5 Ways to Promote Your Facebook Fan Page
Have you ever wondered, “How do I promote my Facebook fan page?” This article reveals 5 ways to use the power of Facebook to grow your fan base.
Why Do You Need a Facebook Fan Page? You may ask, “Why do I even need a Facebook fan page?” Here’s why: Facebook currently has an Alexa ranking of 2. They are the second most trafficked website next only to Google!
This means your Facebook page will be indexed faster on Google and other search engines, so if you don’t have a fan page, be sure to add one and promote it.
Here are 5 great ways to grow your Facebook fans:
#1: Invite People From Your Facebook Friend Lists
Do you have your personal friends and professional colleagues segmented into lists on your Facebook home page?
I have a number of lists in my personal Facebook account.
You can invite these lists as groups to your Facebook fan page instead of sending individual invites. This is the easiest and fastest way to jump-start your fan base.
When you click “Suggest to Friends” on your fan page, start typing in the name of your friends list in the filtered friends section; for example, “Social Media Professionals.” This will automatically send an invitation to your fan page to all of your colleagues listed in that category.
It’s possible that it may take a while before you start seeing those familiar faces pop up in your fan page because people are busy. There have been a few occasions where I’ve gently nudged them with an individual invite, but I keep that to a minimum.
As you add more people to your network, remember to go back to your same lists and send the invite to the new people you’ve added. The names of those who have already been invited will be grayed out and the invite will only be sent to your new contacts.
#2: Find People With Facebook Search
The updated Facebook Search feature (see the Search bar at the top of Facebook) gives you a view into conversations of your friends and status updates that may even show you who may be looking for the services you provide.
There is even an option to search “Posts by Everyone,” which gives you a glimpse into conversations of people who may not even be connected to you. After entering a search term, there will be a display, “Posts By Everyone.” This allows you to view conversations from others who aren’t in your friend lists.
Here is a screen shot when I entered “buying a home” in the Search field:
As you can see, there is a person saying “I think we are buying a house tomorrow.” If this person is already in your contacts list, the following is a very easy conversation starter: “Hi ___, I saw your Facebook comment about your plans to buy a house tomorrow. Do you need any help with school information in that particular area?”
There is another person stating that they plan to stay in their house for a long time. This can be a potential candidate for a loan refinance. Again, if this person is already a friend on Facebook, it would be very easy to start a conversation without sounding like an annoying salesperson.
#3: Attract People With Facebook Social Ads
Social Ads provide advertisements alongside your Facebook sidebar which show related actions your friends have taken on the site. These actions may be things like “Leah is now a fan of The Offspring. Would you like to become a fan too?” It is possible to tailor ads to your friends and their interests, which makes it more appealing for them to take action because you are interested as well.
This strategy requires a small budget, but can be very effective in finding your target market. It is very important to do a Facebook search with specific keywords in your particular niche to find out if it’s being talked about on Facebook (see #2 above).
If you click on “Promote With an Ad” on your fan page, you can start a campaign. You can set a daily spending limit of $10, $25, or other appropriate amount. Because I market mostly to businesses with my keywords (such as real estate broker, loan officer, real estate investor, and so forth)—which are in numerous profiles as job descriptions—I have been able to use Facebook Social Ads effectively for my fan page.
It’s possible to run your Facebook ads for only 4 to 5 days with a $25 per day budget. Then stop the ad for a few weeks if you like and run the same ad again. This allows your fan page to grow in spurts and I have found it to be very effective in growing my fan base without spending a lot of money at once.
#4: Facebook Fan Page Twitter App
The Facebook Fan Page Twitter application is a great tool that brings your Twitter following back to your fan page. When you post a status update, a link or a photo (you can choose) on your Facebook fan page, there will be an update to Twitter with a shortened bit.ly link back to your fan page. This is just pure genius to drive traffic from another source right to your page.
There are other Facebook and Twitter integration applications; however, this is the one that leads people directly back to your page. This gives them an option to become a fan of your page right at that moment if they click on the bit.ly link from Twitter.
