From April 18th to April 27th, 2105 my Facebook posts reached, on average, 6,372,857 people.
And I didn’t spend even a thin dime on advertising.
It would have cost me somewhere in the neighborhood of $25,000/week in Facebook advertising spend to get this much exposure…
… but I got all this exposure for free!
And today, I’m going to show you how I do it.
After all, you know the value of being able to reach your share of the 1.4 BILLION people (some of whom might buy your products and services) on Facebook.
I took a detailed look at the Boom! Social with Kim Garst Facebook Fan Page and hundreds of my posts to find out which ones worked, which ones did not and why.
Then, I organized the best performing ones into categories.
Now, I’m sharing the 6 killer Facebook tactics that I use weekly to increase reach on Facebook… all for free.
#1 – Have Fun, Be Relatable
It is okay to have a little fun!
Show off your personality and become relatable to others! It is no secret that people love to laugh.
Throwing in a humorous or funny post every now and then is a great way to show people your funny side and get them laughing on the other side of their screens. Don’t forget, there are real people on the other side of those screens <grin>!
This little gem reached 4,931,594 people and has been liked, commented and shared almost 350,000 times.
What about it made the post a winner? The copy and the image are engaging and relatable! I asked for feedback to a funny statement and asked people if they were in agreement about the excitement of a package showing up.
Who isn’t excited for a self-given gift to arrive?
#2 – Link to a Tutorial
Give your fans a step-by-step guide or tutorial for how to do something.
People love it when you show them how a task is done, especially if it will solve one of their pain points! Also, they are GREAT for getting engagement, especially click-throughs and shares!
I took a screen shot of a tutorial (put in the form of a blog post) that I posted just 7 hours prior.
Sure it only has a reach of just under 5,000 people, but it has already been shared 16 times. It will probably be shared another 100 times in the next 24 hours and ultimately end up reaching 100,000 people or so before all is said and done.
Forget Facebook for a second. That’s A LOT of free blog traffic too!
Pro Tip: Remember the tutorial does not have to come from your company, but can be related to your business! Are you a home builder? Try step-by-step instructions on how your customers can create the perfect wall photo collage in their new home.
#3 – Solve a Problem… Better Yet, Let THEM!
People love brain teasers. People love to help. People want to feel smart.
Hmmm… Why not post an update that lets them do all three?
This is my #1 performing post of the year. Yes, you are reading that correctly, it reached 43+ MILLION people with nearly 3 MILLION likes, comments and shares and 100% of that traffic coming organically.
(Want to get more clicks from Facebook, Twitter, and your own blog? Download Digital Marketer’s free Ultimate Social Media Swipe File here!)
#4 – Share a Tip
Share a tip from an industry expert for solving a common problem or overcoming a challenge.
Check out this post by Digital Marketer that I shared tips for character count on. I contributed with other industry experts and the engagement on this post was crazy!
The organic reach on this post was over 4,000 and stretched even further when you consider that the post was shared 41 times.
By doing this you are educating your audience while positioning yourself as an expert. Your audience will start to count on you for their updated news and revisit your page.
I am in the social media marketing business. This tip was not only seen by 9,560 people, but liked, commented or shared 156 times and the photo itself was clicked 200 times.
That’s nearly 10,000 people who might just look to me for tips in the future.
#5: Share the Luv
Every week I do a Facebook Friday post where I let people tag their Facebook Fan Page in the comments section in return for liking, commenting and sharing a post on the other Fan Page links in the thread.
Not only is a great way to help people build their Facebook communities, but it is a relationship starter and places you in the center of a growing community as a relationship facilitator.
Plus, my reach was 24,792 people and got 1,321 likes, comments and shares on the post….for free!
#6 – Adopt a Cause
What causes are you legitimately interested in?
What are your favorite holidays?
Causes and holidays are something that a great many people have in common.
I have a very soft spot for families with autistic children. So, on National Autism Day, April 2nd, I created a post that came straight from my heart and built a beautiful graphic to go with it.
The post reached 156,992 people and was liked, commented on or shared 7,271 times.
Your community will love ‘humanizing’ posts. Remember what I said in tactic #1? Be relatable! Show your community you care for more than just your brand and your growth.
Lend a hand to a greater cause, encourage your community to follow suit, and you’ll get a double bonus for your engagement.
Bonus Tactic – Facebook Offers
Okay, admittedly this one isn’t free, but my results have been utterly spectacular every time I do it, and if you are going to spend a very little amount of money on Facebook advertising, then this is the best place to do it.
Try out Facebook offers. Facebook Offers is a simple yet effective way to reward your fans while increasing sales, engagement and tracking ROI.
If you’re not familiar with Facebook Offers, Molly Pittman shows how Digital Marketer utilizes them in this post and breaks down why they’re so successful:
“Facebook offers are a certain kind of Facebook ad for discounts, flash sales, etc. They appear differently in the news feed with a “Get Offer” Button in the bottom right hand corner of the ad.
When they click the process is different, too. There’s a pop up that thanks them for claiming the offer, and then they’re given the link to claim the offer and it’s ALSO emailed to them!
The link that we use for the offer is always to a landing page.
For example, the ad above was 82% off tickets to Traffic & Conversion Summit.
Why does it work?
Facebook offers are shared a ton and receive awesome organic reach because people want to share deals with their friends. Also, the email touch point is BIG.”
Here are some of my best tips for your Facebook Offer:
- Grab the attention of your audience by using a high quality image and increase your engagement!
- Add a CTA (Call-to-Action) button, such as, SHOP NOW!
- Remember the 80/20 rule – Facebook will only allow 20% of your image to be text. Try it before you buy it and make sure it will be accepted by previewing it on Facebook’s grid tool.
I spent under $300 ($297.40 to be exact!), added 1,487 people to my e-mail list and sold $13,383 in product using this one Facebook Free Offer.
That’s it! Use these tactics to reach new heights when driving free traffic through your Facebook Fan Page.
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