Do You Want Some Facebook Love?
Have you ever posted something to Facebook and all you heard was… crickets?
☞ No comments.
☞ No shares.
☞ Not even a like or two!
That feels BAD, right? And it doesn’t help your online visibility and your business bottom-line, does it?
It Feels Good To Be Acknowledged!
There are certain status updates (and I am talking Facebook profile here, not pages!) that scream ‘Give Me Some Attention!‘.
Most of these are quite annoying and I personally ignore most, if not all of these status updates!
These tactics might be effective for a short period of time; they will most likely get you some likes and attention, but in the long run, your friends will hide your posts in their newsfeed or worse, unfollow or unfriend you on Facebook.
If you are annoying on Facebook, your friends will be annoyed.
If you post vague updates (vaguebooking is a thing, people!), your friends will be frustrated.
If you repost hoaxes, untruths and sensational stories, your friends will lose trust in your abilities to post great content, so that when you do, they aren’t there to listen and share!
So how DO you get attention, the good kind, and then turn that ‘attention’, or ‘traffic’ to your profile into a positive thing for your business?
You’ve got to deliver the goods!
How Can You Become an Influencer on Facebook?
In order to be an Influencer on Facebook, because, yes that’s what I am talking about here, you need to start with (creating) a
A. strong, unique, authentic and trustworthy online voice
B. great (shareable, trendy, valuable, newsworthy, unique) content
C. consistent presence
Before I get even more specific, let’s look at what ‘influencer’ really means!
What is an Influencer?
An influencer is “someone who influences”.
Influence, as defined by Merriam-Webster is
: the power to change or affect someone or something : the power to cause changes without directly forcing them to happen
: a person or thing that affects someone or something in an important way
Therefore, in describing a Facebook influencer, I would say ‘someone who influences people on Facebook’ and ‘a person that affects someone on Facebook in an important way’
What Does an Influencer Really Do?
An influencer affects someone. As in “the power to cause changes without directly forcing them to happen” So without telling people what to do exactly, or without specific instructions, the actions of the influencer affects the actions of the person being influenced.
Why Would You Want to Be an Influencer?
Why is this so powerful and why would you want to be a Facebook influencer? There are many reasons to want to be an influencer. As an influencer, you get to affect behavior. As a Facebook influencer, you influence Facebook behavior as in you affect what people talk about, share and like, comment on and even who they will connect with and what Facebook Pages to like. This is pretty powerful stuff. Think about how Facebook influence can affect your web traffic, audience growth, product sales, product launch, consulting gigs, brand recognition and client work. If this makes sense to you, read on.
Who Influences You, and Why?
In your own right, you most definitely you are already an influencer within your own circle of friends. (good or bad!)
Everyone is!
But for the sake of this article, I am going to assume you want additional influence on a much larger scale, say within your industry, and you want it to be a positive experience, no matter what that industry is.
My own ‘Facebook influencers’ are divided into several categories:
My local friends
My fellow parenting peeps
My social media marketing peers
Several people in each group stand out on Facebook!
- They stand up for what they believe in.
- They educate.
- They are kind and smart.
- They offer help, give advice and words of encouragement.
- They never talk down to people.
- They do not call people names.
- They do not rant relentlessly on Facebook.
- They are positive role models.
Most of all; Influencers are real and believable!
So, Can You Increase Your Influence on Facebook?
Sure you can!
Do you want to know how to increase your influence on Facebook?
Here are some of the marks, or traits of great influencers I’ve seen over and over and over!
- Be visible – Have a daily presence but don’t just ‘post to post’. [Influencers also don’t mind taking a day off from Facebook if they do not have anything good to share or say!]
- Be active in groups – Add to the conversation! Answer questions, be helpful. Sure, post your own insights and ideas as well, but be a team player and be helpful. Many influencers I know have started their own groups and built an audience around their niche!
- Give advice – Help out those who are new in your industry, in your town, in your network. Lend a hand and pull people up! Influencers don’t put people down.
- Be a trendsetter – Start a new daily posting idea, dig deep to find lesser known but awesome content, create Facebook specific videos, be you but magnified and more awesome than ever! Do and share things that no one else is doing, yet!
- Share stuff – Don’t hog all the attention. Influencers share industry content and give credit where credit is due. They have a positive attitude and they are willing to gives props!
