Earlier this week, I wrote about the big changes for businesses on Facebook. It feels like we say that a lot around here but one thing is clear, Facebook wants the revenue and knows most businesses will pay for views if they’ve been shut out of organic reach.
The one thing Facebook is concentrating on with this change in streams is allowing users to see more of the content friends post and share. This gives businesses who don’t want to pay for reach another way to be seen — through shares. But how do you get people to share your content and refer you to others?
Boost Your Shares
In order to get people to share your content you need to do the following things:
Serve up content people need. Know your target audience and give them what they want. All of your content should be entertaining, educational, or inspirational. These are the most commonly shared pieces.
If you want likes, share images. Pictures get the most likes on Facebook but likes alone won’t help you reach your market anymore.
Use video. Facebook has admitted that they are placing Facebook Live videos above other content in streams.
Post later in the day or during off hours. Posts later in the day get more likes and shares. Not sure the science behind this but I bet it has something to do with watching the clock and the work day ending.
Boost Your Referrals
The second part of this equation is getting people to talk about you on their own. You can do this by:
Giving them something to talk about. No one talks about a business that meets expectations. You must delight your audience with something unexpected. Sending a customer a thank you gift for their recent purchase is a nice touch. Your social customers will often reward you with a social media share.
Ask for the referral. Yes, it’s that simple and the more personalized the ask, the more likely they are to oblige.
Create a referral program. Give customers (connections and affiliates) some reason to refer people to you or your event.
Give the introverts something to do. Expecting all of your customers, even your really great ones, to refer you to others is a little naive. Some people just don’t feel comfortable with it. For them, create ways they can share your awesomeness without hitting up their friends. Use them for case studies, white papers, testimonials, or quotes on your website.
Need more? Here are some additional ideas to build your referral network. Unless you want to start paying for views on Facebook, this is going to become even more important in the future so start cultivating the relationships now.
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