#5: Facebook Fan Box Widget
The Facebook Fan Box Widget is a great feature to add to your blog or website. This widget allows you to show your fan base and allows others to become fans instantly. This is just one way to promote your page across several social media sites. It is important to cross-reference all of your social media sites so others can find you and your websites on other networks.
For more great Facebook tips, be sure to check out Top Tips for Using Facebook for Business .
Editors note: Check out Social Media Examiner’s new Facebook fan page by clicking here.
So what do you have to add to this list? Are you finding other effective ways to promote your Facebook fan page? I would love to hear from you and your successes in promoting your pages in the comments below.
Naomi Trower is a real estate broker for her company Premier Equity Group, Inc. She has helped her team bring in new business by utilizing social media strategies. Other posts by Naomi Trower »
105 Comments
This was a great post! I have also found that putting your Facebook Fan Page URL on business cards is another way to drive people to your page as well. I make it a point to put all of my social media profiles on my business cards so people can contact me on the platform of their choice.
Great idea LaTosha! It really is the new way to design your business cards. Thanks for your comments!
Excellent post, I am really looking at ways to bring more fans to my FB page. Having fans is a great spot to interact easily with fans or users supplying entertainment and quality content and just having fun. I just linked using the Twitter app and need to work on creating lists to easily invite those in my network. Another possible way to drive fans is by holding a contest directed back towards the page, although with the new Fb TOS that may be more difficult.
Your site/blog…this article. Love it. You definitely “got it goin' on.” (Do people still say that?) Nice. I'm coming back!
Thanks Craig! I appreciate your words. Yes the new contest rules are a very interesting twist. Here is an article that goes into detail about it http://whyfacebook.com/2009/11/09/thinking-of-r...
Thanks so much Andy! Isn't Social Media Examiner awesome? I just love it. :)
Fabulous artice Naomi. Congratulations to Social Media Examiner for identifying Naomi as a social media expert! She is AWESOME!. Naomi,your article It is extremely helpful especially for authors like myself who are launching online book parties, books, podcasts, and other online events. Keep shining and thanks for the information.
Naomi, thank you sooooo much for posting this. I may be a success coach, but there are still lots of things I'm learning, as we all are, in this social media pool. I hadn't even thought to try #2 and never knew about #4. Once again, you've proven to be one of my favorite social media mavens. Thanks again.
Hi Ananda! Thanks so much for your kind words although I wouldn't call myself an expert. :) Social Media is changing so rapidly that I can hardly call myself a guru or expert but I appreciate the sentiment. I'm so happy to be able to provide useful information for the launch of your new book!
Hi Rod, Isn't there soo much to social media? It's fun learning though. Thanks so much for your encouraging words. I'm excited to be able to share the wealth of info to help your business. :)
Wow honey (I'm the only one that gets to call her that)! :-) This is amazing insight and definitely a great way to get free targeted exposure for any business. Great article and I'm very proud of the depth and breadth you bring to the social media experience. You got it goin' on (and it's still cool to say that but we're just dating ourselves Andy)! lol
Aww Thanks Honey! LOL It's good to know that I got it goin' on from the hubby perspective as well!
Excellent post, Naomi! I would add that a great way to promote your fan page is by inviting people on your email list! I occasionally include a link to my Fan page in blog posts, in my email signature and as a P.S. on appropriate email marketing messages.
Blog on!
Thanks so much for your support Denise! Love your ideas! Everyone, make sure to implement them. :)
Naomi, These are great and as long as the fanpage is interactive they should help bring in the fans, then the trick is 'doping' something with them. I find that is missing in many fanpages – what is the purpose of your fanpage? I always recommend telling fans what they can expect from 'fanning' a page and then follow through. For instance I tell my fans they can expect a Social Media tip of the week and I will answer questions they have when posted on the wall.
Very helpful!! I'll share it with my clients!
Great idea! I think what you are referring to is “stickiness” of a fan page. What makes a fan continually come back. As well as giving social media tips, I try to provide a sense of community by asking for their blog url, twitter id, fan pages so we can all become fans and support each other.
