8 simple steps to help you grow your Facebook page

this post contains affiliate links, please see full disclosure policy for more details

* edit 23 May: my Facebook page continues to grow following the teachings from Rachel’s Facebook Growth Course.  From January 2017 until 23 May 2017 my page has grown by 918 followers from 2706 to 3264.  Not only that but I have more than made my money back; with increased referral traffic from Facebook I have been able to reach out and gain more sponsored content, not to mention that I have now taken on four new Social Media Management Clients.   Rachel’s methods work and I’m excited to see where I take my Facebook page.  This is one investment I’m glad to have made; you can buy the course here and start changing your Facebook attitude today.

Growing my Facebook fan page
My current growth pattern 2017 until 23 May

I love Facebook.  There I said it.  I love Facebook and I am addicted to it.  I spend my time browsing through it, flipping through my newsfeed.  I have to say it’s definitely one of my favourite social media channels for my blog, so growing my Facebook page has always been high on my agenda.

Facebook has always been the biggest referrer back through to my blog, I drive most of my traffic through Facebook and this year I decided that 2017 was the year to take my Facebook page to the next level.  I joined the Moolah Marketing Facebook Course which was actually a gift from my husband for my birthday, yes my love of Facebook is that strong.  Stalked through the Facebook group (which you can join without being a member) and began my quest to take over Facebook.

I was the original slow and steady, my Facebook page had grown to 2,686 followers as of the 1st January this year, after 2 years of being live, by big boosts coming in from various viral posts where I had popped my Facebook link at the bottom of the page.

From the 1st January to 18th February my page has grown by 355 engaged fans to 3041 fans without me joining in a single like-for-like or follow-for-follow thread you find in .  Simply by using the tips and tricks from the course to grow my engagement and with that, the people who like my page.

How my Facebook page likes have grown

And the reason why is simple, prior to the course my Facebook attitude was slightly off.  I was all about trying to beat the system, to get the better of Facebook BUT it isn’t about beating the system, or the algorithm.  It isn’t about paying for every single post to be seen (though I do pay for some).  It’s about changing your Facebook attitude.

With everyone complaining that the algorithm is beating them, I am finding the opposite is happening simply from following the course, finding like minded people to bounce ideas off in the FREE Facebook Group my page (and others I manage) has seen an increase in both followers and engagement.

But why wasn’t it working for me before?

Simply because my Facebook attitude was all wrong –  I was too busy trying to beat the algorithm I dropped the ball. It’s not about beating the system or paying for a gazillion ads, it’s about working smarter and more effectively to a system, which Rachel helps to teach you through the course modules.

With engaging conversation ideas to kick start the engagement on your page to audience analysis and advertising tips on how best to promote you.

All starting with an attitude change.

A change in Facebook attitude

The first step to grow your Facebook page is to change your Facebook attitude.

I stopped seeing Facebook as the enemy, as an algorithm to beat.  I started to really look at how to *use* Facebook to my advantage and I went back to bare bones with it thanks to the help of Rachel and her course.

Now the course goes into specifics, into when to schedule, how to schedule, what to schedule.  It shows you the lazy and the powerful way to boost your posts, to create page ads.  It shows you around the back end of your insights and explains them in detail. And so SO much more! There is a FREE audience building workshop to try out so you can see what I mean.

But in the meantime here is how I’ve gone about changing my Facebook attitude.

Not everything I write is suitable for Facebook

One of my best posts last month was a guest post from Toby & Roo on how she grew her Instagram from 0-50k in less than 12 months.  In a bygone era I would have just whacked that up on my Facebook page and it would have flopped.   No one would have read it because that isn’t why people are coming to my Facebook page.

Life with Baby Kicks is an expat parenting blog with one very sleep deprived Mummy behind it.  Those are the posts that I share.  The real, raw parenting posts that I write.  Those are my Facebook magic posts.

Facebook Reach
The reach on the posts when I am hitting exactly what the target audience is after

The invite button is your friend

When you’re just starting out the key is to get people liking and engaging on the content that you put out there.  Keeping a consistent brand image, much like you do on Pinterest or Instagram, means that people are more likely to keep coming back to your page.

And when they like your content – you get the magic invite button…

To find this magic button all you need to do is to click on the people who like your post and up comes this screen (when in the Pages app) invite, invite, invite away.

invite button on Facebook

Use groups to your advantage

Share, within group parameter guidelines, relevant blog posts.

Part of a breastfeeding group and written a wonderful breastfeeding post – share it.

Part of a parenting group and written something about sleep deprivation that others may relate to – share it.

Part of an expat group and written about expat life – share it.

There are more places to share your posts (and remember to do it directly off your page) than just the blogger groups that are set up.

