Are you one of the hundreds (scratch that, thousands) of businesses that started your Facebook marketing using a personal account instead of a business page? Don’t despair, this comes up so often with new linkup clients we thought we’d put our noggin’s together to provide list of ideas that you can use to move connections from one page type to the other without losing too many people.
NOTE: It is VERY worth moving them over ASAP as you don’t want to get shut down by Facebook and not be able to communicate to all of the people you’ve got connected. Then you’ll really be starting from scratch.
1. SEPARATE CONTENT PLANS – Stop posting interesting information on your profile and only post it on your new fan page. Only post teasers to the great content on your old page with a link to read the full post on your new page. Whatever you do, don’t post the same post on both pages even if it’s a promotion you want to get the most exposure for.
2. GET A USERNAME – A username is vital for your marketing efforts. Apply for a username as soon as you get to 25 users on your new page and replace all of your existing promotions for your Facebook page with the new username. Think about your website, your email newsletters your voicemail message, your receipt messages…. EVERYWHERE!
3. SEND A MESSAGE – One of the remaining cool things that a profile has over a fan page is their ability to message people directly. Send a message to every person connected to you asking him or her to fan your page. Don’t just ask them to like the new page, tell them that you are ditching the existing one.
4. IN-SALON PROMOTIONS – Run a special only available on your fan page where they have to do something in order to get the special offer. This not only gets them to your new page (using the username), but it also gets them engaged on your wall. When someone comments or interacts with your wall, their friends can see that in the newsfeed. This spreads awareness amongst your clients’ friends on Facebook.
5. THE LIKE GATE PROMOTION – Also called a fan gate, this is a customized landing page that allows tells newcomers why they should like your page. Run a competition whereby the information can ONLY be accessed behind this like gate. Post regular teasers on your current profile to go and visit the new fan page.
6. FACEBOOK COMPETITION – One of the easiest, and fastest, ways to get fans on Facebook is to run a competition designed to drive people to enter and share the information. Things like Sweepstakes, Group Deals, Charity Drives, Events, etc. are all examples of things that would make people go to the page, like you and then tell their friends.
7. POST CLIENT CONTENT – Let’s be honest, people like themselves more than they like you. So what better content can you post than information about how awesome your clients are? Come up with creative reasons to post pics of your clients (especially the really social clients) on your Faebook page. Go one step further and design the campaign to get them to tag themselves, too so others can see their pictures!
8. RALLY THE TROOPS – No, this isn’t a fancy name for another Facebook competition, it simply means to get your team behind the cause. Get them to tell everyone about the new page with all the great info. Perhaps have an internal competition on who can get the most people signed up to the new Facebook page to get them motivated and talking about Facebook to your clients. After all, they do spend the most time with your clients.
You don’t have to do all of the above ideas, but these ideas have proven to work and get people from one page to another. When deciding which ideas fit your plans, just think of what will motivate your clients to take the time to check out the new page. Doesn’t seem like a lot of effort, but there are a lot of people competing for your clients attention on Facebook these days.
Remember, those that don’t follow could have been dead weight anyway. Uninterested in you, no longer a client, are boycotting Facebook or yes, it happens, deceased.
Author Bio: Valorie Reavis
Social Marketer, foodie, closet geekA marketing professional who has focused primarily on the hair and beauty business for of the past decade, Valorie now runs linkup marketing, a digital marketing agency for the hair and beauty professional. Valorie works to engage clients in the marketing process and help them successfully engage with their clients and community. Energetic and passionate about the industry, Valorie focuses on blending traditional and digital media in order to bring salons closer to their clients.
