Do you have a Facebook page but it hasn’t gotten any traction so far? Maybe you are scared by how things change constantly and you are not sure if you are able to keep up with all the changes. Today is your lucky day, I will walk you through what you need to do in order to have a successful Facebook business page.

 

You don’t have to hire anyone or remained changed to your virtual desk, either. All you have to do is to make sure that you know what you need to know about Facebook and without having to know every single thing about Facebook. This is the difference between total overwhelm leading to analysis paralysis and taking small, consistent actions that will move you closer to your business goals.
 

Let’s get started!

 

Make a killer first impression

#1 Get yourself a great looking cover photo.

When you set up your Facebook page make sure to get yourself a decent cover photo for both your PERSONAL and your LIKE page, and by decent I mean professional-looking. Imagine someone clicking through to find your Facebook page for the first time. What do you want them to know? If you are a solopreneur, what is your title? Give the most relevant information right there.
 

#2 Complete your about section.

Just under your profile picture, notice the tagline section just under your profile photo on the left? Your visitors can see this info instantly without having to click anything. People often forget to take advantage of this. Make sure you do too and add a link to your Like page. (Make the link to your like page by tagging it using the "@" symbol.)

 

 

Create a killer content strategy

#3 Create posts that educate, entertain or empower.

People are spending time on Facebook socializing, catching up on news, finding opportunities to entertain themselves, and also looking for ways to solve their problems. When you cater to their needs you prove yourself to be of high value, and in the long run  people welcome you in their newsfeeds.
 

#4 Learn to write effective headlines.

People are busy and your updates must cut through the noise and clutter to get people’s attention. Spend some time honing your headline writing skills and it will reward you with a big ROI (Return on Investment.) Write headlines that promise a big benefit or arouse curiosity. Mediocre headlines will move into oblivion faster than you can say Facebook.

 

#5 Publish posts for maximum engagement.

Think about the kind of posts you find interesting. Now switch gears and think about your ideal audience. What will get their thumbs up? Generally images do really well because they stand out in the news feed, and so does video. Combine these two formats to give a lift to your text-only updates.

Ask your audience questions but don’t make them think too hard. Questions that require a one word or a one sentence answer tends to elicit lots of reader engagement. Share quotes, humorous updates, and tips and tricks. Link to your blog posts with a teaser so people are more likely to click.

Don’t forget to hold contests and publish purely promotional updates but keep these updates to a minimum.

#6 Aim to maximize reach.

Post updates when most of your audience is online. Schedule your posts in advance and repeat your posts as not all of your audience is online at the time you post. Facebook posts have a fairly short life (75% of Facebook engagement occurs within 5 hours of posting) so you have got to post regularly. I recommend 3 times a day (Morning, afternoon and ESPECIALLY at night after dinner time)

 

Use high quality images

Anyone who is using Facebook for business and is not using the power of images in their social media strategy is leaving money on the table. The reason is simple: we humans are highly visual creatures and are wired to pay attention when an image pops up at us in a sea of text updates. We cannot ignore an image, it is right in front of us but we only consciously pay attention or take action when it is done well.
 

#7 Tell YOUR Story.

You can use photographs to tell your marketing story. You can either use a photo with a single focus or a series of photographs to tell a compelling story. Make sure your images elicit an emotional response. This is probably the MOST important piece of information you can share as a coach on social media. Plan it out, write several stories... your fitness journey, your successes as a coach, what this opportunity has done for you, vulnerable stories that relate to your audience... this is what ATTRACTS your niche!
 

#8 Inspire via images.

Ask fans to share their favorite moments. Ask them to post their pictures of their Christmas trees, manicures, favorite beauty item, pictures of their pets/kids/family, etc... Sounds weird but people LOVE to share stuff about THEM! So let them share! You'll get a boost of engagement :)
 

#9 Teach people.

Show people how to do something. Take images AND video to solve a problem or teach. Successful "teaching methods" of mine have been free workout videos or hair tutorials. :)
 

#10 Don’t just use images.

Use images in conjunction with quotes, humorous sayings, and tips. And PLEASE explore VIDEO! This will make a bigger impact.

#11 Keep it simple.

Don’t add too much text or elements competing for attention. If the image is too busy, people will move on.

 

Learn to run Facebook ads (Like Pages Only)

#12 Master targeting.

You might be tempted to hit the promote button and boost a Facebook status update, video, picture or challenge group invite. Don’t. The best thing about running Facebook ads is that it allows for laser tight targeting resulting in a great cost per click but when you boost a post, the targeting options are limited.