Hi Dana! Thanks for your support. It's great to see that you are finding value in your social media efforts with your Public Relations business. I loved helping you the other day. :)
These are great tips for anyone starting out with a Facebook Business page. I especially like that fact that you covered WHY you need one. With so many options for online marketing I happen to think the most powerful tool is a Facebook Business page.
This is excellent content, Naomi — you give they why AND the how in a way that is immediately implementable! Thanks so much.
Thanks for the tips, Naomi… perhaps you can help me understand something about the Facebook Twitter app. Everything I've read online suggests that it's supposed to work for business pages and not just personal accounts. But whenever I attempt to link my business page to my business's Twitter account, I get a message saying that I need to create a personal profile first (which I don't want to do since it's a larger company and I'm just their social media manager).
Is there no way to avoid this?
Hey Leah,
I found that the best way to get your Twitter updates on your Facebook Fan page is by using Ping.fm
The app that Naomi is referring to works the other way around, getting your Fan Page updates onto Twitter.
Mike
You've provided real value in these tips, Naomi. I'm a newbie and your article is excellent for my needs.
Naomi, thanks for the great post. Simple to follow tips like these are very effective for our franchisees to implement. Looking forward to more great posts!
Thank you, Naomi. I got to this post through Denise Wakeman – you are both awesome!!!
Thanks Adrianne! I love Denise Wakeman too. :) It was great meeting her in person at the Twitter Conference in Sept this year.
Hi Naomi
I just uploaded a YouTube vid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKbpkwIaigw showing how to upload and install a plugin that will also promote a Facebook Fanpage. If this is tacky to post this here, just let me know. Otherwise it is a fun plugin and I think it will get me some attention.
On point Naomi! Congratulations!!! You have really presented this tutorial for the community in a way that is so easy to follow. A Fan Page is really essential. You are a “Go-Giver” – Thank you for all that you do for Social Media!
~Rose
Very cool! Thanks for that video!
Hey Michael,
You are very welcome. I hope it is helpful.
Kathleen
With regards to #2 (Find People With Facebook Search) – You mention it's a great way to contact someone, especially if you're already “friends” with them.
Do you ever contact people who are not “friends” already? If so, do you just “Send a message” to them and point them to the link with your Facebook page? Does this come across as sales-pitchy?
Love the article Naomi…Very practical and usable information…Thank you
Yay, Naomi!! The Facebook fan page to Twitter app is one of my faves – especially if you can phrase the update with a “cliffhanger” effect in the middle so peeps can't help but click through from Twitter! :)
A few others I would add: for sure have a link to your fan page URL in your email signature file, ezine, blog, website, Twitter background and business cards.
Also, securing a username definitely helps with cross-platform branding and memorability… http://facebook.com/username – just takes 25 fans to secure. :) I know you have one + also your own domain!
OH! And another innovative fave – peeps can join your fan page by SMS!! Just text “fan yourusername” to 32665 (FBOOK). This works for anyone who has their cell registered with Facebook – which is a LOT as so many folks use Facebook on their mobile devices! :)
WOW Mari, awesome ideas to add to the mix!! Thanks
Thank you! One of my FB friends was asking if there was a way to update her fan page via twitter. I'll share this info with her. Of course I'll be sure to give credit where credit is due! Thanks Mari for sharing this!
[...] http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/5-ways-to-promote-your-facebook-fan-page [...]
Hi Michael, I love your new site- it's packed with invaluable information. I am in Mari's ISMA program and was on the webinar when you presented– It was fantastic. thank you so much.
Laura
Hi Naomi, Great post, it makes a nice change to have an article about Ways to Promote Your Facebook Fan Page. I am going to post your link on my blog. Will be back for more!
These are powerful ideas Naomi! I love importing blog posts to the fan page using either the Notes feature or Networked Blogs application and tweeting about it as well.
Yay Mari! My main mentor! Thanks for your support! LOVE, LOVE all of your ideas! :)
Naomi :: Thanks for the great post! I hadn't even considered using Facebook Search.
