By Jody Worsfold, Chief Cupid, Romantic Gestures

I once heard the saying, you can’t sell a secret.  With that in mind I set out with a mission to tell Kiwi couples about my business; Romantic Gestures.

Romantic Gestures has a big heart and a small budget so the key for me was to reach many people for little cost.  Social Media seemed the way to go, what I lacked in budget I made up for in commitment!

I think that was the biggest key to going from a handful of “likes” to over 2000 in approximately 12 months – commitment.  I made the decision to focus on Facebook for 12 months – without expecting anything in return.  I was simply going to give value by posting interesting facts, tips and topics on the subject of love.  Sure, I promoted my website too, but not so often that I came across as an infomercial!

At first it was like telling a joke and being met with silence – awkward!  I would post something and wait for someone to hit that magical like button or even better; the Holy Grail, share my status only to be met with silence!  However over time things started to change – I attended a Facebook Course and learned to ask questions, use images and take note of the best days and times to receive engagement from your fans.  Finally it was working; the numbers were increasing – slowly.

Once I started to feel comfortable with Facebook and the content I was posting I ran a competition.  This is a great way to increase your likes – my first competition rocketed us to 500 likes very quickly.  It cost me $250.00, and was the best ROI I could have hoped for.

My tips to running a successful competition on-line are:

1/  Make sure it’s a good prize – a cake of soap won’t cut it!

2/ Research Facebook’s rules and follow them

3/ Promote your competition on Facebook, run it via your website.

4/ Collect contact details in return for entries

5/ Encourage your fans to share your competition but don’t make it an entry requirement (Facebook Rules)

I now receive an enquiry or website registration from Facebook at least once a week.  When I post a blog or a new venue on our Romantic Getaways page our web traffic spikes and most importantly people talk about us!

My fan base grows organically by 3-5 a week.  From time to time I use paid Facebook advertising.  I love it because I can target people within my target age range in a relationship living inNew Zealand.  My fan base grows by 10+ per week when my ads are running again a good ROI.

My advice would be to sit down and think about the following:

1/ Are your customers on Facebook.

2/ What can you talk about that is relevant to your business and most importantly interesting to your target market.

3/ If you don’t know what you are doing, get help to set-up your page so it looks professional

4/ Remember that it’s a social platform not a networking one.  Your tone should be like you were meeting and chatting to new people at a party, not a business meeting.

5/ Stick at it – you should be posting daily, at the very minimum once a week.

6/ Have fun!

My last word is to answer an often asked question:  How long do you spend on your Facebook business page each day.  The answer is; between 30 and 45 minutes – I’m sure you can manage that!

Love Jody

P.S For inspiration on all things romantic follow my page:  www.facebook.com/romanticgestures you will be welcomed with open arms!

From the desk of liber8yourbusiness.  Business mentors and experts in small business exit strategies.  Based in Wellington, New Zealand.