I received an email from a customer who was particularly daunted by the idea of building her Facebook page wondering how she would ever be able to build a big fan base. She asked me for some extra tips and I thought I would share them here too. She has an etsy shop and also a tanning salon, so you will see I came up with some ideas for the salon as well. (names have been changed)
1. The best trick I can reveal to you about getting fans is to have as much interactive content as possible. This means that when you post something it should be an item that makes people want to mark as "like" or comment on it. When they do one of these things - every single friend in their network will receive an update that "Jane Meyers commented on a post from Debbie's Tanning Salon". Then their friends will click the link out of curiosity, and their friends, etc. This is how you go "viral" on Facebook.
2. I would suggest doing special Facebook-only campaigns. Come up with special offers for Facebook fans only.
3. Post polls, quizzes, facts about your industry...you could come up with some funny posts like "overly-tan celebrity pictures" and then you could explain how to end up not looking like that! You could do a contest for a free session, etc, etc. Just get people engaged and the rest will follow.
4. You may seriously consider paying for a Facebook page ad up front. $10/day will really help you lay your foundation for your fan base.
5. Don't wait for your old high school friends to find you--find them! And after you do, invite them to become a fan of your page. You need to try and become "friends" with everyone you have ever met, and then send them an invite to become a fan of your shop. Now is not the time to be shy!
I hope this helps some of you too...and let's make THIS an interactive thread. Please share with the group what has worked for you in building your page!
(Pick a Peach print by WozArtStudio. Thanks Florence!)
Awesome! As a matter of fact I just posted my second Facebook Ad. The first one was basically to see how it worked and now this one I have thought more into who I want to target. Actually Facebook makes it pretty easy and the explanations they give to make a better ad are actually very good :)
ReplyDeleteOn the first one I tried with CPM (cost per impressions) and it was shown almost 2000 times in 2 days. I only received one click from it though. Now I'm trying CPC (cost per clicks) and I will see how that works.
Now it's my time for shameless self-promotion :O
http://www.facebook.com/DropOfSunshine I also added a button on the blog and some followers have gone to it!
P.S. Guess how I found out about you? Facebook Ads. I'm not even kidding!
I like jumping in on Etsy forums and introducing myself there...many times others are looking to add fans to their facebook page too...so it's a win win!
ReplyDeleteFan me on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kid-Giddy/99434674360
And follow my blog - I have my facebook link there too! Click on my name above!
Thanks! Kerry
Hi, I have had good luck with friends and word of mouth. My first go round of posting pictures of my work to my personal feed netted me my strongest friend fans.
ReplyDeleteMy second go was a Facebook ad, which got me about another 20 or so in a week (for about $6 or 7 pay-for-clicks).
My third go was to ask my friends to become a fan, which got me another 20 or so fans and a second wave from their friends.
Plus I have a blog (where I blog about my jewelry and marketing links and other things of interest) and a Twitter and a Web site, all linked to each other. I'm totally new to this, but it's steadily taken off it seems. Just landed my first big custom order through etsy, and I am having a lot of fun!
I fanned you, too, Kerry and Sunshine. Here is mine:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Austin-TX/SoCoDivka-Designs/134696249777
Thanks so much, this was very helpful. You really make some good points that make me realize i might not have been seeing the forest for the trees with this Facebook stuff! I realize we need to become a kind of "fun information" resource as well as promoting ourselves... that makes sense. I am still stumped with Twitter though-- and i did download your helpful guide about working with Twitter, thank you! I have been trying your technique of looking up people who are talking about our product (bohemian style 1960s/70s vintage clothing) but the results are just too random and overwhelming. so this week I have been trying to search for (female) users tweeting about musical artists that fit our vibe. That narrows things down and brings up more individuals instead of fashion marketing sites. Just experimenting, though, still unclear how some Etsy vintage shops who tweet got thousands of followers!!! Ideas???
ReplyDelete