Did you know that Facebook has over 1.28 billion monthly active users.
Wow.
What this means for you is that Facebook is way too big to ignore, especially if you are in internet or network marketing.
Most people use Facebook completely wrong, but not you.
In this post, we dive into 7 secret Facebook Marketing strategies that your mentors aren’t telling you.
1. The Power of Facebook Graph Search
Graph Search is the holy grail of Facebook marketing.
You can find laser targeted leads relevant to your business in just a few minutes using this feature.
See that search bar at the top of the page that looks like this:
Yeah, that is Graph Search.
Hint: If you don’t have Graph Search then you need to change your primary language to English by going to settings –> Language –> English.
So how do we use it?
Well, if I want to find people on Facebook who like internet marketing, then I would simply punch in, “people who like internet marketing.”
Obviosuly, you want to refine your search and get as specific as possible. I recommend searching for people who aren’t already your friends because our goal is to expand our network.
You can search by interest, groups, business pages, company, etc.
For example. “people who are not my friends who [like company xyz, like entrepreneurship, like Robert Kiyosaki, are members of xyz group].
Here are some more example screenshots:
But wait, it goes soo much deeper than that.
After you run a search, you can use the given filters to get even more specific.
Filter by gender, age range, location, hometown, employer, where they checked-in, etc.
Facebook Graph search is handing entrepreneurs a silver platter and inviting us to find targeted buyers for our products and services.
Now it’s on your shoulders to proactively use this strategy and blast out messages on a daily basis to grow your network.
The bigger your network is, the more powerful this list of strategies will be.
2. Brand YOURSELF and NOT your BUSINESS
I see this all the time.
People are throwing up profile pictures and cover photos that brand their business, and they completely remove themselves from the picture (pun intended).
First off, no one wants to connect with someone who has a profile picture of their cat, kids, car, or business logo. That is a huge turn-off. Same rules apply for your cover photo.
Also, what happens if your business goes under, or you decide to change opportunities.
All of your efforts in marketing, promoting, advertising, and building your network has now gone to shit.
You have to start all over.
Ouch.
But what if you branded yourself?
What if you built a loyal following around your name and your personality?
What if people respected you and looked up to you because of who YOU were.
Then it wouldn’t matter if your business failed because your friends list bought into you NOT your business.
The bottom line is people follow people not businesses, so start branding yourself.
This is how I have created a successful network marketing business which allows me to live the internet lifestyle.
3. Leveraging Facebook EdgeRank
What the hell is Facebook EdgeRank?
Great question.
Just like Google has an algorithm which determines what shows up on the first page, Facebook has an algorithm which determines what shows up on the news feed.
The best part is it’s not as mysterious as Google’s formula.
An “edge” is anything that happens on Facebook (like, comment, share, or status update).
EdgeRank looks at all the edges that are connected to a user and then it ranks each edge based on the importance, which is determined by the following formula.
Learn more about Facebook Edgerank here.
EdgeRank is the sum of affinity, weight, and time decay.
- Affinity is built with repeat interactions with a person or brand’s edges.
- Weight is a value system (Likes > comments > shares). More value is placed on actions that require more effort.
- Time Decay: older stuff < newer stuff.
How can we manipulate EdgeRank?
- Post during busy times of the day where people are most likely on Facebook: 7am EST, 12pm EST, 5pm EST, & 11pm EST.
- Like, comment, and share other peoples content so that you start to appear in their news feed more often. They will reciprocate.
- Scroll down your news feed and leave a few likes or comments everyday, or open up 20 new tabs of recently added friends and do the same thing.
This strategy is can be the difference between getting 20 likes on average versus 100 likes.
DO IT.
4. The Power of Photo Albums
Smart marketers leverage photo albums to drive more traffic to their websites and squeeze pages.
Carrying on with the “Brand yourself and NOT your business” theme, we can create some powerful albums that will make us stand out from our competition.
One category is lifestyle albums.
Anyone who has turned to internet or network marketing obviously dislikes their current position in life.
They want to escape their boring and unfulfilled life and create something more exciting.
Now it’s your turn to position yourself as the person who IS living the lifestyle they desire.
Show off that last trip you took. It doesn’t matter if it’s exotic Thailand or camping in Wisconsin. What matters is that you are doing stuff with your life, and this positions you as a leader and someone of value.
Another incredibly powerful album is testimonials.
Start building screenshots and videos of testimonials so you can stick them in your albums for social proof.
People love to Facebook snoop. One of the first things they do when they visit your profile is check out your pictures.
Let them see that you are not only helping yourself move forward in life and business, but you are helping others achieve their dreams as well.
The best part about testimonial albums is every time you upload a new photo it will appear on your newsfeed.
Can you see how poweful this can be when you combine it with graph search (adding new connections) and edgerank (getting maxium visibility).
Are you ready for the icing on top of the cake?
There is a text box where you can add a description to your photo album.
HELLO CALL-TO-ACTION.
So scrounge up some enticing copy, throw in a call-to-action, and stick a link to your blog or one of your squeeze pages, and build that email list.
5. Dirty Facebook Marketing Trick
Okay, so this is more sneaky then dirty.
This strategy is appropriate when you have a status update that goes viral with a lot of shares.
Did you know you can go back and edit the post, stick in a link to your blog or squeeze page, and have it update on everyone’s wall who shared it?
HAHA!
Yes. Super sneaky AND effective.
Now you have hundreds if not thousands of more eyeballs on your post, and an opportunity to drive even more traffic back to your business pages.
You’re welcome.
6. Filling Out Your About Me Section Completely
Most people have boring or non-existing about me sections.
Remember how I mentioned people love to Facebook snoop.
New connections WILL check out your about me page to see what you got going on.
What if it’s barely filled out or even worse, blank! They will bounce fast!
Don’t let this happen to you.
Fill out this section completely, add contact information and links to your blog, social media profiles, and capture pages.
You want to soundproof this baby and leave no room for error.
I’ve pasted an image below to illustrate just how detailed your ‘about me’ section should look. I have blurred out this users profile for privacy protection, however you can see the very bottom are all links to his contact information, social media profiles and business pages.
HOT TIP: Don’t be afraid to be yourself.
Too many marketers are bland with no edge or uniqueness. They are afraid to be vulnerable and really expose themselves likely because they are insecure or afraid of judgement.
The truth is people respect this type of transparency and they connect with it.
People are actively looking for others who share similar stories, experiences, and struggles. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to make a solid connection with someone who can turn into a friend and/or business partner.
Show some edge if you have it. Be witty. Cuss a little if that’s you.
No one likes to listen to a robot or even worse read something that sounds like a wikipedia article.
This is attraction marketing 101. Get people to come to you versus chasing leads.
7. Create a Daily Action Plan
The ONE thing that will destroy your Facebook marketing efforts is inconsistency.
The greatest FB marketers don’t take days off. Remember, this is a business we are running NOT a hobby.
You need to create a daily routine that you can stick to.
I recommend the following:
– 50-100 Facebook messages
– 3-6 status updates (value, lifestyle, personal, video, etc. Mix it up)
Pretty simple, right?
You can send out 20-25 messages in less than 10 minutes. Repeat this 2-4x throughout the day. Don’t send them all at once or else Facebook will be flagged and you run the risk of being put in Facebook jail.
Use a free version of Hootsuite to schedule posts if you have to.
Otherwise, start implementing these strategies right away to see massive results with Facebook.