Facebook is the most popular social network on the planet, and if you wanted to pick one network to focus on, it should be this one.

Facebook has users of all ages and genders. If you’re trying to reach adults, this is the best platform.

If you’re just getting started with Facebook, you want to make sure you have all the key components in place before you begin posting.

Create a Facebook page (not a personal profile). A page let’s anyone "Like," and you don’t have to accept friend requests. Facebook walks you through setting everything up, but there’s a few things you need to focus on:

  • A short about description about your business that includes your website address
  • A profile photo (logo or human ambassador)
  • A cover photo (use this to describe your message)

I highly recommend that you craft a clear headline about your organization that you can use across all platforms. It should be descriptive in your goals. For example, the message is clear on Learn2Swim.org: Teach Your Kids How to Swim

For SwimUniversity.com it’s: Keep Your Swimming Pool Clean and Clear without going broke

Address their pains and help to solve it.

Now that you have your page set up, you can start posting content. This is where developing a strategy is going to help, because if you’re just blindly posting stuff, you won’t know if what you’re doing is effective.

Understanding EdgeRank

Every time you post something on social media, your objective is to get people to engage with it. That means getting people to LIKE, COMMENT or SHARE what you’ve posted.

If you have 500 people that like your page and you post a photo, it doesn’t mean that all 500 people will see your photo. Facebook has developed an algorithm called EdgeRank that helps determine which of your posts is seen by more people.

In fact, you can assume that less than 10 percent of your Facebook fans will see your post. But if they’re not engaging with it, Facebook won’t show it to any more of your fans. The networking site has decided your post wasn’t good enough because people didn’t engage with it.

Unfair? Maybe. But it’s what makes Facebook so unique. It forces marketers to create good content worth sharing.

I can tell you from experience and from what I’ve read that photos posted on Facebook get more engagement than any other type of media.

Getting More Likes

The more likes your page has, the more people you can engage with and help spread your content. As you continue to post great stuff that people love, it will lead more people to your Facebook page that want to LIKE you and receive your content for themselves.

As a guideline, I recommend posting at least once a day, but no more than 3 times. That means you will be creating at least 365 Facebook posts a year, and make them all count. It’s great to be able to plan this in advance, but it’s also fun and more engaging to follow trends.

But it’s also a good idea to bring people in from the outside:

  • Add a Facebook Button to Your Website
  • Add a Facebook Link to your email signature
  • Add your Facebook page to your business cards

Avoid Paying for Attention

This is a rule that I follow, but if you want to experiment with it, be my guest.

In my experience, when you gain fans and followers naturally, it means those people choose to be a part of your community, and they WANT to hear what you have to say.

When you pay for fans, the bond isn’t as strong, and I noticed that on the page I run with paid likes, we get less engagement than Facebook pages where I didn’t pay for likes.

Got Questions about Facebook Marketing?

If you have any questions, please share them in the comments below. I will be keeping an eye out and will do my best to answer any questions you may have!

Happy Swimming!