I recently started posting more content to my facebook business page.
Around a year and a half ago, I made a schedule for the page and consistently started posting a minimum of 6 posts per day to the page, at specific times depending on how many users are online at certain times and what types of content are best suited to the different times.
Facebook’s algorithm has changed numerous times since then, and I realised recently that I hadn’t really changed anything for a long time on the facebook page. We couldn’t afford to start an ad to gain new followers and after a couple of funny meme posts went almost viral, I noticed an increase in new followers. I realised that if I could post more content, the reach was naturally going to be bigger, because I’d have a higher chance of shares on content (obvious when you think about it) and as my profile photo is the branding, that means a lot more people are going seeing it.
I was only posting once a weekend, always believing that posting more than that would seem a bit ‘spammy’. I increased the content to a minimum of 8 posts every day during the week and increased the weekend posts from one on a Sunday to a minimum of 7 across the weekend.
Within a few weeks my weekly page reach soared from almost 1 million to almost 2 million.
I shared what I was doing to a couple of facebook groups, and was not surprised to read replies from people who were struggling with content already and not knowing what to share.
It’s interesting how many people think that their page should be all about their product, branding, and looking clean and polished.
As long as a business/blogger understands its follower type, there is an abundance of various types of content that they can share to help build a community around their brand. I wish that someone had explained this to me in the beginning of the Gummee journey.
Of course my product was going to be copied and not become huge in other countries – because no one in those countries knew my brand and they had no connection to it. It didn’t dawn on me until almost too late, it was the BRANDING I needed to work on. Why didn’t someone explain to me that a brand doesn’t just mean trademark, or what your product looks like. I wish I’d understood that branding means so much more. It’s the story behind your brand, it’s what your brand stands for, it’s how you connect with your audience/customers. It’s your reputation.
Once this all became clear to me, it was obvious what I needed to do. After almost losing the business last year, we basically had to ‘re-launch’. We lost a lot of our market share, because we were mostly a faceless brand, constantly posting about babies using Gummee products and meme’s/video’s related to babies & parenting. If there was now teething mittens everywhere, what was going to stop anyone from buying the imitations and cheap Chinese versions instead of ours? How did anyone know the quality of our products, the passion we put into them, that we’re a family business, that there are good reasons why our products are the premium choice?
I hadn’t even spent any time on Instagram until July/August last year and how I wish I’d started soooooo much sooner!
I have been working so hard at building a community around my brand over the last 12 months – I have absolutely LOVED it and now my job has become 80% creating content (which I bloody love doing) and talking to people on social media. It is like a dream job, and although our business is not out of the woods yet, I have never been happier in my work.
People seem to find it difficult moving away from a polished, professional corporate appearance. This is understandable, since this is the way it’s always been done when a business wants to be a household brand/name. However, social media has enabled anyone and everyone with the drive and creativity, to be able to do SO much more for their business. It’s about accepting that it is OKAY to be you, share your story, be YOU behind the scenes – use your stories to show those small snippets of your day that make you human. Turn your business into a show and people hooked on the characters in it.
I have made a list below of the sort of content that brands can use and get ideas from/for. Obviously what works for me isn’t going to work perfectly for anyone else, but a lot of it is applicable to almost anyone with a business or blog page.
Content types for your feed:
Memes – Funny pictures with captions related to your product/blog/industry. Example here
Relateable videos – Anything that would appeal to your following. Example here
Product feedback & photo’s – copy and paste from Amazon or trust pilot if you have product reviews
User generated content – followers who send you photo’s of them/their friends/relatives using your products or something that is relevant (always get their permission first): Example here
Live videos – Introduce your business, yourself, and what you do. Include interesting info like how your biz started, invite questions etc. I have a weekly live show called Gummee tea time, which i have been doing for over three and a half years now: Example here
Relevant news articles – This one is obvious
Questions – ask questions to help you get valuable insight into how what your scutomers would like to see more of etc
Blog/text posts – Share any blog posts or articles/press that talk about you/your products, reviews etc
Links to any brand groups and/or other social platforms – this is a great way to drive traffic to your other online platforms and build on them
Relevant tips/hacks – To do with your products or useful, every day life hacks
Product features – Do a short video, demonstrating your products
Brand story – post a story/piece of interesting text about your brand story
Joint giveaways – find other brands in the industry and collaborate with them on a giveaway (make sure you follow facebook rules and guidelines) Example here
Sharing content from other pages
Team/family photo’s and stories – people buy from people, show more of who you are and who is behind the scenes, the more interesting/funny you can get, the better. Example here (This one terrified me to share, and I almost deleted it loads of times but I’m so glad I didn’t! The support was overwhelming and it showed be as the human I am and helped a few people share who they are, too!)
Old/used content can also be recycled – look back through your posts and select popular ones, repost them every so often. You won’t get the exact same eyes on it every time.
Content for stories: People love reality – reality shows are one of the most popular types of shows these days. Use stories to create your own show!
Snippets of your day, including snap shots of you packing products for sending, or writing your blog, or boarding a train for a meeting etc
Photo’s of customers using your product, photo’s of lovely messages/reviews about you from customers/readers etc
Screen shots of your blog posts, or feed posts
Anything else going on in your life behind the scenes: a fitness journey, a garden project, hobbies etc
Funny moments: Office jokes, a witty character being interviewed for a couple of minutes once a day or week.
Excitedly sharing snippets of new projects you’re working on.
Sharing other peoples content/causes/news/powerful messages.
Other tips.
Study insights to work out most popular posting times and decide which content types you want to post at those times. Create a posting timetable and set aside time to source/create and schedule content.
Remember to reply to and engage with comments left by people/followers on your posts. If you post a meme that gets a lot of attention, you naturally won’t have time to reply to all the comments on those but that’s okay, most people tag their friends/family and direct their engagement at them. However, if there are comments on a post related to your product, or you have asked a question and someone has taken time out of their day to respond, please reply to them. Facebook algorithm looks for you to build relationships with your followers and it detects when you’re engaging with your followers.
The more people who engage and that you respond to, the more facebook will show your posts to more people. If your posts inspire an emotional response (for instance a love heart or laughing emoji) then your post with spread quicker than pone with likes on it as facebook see’s emotional responses as more of an experience, and they like that as it keeps people on their platform.
Comment on other pages as your business page. Other commenters will see your comments and some will come over for a look and perhaps even follow your page.
All tips provided come at the only cost of your TIME. When you’re a small business, your advertising budget is tight. Go into it with a community building mindset…..you’ll be making yourself seen, for free.
If you found this blog post useful, or would like to suggest another topic for me, please let me know in the comments 🙂
Gummee Mummee xx
jodineboothby.com 