Getting Your First
Fans
The first fans are arguably the hardest ones to get, but it is of paramount importance not to get discouraged. Because once you get those first few hundred fans, the viral power will start to play an important role in growing your page, and you can stop working on the strategies outlined in this chapter.
As long as you keep your fan base entertained, the process of getting fans should become automated. So it is important to get those initial fans as soon as possible, and don't get discouraged if it seems hard at first.
We have two ways of doing this: a free way and a paid way. While the paid way is sure to bring you targeted fans much faster, the free way is worth taking a shot at as well, especially if you don't have a budget, and I like combining those two with each page I am growing.
The Free Way
The first thing you need to look at when starting your page is your existing assets. That means inviting all your friends to like your page, or post about your page on their profiles.
If you wouldn't like to involve them in this, try using your email list, Youtube subscribers, or websites visitors, if you have any of those.
You can also join forums targeted to your niche and have your FB page in your signature.
These steps should grab you a few loyal fans, just enough to make your page look alive and appealing to visitors.
Another great way to get those first few fans is by posting on other pages or groups.
Don't get me wrong: Do NOT Spam!
If you just go and comment to every of their post with something similar to: "Please like our page" and you drop your link, it's very likely you're going to be reported and eventually even banned.
Instead, here's a nice way to do it:
Start using your FB profile as your page. On your FB profile hit the settings image like in the image below:
Then go visit established pages that already have a few thousand fans within your niche.
Now, instead of spamming your links, you should "like" and comment to what other people are commenting by "tagging" them. Make your comments actually noteworthy.
That's because when you like or tag somebody, they'll get a notification from Facebook saying that "Microsoft Fans liked your comment" (just an example). Most of them will be curious and check your page, and if they like what they're seeing, they will hopefully like your page.
Another great idea is to post a funny image related to your niche on those popular pages, and tag your own page in the description at the end using the @.
Don't over do it though.
Finally, once you get a few fans, a great idea is to contact the owners of this page and propose to get you a post on their wall. Most of these people are not marketers, and want to keep their fan base interested, so if you approach them correctly, you shouldn't have any issues in getting a few to do it.
Now, expect to not get replies from many, but don't be discouraged. Even if just 1 in every 10 messages gets a reply, that would be more than enough to superboost your fan base.
A great way to ensure a reply is to first "like" and "comment" and "post" on their pages like I've taught you just a bit earlier, so you can position yourself as a passionate fan when you make the approach.
So when you make your approach, the first thing you should say is that you really like their page and content so much that you are actively engaged in posting about it.
Then talk a bit about your own page: tell them that your page is for Microsoft fans as well (again, just an example) and that you would really appreciate if they shared one of your posts on their page.
Tell them how much you like to contribute but how hard it is to stay motivated with just a few fans.
Finally, offer to share one of their posts as well, and sign the message with your own full name.
That's about it and if you do this as I am teaching you, there should be no issues in getting those first fans easily. But if you decide to combine these tactics with the ones I'll teach you now, then you are really going to take it to the next level.
The Paid Way
I know you must have heard before that Facebook Ads don't work. That's because they have been misused by a lot of marketers.
People are not on Facebook to buy stuff, and they usually hate when they are promoted a selling ad. What they are looking for, though, is engaging with stuff they are passionate about.
And that's what I will teach you how to do it, so that you use Facebook ads super effectively.
First of all let me tell you that buying fans anywhere else is usually a waste of time, since they are either bots or people totally disinterested in your page. That's why buying Facebook ads is the only paid way I recommend.
Before we start let me say that it is all about testing. Run a few different ads with very small budgets first, then see which one worked best and grow from there.
Here's where you can start your ad:
https://www.facebook.com/ads/create/
When you are prompted with "What would you like to do" choose "Get more page likes".
Your headline should be the name of your page, but you could change some stuff around. A question works well for headlines.
The image should be 100x72 pixels, and try to find something that will immediately grab the attention of your viewers.
I've used Sponsored Stories in the past, but they haven't performed as well, so you might as well remove them.
Now when you are prompted with your Facebook audience, you'll need to know a few things.
First of all, choose countries that are relevant to what you are promoting. Unless otherwise, go with US, Canada, UK, Australia.
For Age and Gender, you can take a look at Alexa.com for a few sites within your niche. But I usually leave those two fields untouched.
Interests is something really worth paying attention to: choose 1-3 broad categories and try to have at least 1 precise interest.
Connections should be "Only people not connected to your page".
The campaign name is not really important. For the budget, don't use "daily" but go for "lifetime". $5 per ad is more than enough to test it.
You should now hit the "Switch to Advanced Pricing(Includes CPC)" and select "Optimized for Impressions" there, as that is one of the easiest ways to grab cheap likes.
You should bid at the maximum suggested bid or just a bit lower. You won't be charged that amount, or anywhere near it - so don't go too low or it may take a lot of time to see results.
Again, as I've previously stated, the most important thing about FB ads is testing and improving. You can't predict how good an ad is going to do until you've tested it.
Here's a system I use to ensure success each and every time:
1). I create 4 campaigns where only one element is different (usually the image, but once you get the best image sorted out, try tweaking Age or Gender, or interests)
2). Everything else but that 1 element should be the same
3). Set the lifetime budget really low (I'd say $2 should work)
4). Once the campaigns have all run, look at the results, and take the winner to step 1. You now have the best image, let's find the best age group.
That should leave you in just a few days with the best possible ad for your niche.
Here are some elements to target with your campaigns:
1. Image
2. Demographics (age, gender, interests, perhaps even countries)
3. Text
4. Headline
That's pretty much it and you should grab a lot of fans in a very short period of time!
We'll now take a look at the Viral Factor, that will truly turn your average FB page into an absolute winner!