How to Get More Facebook Fans

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Some of the most frequent questions I receive involve social media and, more specifically, how to get more fans and followers for a blog’s social media accounts. While most of these inquiries involve Twitter, some of us (myself included) still like to interact on Facebook as well. And, to be honest, blog posts that are shared on Facebook have MUCH more potential to go viral than those shared on other forms of social media, so it can be worth your while to increase your Facebook numbers.

I’ve discussed this before, but it’s important to set up your blog’s Facebook presence as a fan page and not a personal page (see my instructions for how to do this). This makes it easy for readers to give your page a “like” instead of the awkwardness of adding you (or your blogging alter ego) as a friend. Once you’ve done that, it’s time to panic - how the heck do I get people to “like” my page?

How to Get More Facebook Fans

The first thing you need to decide as part of your social media strategy is this: Do you want pure numbers, or do you want “real” fans who respond to your posts and actually interact with you? One isn’t necessarily better than the other; it depends on what kind of website you have and how you plan to use social media. I find that most people want a combination of both.

If You Just Want Numbers

The easiest way to increase your number of Facebook fans is to host a giveaway or contest where people can gain entries by “liking” your fan page. If you’re giving away something awesome (cash and electronics seem to go over best), you can bet that people will do whatever it takes to get extra entries.

For a super mega increase in numbers, look for opportunities to participate in joint giveaways with larger blogs. Earlier this year, I threw in $10 toward an iPad giveaway that got over 150,000 total entries. This particular giveaway was hosted by a number of big-time mom bloggers and I gained over 600 new Facebook fans. It was astounding!

The cons of using giveaways: Unfortunately, giveaway fans don’t tend to interact much with the pages they “like” just to enter a contest. In fact, people who enter lots of giveaways usually have separate fake Facebook profiles just for contests, so a real person may not even see your posts. Some of them will also “unlike” your page after the contest ends, though most bloggers tend to hang onto a good number of them.

The pros of using giveaways: Big numbers for very little effort. It really doesn’t matter how much work you’ve put into your Facebook fan page; you can increase your numbers easily by giving away cool stuff.

If You Want Interaction

Let’s say numbers aren’t your thing and you’d like to gain fans who will actually read your Facebook posts and comment every now and then. I’ll warn you now - this is one of the hardest things to accomplish on social media. I can’t tell you why it’s so much harder to get interaction on Facebook than other platforms, but it’s a real challenge and takes a ton of time and patience.

First things first: You have to post more than just links to your blog posts. Some of my fellow bloggers are guilty of having fan pages that are literally nothing but links. And, naturally, they’re usually the ones that have a very modest (and sometimes laughable) number of fans. Links are okay - you want to promote the blog on its own Facebook page, after all - but people are on social media to be SOCIAL.

Post a random status every now and then, or ask niche-related questions that your fans can answer. I’ve found that asking for advice or solutions to a problem also tend to have good results. Experiment with posting at different times of day to find out when more of your fans are online to see your posts. And don’t be stingy with the funny pictures; everyone loves those! (But don’t go overboard either. One or two a day is plenty.)

Just don’t be overly spammy/fake if you ask questions - there’s a huge difference between this:

My son just tried to bring in a SNAKE from outside. Am I the only one whose kid likes gross, slimy creatures?

And something like this:

Ice cream is nice on a summer day. How do you like to cool off in summer?

Can you see the difference? The first one tells something personal about you (but not super personal) and seems like you’re interested in your fans’ lives. The second one is generic and impersonal. People aren’t stupid; they can tell when the interaction is natural vs. forced. And they’ll respond accordingly.

Also, make sure people know about your page. Put social icons in a prominent place on your blog to make it easy for people to become fans. Consider inviting readers to “like” your page at the end of your blog posts with the appropriate links. If you have blogging friends (or if your real life friends know about your blog), ask them to go click the “like” button too!

The cons of the old-fashioned way: Getting fans this way can take a long time. The Facebook page for Nuts and Bolts Media is only up to 74 “likes” at the time of this writing, and that has taken 2 months of hardcore begging and pleading. One of my other blogs finally got to 500, but it took 18 months and a LOT of work.

The pros of the old-fashioned way: You end up with fans who read your stuff, which makes them more likely to comment, like, and share. You get to learn more about your blog readers in a more casual environment - for some reason people who NEVER comment on my blog posts will gladly comment on a Facebook status.

So How’s Your Facebook Page?

Do you have a Facebook fan page for your blog? What methods have you used to gain new fans, and how have those efforts worked out? Any other tips you want to share?