So, once you’ve created a Facebook page for your business, how exactly do you build an audience? Here are 7 top tips for you to put into practice today.
1. Post on your Facebook page regularly
If it’s been months since you last posted anything, the likelihood is that any new visitors will leave your Facebook page without looking any further. The reason? If you don’t post updates regularly, visitors can’t be sure your details are correct or even that your phone number is up to date. There’s every chance they’ll think: “This nursery doesn’t show a lot of interest in keeping their page updated, so they’re probably not going to engage with me. I’ll look elsewhere.”
2. Keep your target audience in mind at all times
If your Facebook ‘likes’ are coming from friends and family, these people are not your target audience. It’s great that they want to show support for your business, but the updates on your Facebook page are for people who have a genuine interest in using your service. By no means cull these people from your page, but be aware that when getting ‘likes’, you should focus on getting a quality following from your target audience (parents).
3. Add details of your Facebook page to all your literature
Quite simply, add the details of your Facebook page to all your online and printed marketing literature! Whether it’s your nursery website, prospectus, leaflets or banners on the outside of your building - make sure anything and everything which goes out to prospective parents has information about your Facebook page on it.
4. Ask current parents to share your page
If existing parents like what you do, the greatest compliment they can give you is a recommendation to their friends and family. Ask your Facebook audience to share your page with fellow parents who may be interested in using your service. Sharing is caring, after all!
5. Add details of your Facebook page to your email signature
It doesn’t cost you anything to add in details of your Facebook page to your email signature or that of your staff, so think of it as free marketing! Having an email signature which draws attention to your Facebook page will undoubtedly help you grow your following of parents. If you’re using Outlook to send emails, here is a step by step guide on how to do this.
6. Share your own content and other people’s
If you write a weekly blog for parents on your childcare website, your Facebook page is the perfect place to share this. Equally, if you see something relevant to your target audience on social media, share it on your page. Just make sure you have a good balance of content which is original and has been created by you, rather than spending most of your time sharing posts by other people. This will help establish your setting as its own authority in childcare.
7. Browse Facebook for groups where your target audience may be
Log onto Facebook and search for online groups where your target audience may be hanging out – for example, local NCT or children’s centre groups. If new parents post a question in these groups seeking an answer to a problem they have, it’s the perfect opportunity to step in and share your expertise. If you engage with parents in this way, they’re more likely to look you up and then consequently find your Facebook page as a result.
Ideally, you want to be posting in your Facebook page on a daily basis to keep your audience engaged. As a busy childcare provider, you may think “When on earth am I going to find the time to do that?” The good news is, you don’t have to. Rather than trying to think of something to post on a day by day basis, you can use social media schedulers such as Buffer to schedule everything in one go the week before. By using these tips and measuring engagement with your page over time, you should start to see your Facebook following increase.
Good luck!
Need help with setting up your social media page? Speak to our team today!