One tool I find handy to keep it all organized is Sendible. I'm sure you're aware of it but for those that aren't, it's worth checking out. It's helped keep my sanity with the myriad of conversations, messages and links being constantly distributed.
[...] Promoting your Facebook Fan Page – Do people use these for good? I get a request almost weekly to join a fan page for a local company (from the company itself). Seems like most people try for a pretty strict divide between personal (Facebook) and professional (LinkedIn). I don’t know if they’re that useful for me, I certainly wouldn’t spend $25/day on targeted Facebook ads… [...]
Hey Naomi – you have great content as always – thanks for your post – facebook is unchartered territory for many businesses, and it doesn't have to be! great stuff.
Hello Naomi, This is a great article and exactly what I need at this time. I will be contacting you soon. Give my love to everyone.
Thanks for the great post, just what I was looking for. I had a client ask me how I could improve his fan page and you have really given me some solid ideas.
Thanks
This is good stuff, Naomi. I'm just beginning to get familiar with all of this and I'm excited to learn more and get started. Thanks for the tips!
Awesome list and thanks Mari for the SMS Info!
Naomi, Thanks so much for the wonderful “how to” post. It was packed with great advice and simple, but detailed instructions to promote your fan page. I like your style and I look forward to reading and learning more from you.
Michael this site rocks!! It has become one of my favorites and I look forward to receiving your updates!!
Nice straight-forward article with good case studies as examples. While most companies don't have the brand cache of Pink or Coke, we all can learn about what facets of their success we can replicate by understanding how to provide value to the consumer (that's why the coupons from Sears work so well).
Kool post.
Hello Everyone,
I do product giveaways on my Facebook fan page and then create a plaque with the person's picture inside of it and add it to the album titled, Iowa PGA Facebook Fan Page Contest Winners”. When someone wins, I send them a message requesting their mailing address so I can ship the prize to them and I also encourage them to use the “Submit to Friends” button. I also add their mailing address to our snail mail campaign that we do every year.
http://www.facebook.iowapga.com
Hi Troy,
I'm interested in also doing product giveaways on my company's facebook page, but discovered that Facebook has introduced some very strict rules around contests and sweepstakes. Does a product giveaway fall under their new rules?
Hi Andrea,
Check out the post by Mari Smith on this topic: http://whyfacebook.com/2009/11/09/thinking-of-r...
Hi Andrea,
Check out the post by Mari Smith on this topic: http://whyfacebook.com/2009/11/09/thinking-of-r...
thanks for the tips
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This is a GREAT forum full of sharing and wisdom After all, isn't that what Social Media is all about?! I think so!
Thanks to everyone for sharing all of this wonderful information. It is because of this sharing that we will all become much more helpful to our clients!
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I’ve been using Facebook for about 18 months now and still haven’t setup my Facebook page. thanks for opening my eyes.
[...] The great thing about Facebook ads is that when you set them up, you can hyper-target them to the exact audience you’re trying to reach. Age, location, interest… filter your targeting to the specific profile of your target consumer and let Facebook do the rest. Because the ads are served on Facebook pages only, Facebook knows the age, location and interests of the people they serve the ad to. It’s probably the most effective ad targeting system in the world. Take advantage of it. Here’s 5 more ways to promote your Facebook fan page. [...]
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Hi Naomi
Thanks for sharing about Fan Pages. I had just created a Fan Page for our Book Marketing Tool – BookBuzzr, and your tips were a great help. :)
Here's my page -
I also wanted to share two tools/apps I found while setting up our page.
1. Selective tweets – This app lets you post from twitter to your fan page on facebook. After setup every tweet that has #FB in it will be shared on Facebook.
2. Networked Blogs – This app allows your blog posts to show on Facebook as soon as they are published on your blog. This has dual benefits as Networked blogs also drives traffic to your blog.
Thanks for sharing :)
Cheers
Freya
Author Community Manager
http://www.BookBuzzr.com
World's No. 1, Free Online Book-Marketing Technology for Authors
ooops…
Sorry forgot the link…
BookBuzzr's fan page – http://bit.ly/8YLzVT
Cheers
Freya
Author Community Manager
http://www.BookBuzzr.com
World's No. 1, Free Online Book-Marketing Technology for Authors
Great article Naomi!
