How We Reached Over 21 Million People On Facebook For Free

We hear it all the time 'Facebook is a pay to play platform now', but my experience is the exact opposite.

Facebook is still a content platform despite what anyone says. And yes while you can pay to boost content, so it reaches more people, you still need really good content in the first place. Boosting bad content will always have bad results.

In this article, I will explain how we reached over 21 million people on Facebook for free in 11 months. You will learn about what type of content works best and how to maximise your results.

Ok so here is the breakdown

There are three pages that combine to make this data. We had a 418% increase in fans, 28,305 were Facebook fans which was an 8,080.6% increase.

Here is the data breakdown for the top 2 pages I run for clients

and

You will notice that there has been a steep incline in both pages around summer time that has continued afterwards.

At this point you might be thinking 'yeah but I don't need a Facebook page, I have Twitter and LinkedIN'. If that is your thoughts let me explain the value of Facebook.

Why You Need To Grow Your Facebook Page

We are bombarded with messages, from emails to social media and now even 'push notifications'. It is a lot of noise, and for that reason, you need to become a brand that people know, like and trust.

As we know this is key if we want to sell anything and Facebook is a great way to engage with people. This is not about selling; it is about engaging with a potential consumer, because when they are ready to buy you want them to choose you.

They will choose you because they like your brand, you have created content that has helped them, entertained them or even just made them smile. And this engagement means when it is time for you to sell your goods or services you have built up a digital relationship with them.

Most importantly your relationship is built up with individuals in their 'down time'. You are getting in front of people while they are relaxing, having lunch or even sitting at home.

This is key!

Facebook is the platform where people come to socialise, read content and of course see what their friends are up to, and if they like your page they are saying' you have permission to speak to me when I am relaxing'. You have their undivided attention!

Of course, this is a numbers game, your odds of selling increase because you have not just more fans/ followers, but those fans are engaged with your brand.

And here is how to gain those quality followers;

1. Create Viral Content

Sounds easy in theory but it is harder than it looks. Viral content has to be remarkable, but I cover how to go viral in this post.

There are of course two types of virality, the one where the video of your cat dancing goes viral (you earn no money) and the second kind is Valuable Virality.

Valuable virality is what you need because this helps you to make money in the long run. That could be via increasing page likes or even clicks to your brand. But you need that content to link back to your brand.

2. Be Engaging

I tell people that you should aim to post on Facebook 1 to 3 times each day. Some pages can take more but either way if you post 3 times a day you have over 1000 posts to put out to your Facebook audience each year.

365 x 3 = 1095. Now imagine getting 1095 sales pitches, I am pretty sure you would be tired and dislike the page at the third crap post. And this is the game you are in folks, like it or not people want to be entertained by a Facebook page, not sold to. That being said, people will tolerate being sold to by a page/ brand they know, like and trust which is why growing your Facebook page is essential.

But what is engaging?

There is no hard and fast rule for this but check out this article for a full guide on how to get Facebook likes, in the meantime here are a few ideas;

1. Blog posts
2. Videos
3. Other people's content
4. Memes
5. Contests
6. Photos
7. Stories
8. Quizzes
9. Facebook Live

3. Get to 10,000 Likes As Soon As You Can (But it is not easy)

I remember seeing a course advertised online called 'Get 10,000 fans' and thinking that you would need a big budget to get to those numbers, but when I did that for free, it broke all my preconceived ideas.

That being said it was very hard work. I am not talking about serious 'working down the mining pit graft'. No, this was creative work. Hours spent analysing what was working for other pages and then creating something that delivers results and that can be draining in a different way.

But on each page, I have worked with (and others not included here) the magic 10,000 likes seems to provide some sort of 'double figure social proof', I do not know why but it was far harder for one page to get to 10,000 than it was to get from 10 to 20,0000 likes.

That being said do not buy fake likes. Not only is that against the terms of service of Facebook it is also pointless. Facebook's algorithm requires real people to engage with your content. Without this, your page will not grow.

4. Put The Hours In

This is the number one failure of almost any Facebook page that is struggling. I see a lot of people who tell me 'Facebook just does not work for my business'. So here is the thing, running a Facebook page is like raising a child. You need to feed it good content every day (3 meals are best). It will not do as you want for a long time, but each day it will grow ever so slightly. Eventually, you look at your Facebook page and it is crushing it, and you say 'my haven't you grown'.

You have to put the graft in and yes if you do have money this will help to swell your page numbers if you pay Facebook to help you get more likes. But that does not replace hard work.

5. Never Put A Person In Charge Of Social Media Just Because They Are Young

My last tip to grow your Facebook feed (and how we did it) is less of a tip but more of a rule. I see many business owners who try and outsource Facebook (and other social media) to an intern or a person because they are 'young'.

There is a weird business owner viewpoint that young people are better at using Facebook than older individuals. This has nothing to do with age but experience. Young people tend to spend more time on the platform, and they have grown up with it, but that does not mean they are better or worse than anyone else.

So what are the key attributes for a great Social Media Manager? Creativity and communication.

Sorry if you were expecting some kind of breakthrough moment, but these are the two significant assets required for great social media. Young or old, if they are an excellent communicator and are creative, then they will be the best placed to help your channel grow.

Conclusion

Growing a Facebook page is not an easy task, but it is an incredibly powerful way to get website visitors. It will take hard work on a daily basis and over time you will start to see results.

The issue, however, is that if you are 3 years into a serious Facebook growth campaign and are not seeing any kind of traction you need to stop what you are doing and look at why.

If you are struggling with your Facebook marketing, please get in touch, and I will try and help to advise you free of charge.

Thank you for reading

Andrew Holland

www.zoogly.co.uk