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.