I too wanted to throw my 2 cents in here. As I've been using a strategy that I don't believe ANY other marketer out here is using to really monetize Facebook.
Basically I have figured out how to add a pop up onto my Fanpage. My opt in rate has gone from about 3% to over 41% within just two weeks of using this strategy.
It's a bit involved but if you can follow my video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3LYr2Sg-o4
you can do it. The possibilities are limitless. You'll see that I even use an
exit pop up to catch traffic coming and going.
The strategy has really caught some steam online and it was written up in
the Examiner in Atlanta ===> http://www.budurl.com/cfqexaminer
In addition to using the pop up strategy on my Fanpage, I also
utilize an app on my Facebook profile that allows me to connect
via live streaming video right from my page.
This allows you to engage potential customers/clients or students and
definitely gives them the WOW factor when they see you streaming
live right from your page.
Here's a video I recorded with a friend showing the Facebook app and
how it works. ==> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfZiGw81A5o
These strategies along with what you have posted here will surely
give anyone a leg up on Facebook marketing.
I'll be glad to answer anyone's specific questions, just become
a fan and post your question on the wall.
Facebook Fanpage ==> http://Cash-Queen.com
Happy Marketing,
CashFlow Queen Kenetra
Thanks for this Kenetra! We at SocialMediaExaminer are putting a fan page together now, so this information was very timely!
Find people with Facebook Search
..this could be really useful.. but Facebook doesn’t like you adding random people on-mass. So what use is this feature for attracting an audience to your fan page? How?
Does anyone know how you can connect/send a message/friend or invite to a page without upsetting or otherwise getting banned from FB? This would be really useful to find people in the broader network to spark following in groups of people that you would otherwise have no connection with.
Seems like a paradox where on the one hand they want you to share your wall posts with everyone but on the other they don't want people to engage with those conversations. Twitter on the other hand is completely open and allows you to find others freely.
[...] If your fan base is small and still growing, ask your Twitter followers, Facebook friends, email list, and blog subscribers. They are all potential fans. (See related post: 5 Ways to Promote Your Facebook Fan Page). [...]
Thanks Mari,
I've had great success with the Facebook Fan Box Widget that we placed on our clients social media hub http://www.ottawa67shub.com. The hub centralizes all of our clients social media content onto one site and has been getting a lot of traffic from local hockey fans. The traffic on the hub far exceeds the teams Facebook network so we are using the Fan Box Widget to pull new fans to the their page. Since launching the hub with the Fan Box widget the 67s Facebook page has experienced dramatic growth. So I would STRONGLY recommend this widget to everyone!
Great tips would love to implement these tricks on my facebook fan page.
This is a great list! Thanks so much for sharing! (:
Hi Naomi, Great article. Very helpful! Number five was a new one to me and I followed it and added the Facebook Fan Box Widget. I added the script to include live stream, fans, and a facebook logo on my website but there wasn't anywhere in the wizard to change it from saying “You are a fan” to a box that says “become a fan?” Any suggestions on how I can change that?
Nice article. Promotion of any Fan page on Facebook is, however, only the start of the entire Social Media marketing exercise. Facebook marketing must and should include Fans acquisition and management to complete your entire plan. Else, any promotion will quickly lose its momentum, or worse…turn sour. We shared some of our strategies in our eBook – Building Facebook Fandom (http://bg.sg/fandom). From start to the end. Tell us what you think :)
Great article thanks! I especially like the widget; I had completely forgotten about that
nice article
[...] 3. Social Media Examiner: 5 Ways to Promote your Facebook Fan Page [...]
Thank you for making such an awesome post about this! I just created a fan page myself and I'm hoping it will grow somehow!
Hi guys!
I created a group called “Deal of the Day” on Facebook.
Deal of the Day on Facebook brings to you the freshest deals of the Web right at your own convenience without burning your wallet!
