There are so many great reasons to use Facebook as part of your business. You always hear that you should hang out online where the people of your niche hang out. That generally means Facebook these days. Facebook is a true juggernaut in the online world- it’s become an important part of people’s everyday lives, all around the world.
Unfortunately, businesses often use Facebook in the wrong way. Some people get on Facebook and just spam their links and expect to make a lot of money and grow their business that way. That doesn’t work at all.
Instead, what works is building real relationships on Facebook. What works is sharing things people really care about, showcasing your expertise as an authority in your niche, and having an overall social media marketing strategy to build your list.
Let’s talk about each of these pieces of using Facebook to build your list, in turn.
Of course, the first thing you have to do is start to develop a following on Facebook. It’s important to investigate what other marketers are already doing to successfully build their list on Facebook.
Search for keywords and related terms using the Facebook search bar to find relevant Facebook pages and relevant Facebook groups. Like and join the obviously successful groups and pages so you can start to immerse yourself in this niche.
What you’re going to do is use what works in your niche for the people of your niche.
Next, decide if you’re going to focus your attention on a Facebook page or a Facebook group. You can do both, but if you’re just starting out with this, then it makes sense to choose just one so you can put more energy into it. Just a note, you can be successful with either option, honestly.
Building Real Relationships on Facebook
If you want people to join your list, then you have to focus on what people want.
They want great information and they want to feel like someone cares about what they’re going through.
They want to be entertained, informed, and enlightened.
They want from you what they can’t get from anyone else.
How do you stand out in your niche? What is your role in the lives of these people?
Figure this out and you can start to build relationships in a way that will make people want to join your list.
Be helpful, be active, and be consistent on Facebook.
Share Things People Really Care About
You want to be seen as someone who always knows what’s going on in your niche. You want to share breaking news, new ideas, thought provoking questions, and more.
What do the people of your niche need and want to know? Create a page or a group on Facebook that they check in with every day out of habit— something that’s an everyday part of their lives.
Be An Authority
You’re a marketer who wants to be seen as an authority. People probably won’t join your list if they think they know just as much as you do or if you have the exact same cookie cutter perspective as other people.
How do you stand out? How do you help people? How do you share information no one else is sharing, or share it in a new way?
Make sure you’re working hard to be an expert in your niche and to present yourself as an expert in your niche. You’re an authority, so make sure it shows.
Post things that are helpful. You can link people to your blog or website where you share additional helpful information. In fact, it’s a great idea to get people used to visiting your links because sometimes you’ll want to share a link that has a list building goal attached to it.
Have a Solid Marketing Strategy Behind You
You’re developing relationships with people and sharing great information because you truly do want to help. It’s important to you to be helpful and really make an impact.
It’s also important to you to grow your list so you can make more money and be more successful in business.
That’s why you have to have a solid marketing strategy behind you.
You’re running a Facebook page or a Facebook group… now what? What do you intend to do with that group?
It’s great to have a successful page or group, by the way, but you never know if Facebook will be around in 10 years. Your goal, with everything you do on Facebook and on social media, should be to drive people to your list. Your list is something you own and control and that can’t be taken away from you.
Facebook and the like are tools. That’s it. They are a means to an end— the end being that you grow your list and turn your business into something that’s booming.
As part of your marketing strategy, take the data that you now know about the people who like your Facebook page or group. Figure out what their most asked questions are and what they’re willing to pay for.
Think about the hottest selling products in your niche— the products these people go crazy for.
Then, think of a way you can give them what they want, completely for free.
You’re going to come up with a freebie product that you give away for free to these people. You’re going to create that freebie and advertise it for free on the page or group you’ve started to make successful.
The absolute only catch is that they have to enter their email address into an opt-in form to receive that freebie. That’s it!
You are going to put that freebie behind an opt-in form, which people will happily use so they can get the product they would otherwise pay for.
At this point, your audience really admires you and you have a strong following. Surely they’ll take a look at your link where you’ve posted about your freebie on Facebook and sign up.
You’re not some random person shoving a link in their face— you’re someone they know, like, and trust.
You’re not even trying to sell them something! You’re giving them something totally for free.
That’s incredible. And now you’ll have targeted people on your list who will read your emails and feel grateful because you’ve given them a free gift as well as the great information you share on your Facebook page or group all the time.
Getting More Traffic To Facebook and To Your List
One thing I haven’t directly addressed to this point is how you get traffic to your Facebook page or group, and then to your list.
Let’s start with getting traffic via Facebook, first.
Take a look at those really popular groups and pages again. What are they called? You might see some common threads among some of the most successful.
Try to use popular keywords in the title of your page or group. Also, think about a phrase you could use that will entice people to click. You want to show up in Facebook and Google searches.
You probably don’t want to just name the page or group “My Business Name,” because people won’t know your business name at this point and aren’t likely to click that “like” or “join” button.
Create something catchy. Comment on other pages as your page. Invite people to your page or group.
Let your current social channels know about your new page or group.
You can pay for ads to get more likes. Facebook ads are fantastic, generally affordable, and really convert.
Do what you can to grow your traffic on Facebook. That’s when you can build relationships, share great information, and more.
And once you do that, you can start sharing the link to your freebie offer. Facebook will become one of your best methods for generating traffic to your opt-in form.
Creating Different Offers Over Time
You’ll get new likes and new members all the time. And there are probably different sub-niches within your main niche.
That’s why you’ll probably want to come out with different freebie offers over time. That’s a great thing! You’ll attract different sections of your overall target market.
The bigger your group or page grows, the bigger your list can grow.
Give things away for free, using Facebook as a traffic generation tool, and you can do very well.
Build a great list and you can do very well in business in general. Facebook is one of the best tools you can use for this.