You can start with your competitor’s pages (use the graph search feature to find these pages) and target them. These should be enough to keep you busy for a while. If you have a decent sized email list you can upload it to Facebook and create lookalike audiences. Finally, you can create custom audiences based on the criteria you specify. The best way to learn this is to play around with it.
 

#13 Work up to power editor.

I highly recommend hiring a Facebook ads expert for an hour or two to help you understand Facebook ads, how to run a page post ad from your regular dashboard for starters and then start using power editor, the chrome plugin for making your ads even more deadly. It’s not that hard and you definitely shouldn’t spend hundreds of dollars on courses that teach Facebook ads. Get one-on-one help, especially when you are short on time so you don’t make any costly mistakes, and perfect your fundamentals.

#14 Split test your ads.

Once you start running ads, start split testing them. Stop any ads that are not performing well and let only those ones run that are getting you a great cost per click. A really easy way to do this is to let the ad run until you get 50 website clicks and then look at what it is costing you to run it.
 

#15 Use remarketing.

You can use Facebook ads to target those people who visited your website without signing up or making any purchase. These people have shown their interest in what you have to offer and once you are feeling confident with advertising, you can create custom ads to target these people.

 

Create or Join Facebook groups

Facebook groups are great for creating strong relationships with your readers, prospects and past customers.

#16 Create a private Facebook group for Challenge pack customers only. (Challenge group)

Offer this exclusive access to you as part of your fitness program. People must buy a challenge pack and request to join. People will purchase or pay a higher price for a chance to work more closely with you and also connect with other like-minded people in the similar position. This is a small group of people with an intimate feel to it. 

 

#17 Create a "test group" or "free challenge" group to start building relationships and meeting people.

This is a great way to get to know others and even build a referral network. Run a free clean eating challenge or squat challenge for a couple weeks. Get to know these people, their goals and their WHY. They might just be your future rockstar coaches :)

 

#18 Join other groups for networking.

You can also join groups for connecting with peers, potential partners and clients/customers.

 

Stand out on Facebook

People spend a lot of time on Facebook but don’t overlook the fact that they are spending most of this time interacting with their friends and family and not necessarily with brands or businesses. That being said there are steps you can take to make sure your updates don’t get drowned in the clutter.
 

#19 Be a real person.

Interact like a human and have conversations with people. Pay attention to what they are saying, taking account of their feedback and acknowledging praise as well as criticism. Don’t be a faceless entity. People relate with other people, not with brands.

#20 Show off your personality.

Make your posts interesting. Show what you are interested in yourself. Share personal tidbits. You don't ALWAYS have to post about fitness and health. That will get repetitive and boring. Post about other things you like!

#21 Use great imagery.

As I said before, photographs and images stand out in the newsfeed but take this even further. Only use high class imagery and differentiate from your competitors by portraying yourself in an ultra professional manner. Give shout outs to others. Make your readers, commenters, clients, and customers the star of your show.

#22 Be civil.

Unless your brand allows it, be polite. Never say anything you won’t say to someone’s face.

#23 Be consistent.

The easiest way to make an everlasting impression on your followers? Do what you say you will. Keep doing it consistently and pretty soon you will start seeing results.

 

Keep an eye on the competition

Facebook has some great features to know what is working for your competitors.

#24 Use Facebook pages to watch feature.

You can watch your competition and keep an eye on which of their posts are getting really good engagement. You can add up to 100 pages at one time.

You can find answers to questions like how many posts they are publishing and at what time. Which types of posts are getting more engagement, is it images, quotes, or questions? You can also see the type of content that doesn’t resonate with you. FOLLOW OTHER SUCCESSFUL COACHES. Watch and learn. See what is working for them and then try it on your own page... but remember to make it your OWN.

#25 Keep your competition on an interest list.

Facebook has a great feature where you can add pages to your interest list. For this you have to like their page and then you add them to your interest list. It can also be done if you want to spy on them without letting them know. In that case you don’t like the page but locate their page on the Interests Lists area.

 

Look at the insights

People feel overwhelmed by Facebook insights because they don’t know which metrics are the ones they need to be paying attention to. They feel like they are drowning in data because they are looking at too many numbers.

#26 Look at the right metrics.

Don’t get frustrated on Facebook when you think you are not getting enough reach.  In reality there are more important metrics you should be tracking. For starters, instead of looking at the reach, look at the engagement rate and the number of people who are taking action.

#27 Download the data and look at the big picture.

You can sort the data and look at which of your posts are doing really well. Instead of agonizing over every single detail, try to spot trends by exporting longer period data for a particular quarter.