I created it to provide deals to people who are struggling in today's economy. For instance, instead of paying $600 for a plasma tv, they can get one for $420. Or, if they don't want to pay $22 for a book, I can find a deal for the same book at $12. I thought it was a nice thing to do.
Here is a link to the fan page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Deal-of-the-Day/3...
If you guys could join, that would be awesome!
If you could invite some people too, I would be so grateful as well. As more people join, the more I will be developing.
Thank you so much! I'm hoping to learn much more from this blog. :)
Great post Naomi…especially #2 that is a great way to engage and add value to a specific target market
I have been on the fence with the Facebook Ads for some time now but I might just jump in and test the waters. I'm having a hard time trying to sell the value of spending money on something like Facebook but your post and a few others I have read have been giving me some pretty good ammo.
Thanks again for the great post.
Really well done.. Social Ad's are in the Pipe Lines right now, Nice article :)
[...] ensure that our brand name spreads and we can find targeted users. Of course, there have been many blogs that have already spoken about it and we’d like to ensure that this blog post will feature [...]
Well job done …
Excellent ideas ! Everyone knows them.. but thing is who would be able to put them into practice. I tried many a times but left the idea in between always.
These are great ideas, but how about sharing links to some of the technology behind these fan pages? Are they all custom FBML or are they leveraging some 3rd party apps?
Awsome post, great for me as im just trying to promote a fan page
Thanks Naomi, great article..very helpful. Keep doing what you are doing, you are a blessing!
Thanks Naomi – great points in your article. Like all new beginnings, sometimes it is that initial start that seems to be the hardest – the push to get a new audience.
One motivating factor is that Facebook has a policy that a fan page needs 25 fans before losing the long number after your page's name in the url. I beleive that once the 25 threshold is met, then growth may come a bit easier.
Thanks for this post! While I knew about and have used several of these methods, I must admit that the “Facebook to Twitter” eluded me.
Thanks, Naomi – I've been looking into social media for some time recently and whenever I have a specific question, quite often I come across your articles – and they always seem to provide insightful answers. Keep up the good work!
I like these tips. Saw different posts on this article. But yours is little unique. But paying by promoting ad, needs little money which I cant spend. But i have a fan page on technology posts. http://www.facebook.com/pages/TechLikes/1173733.... what to do to promote this page. only recently created.
Excellent ideas ! Everyone knows them.. but thing is who would be able to put them into practice. I tried many a times but left the idea in between always.
[...] http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/5-ways-to-promote-your-facebook-fan-page/ [...]
I created a fan page for my blog and the way I've been getting fan is to:
- Invite friends
- Send out a tweet with a link to the fan page
- Send a message to new followers with a link to the fan page
“I have been looking into social media for some time recently and whenever I have a specific question, quite often I come across your articles – and they always seem to provide insightful answers.”
Great ideas! I relatively new to Facebook marketing. These tips will surely help.
There is a brilliant facebook app 'lukup' (go to http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?
id=7359567029) that lets facebook page fans search fan page content, share content with contacts and
lets page admins display content from other sites (could be blogs, e-commerce shops, etc)
There is a brilliant facebook app 'lukup' (go to http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id...) that lets facebook page fans search fan page content, share content with contacts and lets page admins display content from other sites (could be blogs, e-commerce shops, etc)
I have created a fan page for my blog and I have applied most of the things mentioned here. People, it does work. Nice roundup.
[...] content in the form of photos, status updates, blog posts, links, etc. There are many ways to promote your page – too numerous to mention here — but some simple ideas are to make sure the link or a [...]
@Jal? does this really work? I tried it but its not much of a progress. my blog is sexy fashion
NICE INFO TRIED ALL
NICE INFO TRIED ALL
Hey, firstly very cool site you have here. Very good post on using Facebook also. I thought I was pretty up on the facebook usage, but 3 out of those 5 I haven’t really made any use of nor was very aware. Need to get cracking on them, thanks.
very useful post …especially #4: Facebook Fan Page Twitter App…I’ve been using Facebook for about 2 months now and still haven’t setup my Facebook fan page http://www.facebook.com/pages/masthideals/118174988203190 . thanks a lot…