You want your Facebook page to grow. You also don’t want to spend a lot of money getting it there. The best ways to grow a page tend to involve money, like running ads, which is unfortunate. If you’re looking for free promotion, though, I’ve got you covered. Try out some of these sweet techniques.
1. Update your cover photo
Updating an image draws attention to your page, and you can use the new image as a billboard for something else you want to advertise, like an app or a new product. If you want to be clever, tie it in with your apps and use an arrow to point at the featured app in your top bar.
2. Update your profile picture
Most companies just use the space as a boring logo or picture of their storefront; you can do them one better. A rotating profile picture gives opportunities to feature various aspects of your business, or your promotions. Plus the description is a chance for some copy.
3. Poke your email list
They’re there for a reason, after all. Make an unpublished post with some interesting content and then link to the post within your mailing list. You can double up with this and make your unpublished post a deal exclusive to mailing list subscribers.
4. Put a Facebook link on your other social profiles
When a user finds you on Twitter they may want to follow you on Facebook as well, so make it easy for them to do so.
5. Write a blog post
You don’t even need to focus the blog post on Facebook, just make sure you have Facebook sharing buttons on your site. That, and you can encourage users in your conclusion to like and share the post. It doesn’t hurt, so long as you keep it toned down.
6. Post more often
On Facebook, that is. The more you post, the more people will see your posts, and the more reach you’ll get on your posts. Plus, each post is a chance for users to chat with each other and with you, so you get more benefit from posting more frequently. Just make sure your posts are good.
7. Share your presence in groups
If you’re part of a group on LinkedIn or another social network, you can share your Facebook page and ask your community to help support you. Just make sure you’re not being too promotional out of nowhere; you’ll lose what goodwill you have.
8. Include your Facebook page URL in receipts
When a user buys something, you can give them the opportunity to share their purchase on social media. You can also just include your URL on printed receipts for in-person sales, to get more local followers.
9. Use your personal profile to share your business page
When you plug it into your “works at” section you get a little free advertising. Better, when you share it, you gain the benefits of Facebook preferring personal posts over brand posts.
10. Paste your Facebook link on any print media you produce
This does require that you use an easy to type URL, but that shouldn’t be difficult. Put your URL on print advertising, on business cards, on mailers, and anywhere else you can get away with it.
11. Add your URL to your email signature
The signature is an overlooked bit of email footer that many people neglect. It’s a perfect place for a little self-promotion in a way that looks completely natural.
12. Mention popular fan pages in your news updates
More importantly, use the @ symbol like you would on Twitter and tag them. This puts your post in the awareness of fans of that brand, and gives you a little extra audience.
13. Use the Facebook comments plugin for your blog
When someone comments on a post, that comment is posted via Facebook and becomes part of the discussion. It’s a quick and easy way to get a social conversation up and running.
14. Have employees and collaborators share you on their pages
Any bit of basic and beginning reach you can get through employees or through their friends is a reach you can run with. They won’t be your most interested customers, but they’re better than trying to build from nothing at all.
15. Make a shareable image
Ask them to circulate the image and perhaps even offer a prize or tantalizing bit of information if it reaches certain milestones.
16. Consider using QR codes with links to your page.
The use of QR codes is limited to users with smartphones that have cameras and a reader app, but it can be specialized for those users. Some retail stores use them to guide users to a custom landing page with a bonus discount, as well.
17. Import a list of existing contacts
By using the Facebook page’s “tell your fans” option, you can upload a list of email addresses and Facebook will submit page like requests to the users who match those emails.
18. Run and advertise social video events through Facebook
You can use Google Hangouts, Skype or a webinar software for running the actual event, but you advertise it through Facebook. Conversely, during the event, advertise your Facebook page to unify your audiences.
19. Include a link to your Facebook page when guest posting
A Facebook link is a great extension of an author bio, plus if you have a catchy URL you can mention it in plaintext to avoid link removal. This will help to increase your Facebook Page Likes.
20. Post as your page in social interactions
By interacting with people as your brand, you build a brand presence and persona. People grow comfortable interacting with you, which fosters communication and keeps conversations going.
21. Give users a reason to follow your page, and advertise that reason
Are they getting information they can’t get elsewhere? Do you give them insight into the industry happenings? Do you offer occasional time-sensitive discounts?
22. Run a photo competition and get users to tag you
By creating a user-submission contest, you get user engagement and additional exposure through their tags and their friends.
23. Get users to follow you via text message
Not many people will do this, given how there’s a Facebook app for mobile, but it might be novel enough to get people to try it out.
24. Use a Facebook page badge
These badges aren’t interactive like the fan box widgets you should also be using, but they’re a cool little icon with your information and a link to your page.
25. Don’t suggest to friends
Suggesting to friends is a scattershot approach that doesn’t give you a lot of active engagement. Plus, those notifications add up and they’re not prominent to see on a user page.