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Do you want more Likes on Facebook? That’s easy give your Facebook page a steroid. Do not worry neither Congress nor MLB Commissioner Bud Selig will come after you.
This post has nothing to do with conversion to your website or email, funneling people to your Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest or Google+ accounts. It also has nothing to do with Facebook Interactions or people “Talking about this”. If this was a post for that I would highlight Facebook interaction genius Michael Berger (@MichaelSBerger).
This is a post about getting more Likes on Facebook, then you can do whatever you want with them. I believe there are four main ways to get more Likes.
- Pay
- Content and Time
- Ask/Beg
- Like Gated contests
PAY – if you don’t have enough friends of the friends you want, just buy them!
- You can advertise on Facebook itself
- Hire a company to get them for you
Content and Time – dedicated people will reap huge rewards with this approach
- You can create sticky, informational content that is posted at exactly the right time and do it day in and day out, with constant attention and dedication. Here is a good read for the people truly dedicated from Mashable
Ask/Beg – let’s face it we have all done it – don’t be ashamed. BUT it will only take you so far
- This strategy was best described in a comic done by, who else The Oatmeal It is, of course, brilliant!
Like Gated Contests – these work like a charm IF you make the prizing specific to your current audience and the new “Likers” you are hoping to attract. If you haven’t done one of these yet you should. Either find yourself a tremendous developer and start from scratch or work with one of the many 3rd party vendors and buy the program. I have worked directly with: Wildfire & Second Street but have looked at and been approached by many others. It all depends on budget, need, style, etc
- Of course Hubspot did a great post about this over a year and a half ago, it gives good info and examples
- And then they did another one last November, which they topped themselves!
- I am not very familiar with Social Fresh but I thought this was also a strong post
- Lastly I’ll feature this post of like gating written by Jamie Jacobsen on Spyder Trap
A Few Other KEY things to Consider:
- Make sure to make the contest also open to your current “Likers” you will get some nice extra loyalty and benefits from them
- Make the design clean and the entry simply
- AGAIN – make the prize something “most” people will like, but especially the ones you want to attract the most: cash is king, but new tech gadgets are great and it’s hard to lose with some type of mass appeal money can’t buy experience /experiential
- Don’t let it become visual wall paper – 2-4 weeks to me is enough time to run a like gated contest with the sweet spot in the 2-3 week range
- Make it part of a bigger integrated program if you can – support it with media, digital, etc
- Make sure you have a “share” option as part of your contest where people can more entries by having their friends join
- Be careful in regards to mobile. These programs most likely will not be seen if people are looking at your Facebook page on the app using their smart phones or tablet
If you would like more info on this topic feel free to leave me a comment here or tweet me @BillAlfano
