and more selective. Why then are they being sent so often? Because there’s a misconception about the success of a Facebook page. The more fans the better, but really, it’s not about the numbers.
Tactically speaking, this doesn’t mean you have to ignore the “Suggest to Friends” feature for your promotion. Just be pickier. If you’re starting a new company, send it to your friends who you genuinely think would have an interest in what you’re doing, besides the (let’s face it, egotistically) fact that they know you. For instance, suggest your landscaping company’s page to a friend who, let’s say, is a John Deere dealer.
Be proactive. Do you know that they have a Facebook page? Join it. If they see that, they’ll appreciate it, and just may return the favor.
Share it on your wall instead. You can still include a note, asking for friends to join your page. Perhaps you only need a couple more fans to get to 25; enlist their help this way so you can pick a username. Those who are really interested in you, will also be interested in helping you out.
Why be so selective? You don’t need numbers. You need interaction. If you get 100 people who are never, ever going to go to your page again, it is of no benefit to you whatsoever. Trade that in for 20, even 10 people who are commenting, liking, and maybe even promoting the page to their friends, – and you’ve simply got a much better Page on your hands.
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