7 Tips to Build an Enthusiastic Following For Your Facebook Business Page
Do you have a Facebook page dedicated to your therapy business?
If not, you should! If you do, great, it’s time to maximize its potential benefits.
See, an established Facebook presence can springboard and supercharge your practice.
According to PEW Research, just under seven in 10 Americans report using Facebook. 74% are daily visitors. Each visit lasts for an average of 37 minutes. Also, two-thirds of the world’s Facebook users have reported visiting a local business page at least once per week. The opportunity to connect with people on this platform is powerful.
Facebook enables you to share valuable tips and content, touch base, share your personality, and build rapport in a space that your ideal clients already frequent. Posting regular high-quality content delivers value and raises your profile as a trusted expert.
So, if you’re not taking advantage of this favorite hangout, you’re limiting the chance to connect with current and potential clients. This can hurt your practice, limit your capacity to help others and smack your profits.
With this in mind, how can you build a following for your Facebook business page?
Here are our top 7 tips to supercharge your online presence and build an enthusiastic following for your Facebook business page.
Interested in getting MORE clients through your website? Learn how through our FREE 5-Day E-Course!
1. Invite Your Facebook Friends to Like Your Business Page
The easiest way to get an uptick in followers is to invite your friends to like your business page.
You can do this manually, person-by-person, or you can use Facebook’s invite tool!
Here are the steps:
- Go to your biz page (If you’re not sure how, click on the flag at the top of your newsfeed, then choose your page from the list.)
- Under the ellipsis symbol (“…”) that represents ‘other actions’, choose ‘invite friends’ as shown here:
- Select the friends you’d like to invite by ticking the box beside each name
- Hit ‘send invites’
2. Link to Your Business Page in Email Newsletters
Your current clients and those on your email list have shown interest in what you do. You already hold a level of trust, or they would not be with you. Encourage these people to follow or like your Facebook business page.
How?
- Directly ask them to follow or like you
- Place a recommendation on a noticeboard in your practice
- Ask them in your email newsletter
- Hold an in-practice competition to encourage likes
- Include your link wherever possible to provide the opportunity for action
- Let people know that you share valuable content on your business Facebook page, then make sure that you do
Brainstorm other ideas that will encourage people to join your Facebook tribe. Then get to work!
Tip: Don’t be shy! Ask people to follow and like your page.
3. Add Social Sharing Buttons to Your Private Practice Website
When you offer valuable content, people will become interested in what you have to say. A percentage will wish to share your insights. This is a powerful tip; ensure it’s an easy process!
If you write blog posts — and you should — this is especially important.
Look at the left-hand side of this page and under the headline. See the ‘share this’ buttons that promote sharing to Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter?
With one click, a smaller screen opens. With a second click, the content is instantly shared on the visitor’s chosen platform. The speed and ease encourage people to share. As they do, their connections might engage with your content too.
Extra tip: Embed links to your social media accounts on your website – the header and footer are perfect places for this. If you are tech-challenged or simply too busy, ask your website designer to do this for you. At Brighter Vision, unlimited tech support is part of our service.
4. Post High-Quality, Engaging Content At Opportune Times
Have you ever landed on a blog only to become instantly bored and click away? No one loves a tedious post!
Or the other hand, have you touched down on a site only to become enamored, consuming page after wonderful page? You look at the time and realize — *poof* — you’ve just lost an hour!
The latter is the aim.
To do this, you must share relevant, useful, and shareable content that directly targets your ideal client – answering their problems and easing their pain.
Social media post library of pre-written mental health content included with Social Genie by Brighter Vision.
Let’s look at an example from a visitor’s perspective…
Imagine you’re stuck in deep-seated depression. Finding the light has been nigh on impossible. But, you land on a site that beautifully explains why you feel this way; how your current experience is explainable, especially given what has been happening in your life. You begin to see how accumulative stress has drained your reserves; why your signs and symptoms are not a sign of weakness but the result of a sensible, albeit ultimately unhelpful reaction.
You know by the way the author speaks that they “get it.” Instead of the blame others have heaped on you, they explain common in’s and out’s. You discover more in one sitting than you have in the months, even years, before.
Then you click on a page that provides three simple steps that you can implement right now. They make a noticeable difference! What else can you learn while you’re here?
Can you see how great content leads down an empowering rabbit hole? How offering expert insight and actionable steps can build rapport and create connection? And how this can supercharge share-ability? They’ve benefitted and so want to share “you” to help others benefit too?