You can share your blog post links more than once

There is a big Facebook theory that sharing your links more than once hurts your reach.  Time and time again I see blogger social media guides that you only post a link once to Facebook.  In some ways that’s true, a copy and paste of each link again and again and people are going to get fed up.

A strategic reshare of a blog post link that has done well however – a whole different ball game.

Facebook likes content that reaches users, it wants to keep Facebookers happy.  Therefore a re-share of good content is keeping them happy.  Worried about annoying your followers?  Chances are, if you’ve engaged the right kind of fan, they will like it and read it again.  Or you’ll hit someone else.  Or yes you might lose a follower, but that’s OK because

My top tip is that if you are doing this and schedule, do it from your phone as there you have the opportunity to remove the original post AND schedule (I haven’t quite worked out how to do that on a desktop yet) this is because that when I reshare the blog post I like to update with where we on in life, to keep it relevant and different, with a personal anecdote about where we are.

A prime example are my sleep related posts, I don’t have a newborn anymore but I can still reshare the post I wrote when he was 4 months old, I don’t have a one year old anymore but by writing a story about where we are now I can still reshare that post, I don’t have an 18 month old anymore but I can still reshare as you can see from the photo below.  The crux is my baby is still not sleeping and by sharing my personal experience I can reshare those posts, then if he ever does sleep I can reshare with a “how did I ever get through these days, you will get there” kind of attitude.

Change how you share your links for a second time and see what works for you.

Screen shot of Facebook page
The original post was written in October, this is a re-share of that post in December with an update on the fact my 20 month old still isn’t sleeping

Be relatable

People buy people.  People are interested in people.

I buy into people.  I love their stories.  Knowing them and relating to them is what has me reaching for the like button.

I probably won’t care that Tesco has the worlds biggest baby event* on, I mean I might because nappies are expensive.  But by someone writing “Tesco Baby Event now on – nappies are 2 for 1” I am probably going to scroll past.

But I much more likely to care – and engage – if you wrote something on it saying:

“Here’s a heads up, if your child is anything like mine you’ll go through approximately 17,542 nappies in half an hour.  That’s a lot of pennies that could be spent on other things (and by other things I mean wine) fear not other owners of small people who pee and poop more than you ever thought was humanly possibly, Tesco has your back with this weeks baby event, nappies are 2 for 1.

And the wine aisle is fully stocked should you need to replenish other supplies #justsaying”

*no idea if the Tesco baby event is on or if nappies are 2 for 1 just an example!

Mix it up

Would you visit a page that was simply link after link?  Variety is the spice of life.

You’re not just selling your blog you’re selling a community and lifestyle.  I know there are various pages that I’ve unfollowed because there is just link after link, unrelated to each other even, spamming up my news feed.  Hiding my real friends with their news.  If I do that as a blogger when I normally try to give out love and support by clicking, reading and liking – you can only imagine what your readers will be doing.

Unlike.

Unfollow.

It’s OK to pay to boost posts

You don’t need to do it to every post and you certainly don’t need to pay megabucks, I pay on average £1-3 on posts to promote.

It gives me a chance to get my posts out to people who would be interested in my page but haven’t had chance to see it yet, by using Ad Manager to create powerful boosts (thank you again Rachel!) I can target specifically to those who would be interested.

And no.  It doesn’t harm my reach on my next posts, provided that my next posts fits in with what my Facebook followers are expecting from my page.

The post prior to this one was boosted – not a bad reach for a page of 3000

Follow for Follow will hurt you

You see them all the time.  Like for like.  Follow for follow.

A wise woman said to me:

Other bloggers are NOT your niche they are your industry.

Which means the aim of the game is not to get other bloggers liking your page.  Unless of course you are a page for bloggers, offering blog course, blog tips, blog advice, then by all means go ahead.  But generally other bloggers, in a pure blogging capacity, are not your fan.  They are not your target simply because they are another blogger.

They, in all likelihood, will be playing a numbers game and will never engage with you.  Just like you are playing the numbers game and are unlikely to ever engage with them.

This hurts your page, your reach, your interaction if they aren’t interested in your content.

For example I might join a follow-for-follow thread and then be obliged to follow a fashion blogger where I have zero interest in what she is wearing or if sequins are bang on trend.  As I’m sure that she will also have zero interest in my life with the boys and the cute pictures I put up.  Or the fact I don’t ever sleep.  I won’t interact with that page, they won’t interact with mine and it’s just a floating non-engaging follower.

edit* I just want to add that what I’m saying here is that no, it’s not the point that you shouldn’t or other bloggers shouldn’t like you page, chances are other bloggers can, and most likely will, like your page.  But the idea is for them to be liking it because of WHO they are not WHAT they do.  Being a blogger isn’t all of me, I like to read parenting posts, I like to watch Tasty videos, I like funny cat memes, I’m very invested in the whole expat lifestyle – bloggers who post those types of things are likely to have a like from me because of WHO I am, not because I’m a blogger.  A case in point is the lovely Abbey from the Son and the Moon who pointed out to me she liked my Facebook page and she was a blogger, the same is true the other way round.  BUT I like her page because of the content she posts, the parenting, the expat and the breastfeeding NOT because I am a blogger.  I am a fan outside of my job.  I am a fan because I want to be.

