You have your Facebook page up and running and you are posting high-quality content to it regularly, but you do not seem to be gaining many new followers. You are feeling a bit stumped over what to do.
Getting people to interact with your posts and understanding what is going to trigger them to do just that is one of life’s great mysteries.
Over time it has become more and more difficult to have people like a post or, even better, comment on one. It has to really resonate with them for them to make the effort.
However, one thing we do know is that people love to support local and, even better, be seen to support local. So, as a business that has a geographical niche, we need to use that to our advantage.
We will show you how. We have got three top tips for you this month to help you be more proactive on the platform.
Like pages and join groups as your Optician’s page
If you are an admin on your business page, then when you ‘like’ a page you will get a pop-up asking you to like the page as yourself (your personal profile) or the business (your Facebook page).
Selecting your practice will get your business seen by the page owner and can lead to some great collaborations.
When you join a group, you can sometimes do this as your page instead of your personal account too, it depends on the settings the group owner has selected. This means when you post or respond to a post, it will appear as the practice and not you personally.
Find local groups with your ideal customers in them and be social
Search Facebook for groups of people in the area you are based. For example, Stoke families or Nottingham businesses. Join them and get chatty but do not be overly promotional. Answer questions when you can and give guidance.
If someone asks for optician recommendations, then it is fine to mention yourself. Building relationships in groups like these is a great way to build trust too. Always be genuine, though. People appreciate authenticity over the hard sell.
Find local promotional groups
Some groups on Facebook are there purely to help local businesses thrive. They have been set up by the local community to help people ‘shop local’. These are usually supportive places to post and most of the posts are promotional, so it is fine to sell yourself a bit on there.
If you have a graphic or flyer you can use with the post, a special offer you want to share, an event you want to push, then go for it. If you cannot find one locally, then you could always set one up.
The essence of all this is to be social, that is what social media is all about. All of the above are great ways to build relationships in your community. Do you work with anyone locally? If so, mention them in your posts. Relationships and collaborations lead to word-of-mouth recommendations, which are the best kind.
Some examples we have seen of this working in action is when an optical practice has held an open day and worked with local businesses for the food and drink, or visited a local workforce to talk about eye care and offered them a discount or mobile sight checks.
We have even seen local scout groups offer glass cleaning in-store as a fundraising opportunity. The use of Facebook groups and community pages can be instrumental in expanding your business’s reach and connecting with a new audience.
By actively engaging with relevant pages and groups as your business page, you can increase visibility. Do not underestimate the impact of local promotional groups either, as they can provide a supportive platform for sharing your offerings.
Ultimately, by leveraging the social aspect of social media, you can make new connections, grow word-of-mouth recommendations, and get your business on the local digital map.
- Nicola Read owns Babbl Social and specialises in helping opticians increase their turnover through digital marketing. She can be contacted at Hello@Babbl.co.uk and 01332 899 409.