But Facebook isn’t only about the written word. Other than text, how can you boost the quality of your content?
Tip One: Add Pictures
According to a study published in the Journal of Marketing Research:
- A relevant image paired with information increases people’s retention by 55%
- Including an image in a tweet boosts the number of retweets by 119.15%
- To maximize interaction, an image should be relevant to the text
- High-quality pictures lead to higher engagement
Tip Two: Include Video
We know that images trump text alone, but where does video come in?
Databox wanted to know, too. Their team asked marketers for insights into the success of social media when comparing image and video-based content.
They found that video:
- Drives more engagement
- Increases conversion
- Boosts click-through rates for advertising
How do you create great video content?
- Keep it simple. Share one tip or point rather than dividing into a webinar-length presentation.
- Be engaging.
- Be unique.
- Opt for a vertical over a horizontal presentation.
- Embed the video. For example, upload your video to your Facebook. business page rather than sharing a link to YouTube.
- Use subtitles. Most people have their phones set to silent, and smartphones are a popular way of accessing social media. Adding subtitles means viewers can watch in silence.
Tip Three: Check Your Insights
Your audience might have specific times of the day or week when they are more engaged with your stuff. Find this out and use it to determine your private practice Facebook posting schedule.
Facebook offers page insights. To access these:
- Go to your business Facebook page.
- Look to the left where you’ll see ‘Manage page’.
- Scroll down and click on ‘Insights’.
- Get to know this page, inside and out. Find out when your tribe prefers to interact with you. Use this to your advantage; post at opportune times.
Don’t have time? Use automated software like Brighter Vision’s Social Genie!
5. Be Interesting
As mentioned earlier, interest leads people down the rabbit hole. But it’s so much more than this. It will distinguish you as the expert, provide insights people haven’t found elsewhere, and provide a reason to stay connected with you on Facebook (and other social media platforms, your blog, and practice).
Ask yourself (and ask your community):
- What do you know that most people don’t?
- How can you make a post engaging?
- What do your clients often ask you?
- Where do you see flaws in other types of treatment?
- What research have you read recently that will rock the boat (in a good way)?
- What do your clients seem interested in?
Post about that.
Naturally, be professional. However, do not hide your personality or uniqueness. This is part of what will attract your ideal clients to you.
Need help marketing to your Ideal Client? Take our Ideal Client Quiz now to receive your custom marketing tips.
6. Be Responsive!
People feel considered and appreciated by a timely response. On the other hand, a bad and lingering taste sets in on being ignored. The same rules apply on Facebook.
Set aside at least 15 minutes each day to check and respond to all comments.
Many practices do not do this, so being responsive separates you from the pack.
7. Promote Your Page
The above steps organically promote your Facebook page, meaning they don’t cost a dime. But, remember: Facebook enables you to grow even faster through paid advertising too.
Funded promotion is a streamlined way to boost your findability, engagement, and numbers. However, remember the aim: to supercharge your ability to serve, enhance practice growth, and prosper. Don’t start mindlessly throwing money at advertising just to do it. Employ a strategic approach.
How?
There is more than we can cover in a single post. Instead, we’ve created targeted content to walk you through the process. These three posts are the best place to start:
- Learn the process of creating enticing ads! This article takes you through the how-to: How to Write a Better Paid Ad for Your Practice?
- On this page, you can access a free copy of our infographic, Private Practice Guide to FB Advertising: Your Private Practice Guide to Facebook Advertising
- Don’t want to read through a full blog post? Check out this episode of The Therapist Experience Podcast: Using Pay-Per-Click Advertising on Facebook to Grow Your Practice
Get advertising wrong, and you will waste swathes of money. Get it right, and your practice can flourish quickly!
Start Building Your Following For Your Facebook Business Page
Create an engaging, exciting, and unique Facebook business page. Share your knowledge and insights. Be active. Ask people to come and join you; to like and follow. Adequate time and an investment of money can reap incredible results. Let us know how you get on!
Make Facebook Posting Easier Than Ever
If you’re looking for a way to take your Facebook and Social Media Marketing to the next level, we’ve got you covered.
Did you know that Social Genie by Brighter Vision takes away all of the pain when it comes to planning and creating social media posts for your practice?
If you’d like to get started on a 14-day free trial so that you can save yourself from the headaches and hassles of social media marketing, just fill in your info below:
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