Episode 86: Organic Facebook
In this episode I talk to uber-blogger Holly Homer (her blog is kidsactivitiesblog.com), about the way she grew her Quirky Momma Facebook page to over 3 million likes in just two years. She is someone who is an advocate for organic Facebook growth and gives practical tips on how to grow a Facebook page, without spending money.
Some people say it is impossible to build up a Facebook page today without spending lots of money, would you say this is true?
Holly says that it is very possible, though much harder than it used to be. She says that sweat equity (that is hard work) built her Quirky Momma facebook page in 2 years from 15000 likes to 3 million likes.
Did you find it harder to get to from 0 to 15,000 than from 15,000 to a 1 million?
Actually Holly says that while she had 15000 likes, the page had been dormant for a while and in fact she almost had to lose those followers to produce the growth needed. She actually felt she would have been better off starting from scratch. She almost had to tear down her page first to be able to get it to grow.
Why should people use a Facebook page rather than their profile for promoting their book or product?
While you should definitely use your personal profile, it doesn’t let you use any advertising, and more importantly it doesn’t let you see the level of analytics you get with a page. Also in the terms and conditions on Facebook you shouldn’t be using it for business anyway.
How can you boost up how many of your followers see each of the posts on your page?
Holly says you need to play the Maths game. If you post something on a page you can see on the post how many people actually saw it. Try different kinds of posts (some with images, videos, with links) and then see which gives the highest reach. Live video works best at the moment in terms of reach. Use your Facebook page as a laboratory and work out what kind of posts work best. Facebook knows from its own data from similar pages what kind of posts it will show to the most people.
What kind of posts should you be posting?
You can get reach with some posts like cat pictures, but if it isn’t relevant to your target market then you can end up with an audience that won’t buy your books. So you need to look for posts with high reach that are relevant to what you are trying to sell. That said if your audience has other interests you can of course include links to those. But you always need to concentrate on your core audience a large percentage of the time.
Is there a concept of ranking of links you post?
While Facebook denies it exists, Holly says from her own experience that if you post a post with a link to a website in it, depending on how popular Facebook considers that webpage (from data from other users) it will show your post to more or less people based on how popular the page is. Some websites like Buzzfeed have always been popular with Facebook, and it makes sense to find the most shared links in your niche and create posts with that content.
What is the quickest way to grow followers to your page without paying?
Holly recommends Live Video as head and shoulders the best way to grow a following. The second most effective is produced video, though this isn’t doing as well as it used to be. Beyond that images can still be effective. The issue Holly points out is that everyone is now using images and videos meaning that it gets harder to stand out. Live Video, because it is scary to do, is less likely to get saturated with people doing it, making it a more effective way to build a page.
How many posts should someone post a day on a Facebook page?
You need to be consistent. Work out how much you can post each day based on your schedule and then post one less than a day to give yourself a buffer. You need to be doing it every day. Look at the analytics and then change your posts based on what works. Don’t just randomly post things on your page and then don’t look at the results.
When is a good time to pay for adverts on Facebook?
Holly, unlike a lot of people, likes to boost posts. She says that you should boost those posts that have been successful. Don’t boost unsuccessful posts. Also make sure that you boost posts that are relevant to your business, not say a popular cat video you posted.
How can people find out about Holly Homer and the things you do?
Holly has setup a site HollyHomer.com that is about her social media and blogging activities. She also provides courses and mastermind groups for those who want to learn further.
If you liked this show then you might like Marketing Using Pinterest With Jeff Sieh, YouTube Growth and Success with Steve Dotto or Using Instagram to Market Books with Jenn Herman
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