- Post videos – Create a Facebook specific video series with tips, a game, a daily joke, a song and dance. Something that will entertain your friends and makes them want to share your awesomeness with others!
- Create a ‘feature of the day’ – Some influencers are known for their daily ‘beach sunrise picture’, ‘weather picture’, ‘motivation graphic’, ‘quote of the day’ etc. Find something that fits you and your style and go for it!
- Post about yourself – Don’t forget to share personal things – even if you are a big influencer – or on your way to be one. What makes you great is that you are human! You are just like the rest of us. Human. With feelings and frustrations and a family. They have headaches and heartaches. THey have highs and lows. Great influencers don’t wallow (publicly) in their misfortunes!
- Be recognizable; be different – Upload a crazy profile picture; color your hair green, wear orange glasses, look surprised, frown, have your mouth open as if you are singing… I’ve seen them all and what stands out is that they are…different than most = memorable!
NOTE: While you are working on increasing your influence, make sure your Facebook profile is optimized to show you are a proud business owner! Do this by linking your profile to your Facebook Page, displaying your website, sharing your articles, talking about your business in a positive way, uploading a cover image to match your vision etc. – so that when a person is ready to learn about your business, they can!
What Will You Do With Your (New Found) Facebook Influence?
It would be remiss of me if I didn’t go into a bit of detail on what to do with this (new found) influence you might have been craving.
Once you are a Facebook Influencer, and you get daily likes, shares, comments on almost any post you post, you need to create a plan of action on how to convert the people you influence to customers, clients or brand ambassadors for your business by inviting them to take action!
Tactics include inviting these ‘people-you-influence’ to
- join your Facebook Group
- like your Facebook Page
- try your new product
- click through to your leadpages
- come to an event you are speaking at
- come to an event you are promoting
- come to a networking event you are attending
- read a blog post
- comment on your blog post
- share your blog post
- join you on other social media platforms (Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, G+, Instagram)
- listen to your Podcast
- promote your Podcast
- watch your Blab or Periscope
If you are a business owner, you should use your Facebook Influence to grow your business!
As I said earlier in this article, Facebook influence can affect your web traffic, audience growth, product sales, product launch, consulting gigs, brand recognition and client work.
Who Influences Me on Facebook?
Did you think I was going to leave without a shout-out to my Facebook Influencers? No way!
My local friends
Tracy Scheuermann Brown
(website)
Tracy is an amazing local business owner, positive, kind, helpful and uplifting. She always makes you feel good about yourself! Her Facebook posts inspire me to do good, spread joy and be the change I want to see! If I am having a bad day, I just type ‘Tracy’ into Facebook and I feel better instantly.
Amanda Holland
(website)
Amanda is a hardworking momma of three who runs a very successful business and the best part; she makes it look fun! Her Facebook posts inspire me to help others, stay positive and keep it real!
My fellow parenting peeps
Kristen Margo Daukas
(website)
Kristen is a hard-working mom of three (pre)teens; all girls! She is savvy, smart and calls-it-like-it-is. Her Facebook posts inspire me get out and live life, hang out with my kids and feel good about it, even if I make mistakes. She keeps parenting real.
Roshanda Pratt
(website)
Roshanda is a beautiful businesswoman and mom, inside and out. She is smart, kind and speaks the truth about parenting! Her Facebook posts inspire me to grow my business, work on myself and be present with my family.
My social media marketing peers
Ian Anderson Gray
(website)
Ian is a funny social media guy with lots of social media knowledge and a great personality. He sings and cooks and shares recipes and videos on Facebook. His Facebook posts inspire me to show more of my personality on Facebook.
April Heavens-Woodcock
(website)
April is a caring business owner who teaches social media to small business owners. Her Facebook posts inspire me to go out there and be active in my community, teach what I love to do and be helpful to others, always.
All six of these influencers are great business owners.
As you can tell, I didn’t link to any of these people’s Facebook profiles, but to their websites instead.
They are MY influencers.
I bet you have a Tracy, Amanda, Kristen, Roshanda, Ian and April in your circles!
This is a great time of year to say ‘Thank You‘ to them and let them know how much they inspire you!
Did I forget anything?
Let me know in the comments if you recognized yourself to be an influencer, or if you realized who is influencing you on Facebook to take action!
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