Case Studies

Now of course, there is so much more to learn than what I’ve written.  Above really is a basic overview and not even 1 tenth of the content I’m learning via the course, it’s more of a lightbulb moment and common sense.  Rachel is sharing so much of her knowledge both in the Facebook course and the group.  An authority on growing Facebook pages she has grown a variety of pages over a short period of time including; One Crazy House to 536k followers, Crazy Cat Lady to 97k and of course where it all began at Quirky Momma at over 3m now.

Still not sure why it would benefit a parenting blog?!

From the 1st January until today my blog has seen 15,567 unique users view 22,137 pages.  Of those 15,567 users 9,927 came from my social media channels, with 87.9% coming from Facebook.

That is 8,728 people visiting my blog over 6 weeks via my Facebook page.

In contrast the preceding 6 weeks had 3,903 people visiting my blog via my Facebook page (though Christmas was included in this time)

The big thing for me here is that in January I didn’t write any new content that would have pulled views in the thousands, content that was shareable.  All of my views from Facebook in January came from content I had already created, had already shared, and had been lost in the ethos.  It is lost no more.

 Facebook page stats for the last 28 days on a page of 3000
My Facebook page stats for the last 28 days

Still not sure why it would benefit YOUR blog?!

From starting the course in January 2017 until the end of 2018 I had 263,453 page views. With 45% of my page views coming in from Facebook.

That’s 118,623 page views from Facebook alone.

I thoroughly recommend getting on the waitlist ready for the next course date.

I mean, when I first did it it even helped my health as I listened to Rachel as I ran.  

Working through at your own pace, unlocking the mystery behind showing your posts to more people, how to get those people to stay on your page and how to really target your advertising.

Soon your page will be booming.

Useful Links for Facebook Growth

Strangers to fans: A FREE Audience Building Workshop

Moolah Webclass

Moolah Evergreen Facebook Growth Web Course

Moolah Facebook Growth Course

Moolah Facebook Growth Waitlist

Pin for later

've been following a Facebook course that has seen my page grow by over 350 followers in 6 weeks, the big upshot of this is that I've seen over 8000 new people visit my blog via my Facebook page.
Follow:

this post contains affiliate links, please see full disclosure policy for more details

13 Comments

  1. February 15, 2017 / 8:06 am

    This is really interesting and helpful – it’s given me LOTS to think about. Thanks for sharing what you’ve learnt.

    • Laura
      Author
      February 15, 2017 / 9:28 am

      Thanks Chloe, this really is just the tip of the iceberg as to what Rachel teaches. There is so much content in there from viral funnels, to sourcing virals, creating virals, capitalising on growth. How to make an ad, how to find your audience, what FB can actually do for you.

      It’s amazing what she knows (and is sharing!!)

  2. February 16, 2017 / 5:56 am

    Thanks for the tips! Really eye-opening to how to utilise Facebook

  3. February 16, 2017 / 11:01 am

    Great reference. Thanks for sharing!

  4. February 19, 2017 / 5:47 am

    Great post! I haven’t started a Facebook page as yet (for various reasons). But your snapshot into how to get your facebook page to grow is fantastic!

  5. March 3, 2017 / 12:58 pm

    This is really interesting even though I don’t have a FB page and won’t be doing one soon as I don’t have the time to do it properly. But there’s loads here that can be applied to other social media.

    And thank you for confirming my suspicions about a follow for a follow requests! If you’re interested, then like it just because not for what you can get 🙂

  6. March 6, 2017 / 7:39 pm

    Thanks Laura, I’ve only just started my Facebook page so this was really helpful! Especially the tip about not posting everything on Facebook… I’m definitely guilty of that! #blogstorm

  7. March 10, 2017 / 3:53 pm

    I know my blog’s Facebook page is definitely not being utilised in the best way, and could be run a heck of a lot better. I either need to take the course or outsource the job, I think. The trouble with blogging is trying to be all over everything and it’s hard! Thanks for the info though, will look into this.

  8. March 12, 2017 / 5:11 am

    This is a fab post, it’s given me A LOT to think about to better my Facebook! Thank you Laura!

  9. March 28, 2017 / 2:53 pm

    Great tips must admit I feel a bit like Facebook is the enemy

  10. November 19, 2017 / 6:51 pm

    Awesome tips, Laura! I’m trying to boost my page and seeing that you’ve grown a lot in just a month motivates me to apply these strategies as well. Great share, very useful!

    #benstrends

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.