Are you sick of going on to Facebook every day only to see that your fan count hasn’t changed?

That measly two or three digit number that never seems to go up.

You want to get more Facebook fans but it feels like you’ve tried everything.

If only more people could see your art work, then you would make more sales!

Facebook has consistently been the #1 source of referral traffic for my handmade business.

At the time of this writing, I have 26,000 Facebook fans.

Just last year in 2014, I made $22,000 in revenue directly from Facebook.

Plus $4,000+ more from people on Facebook that came to shop on my website (see screenshot below):

You might be thinking, “but Mei, this is just for your shop and I’m not you!”

Have a look at this snippet from a Shopify study on Which Social Media Platforms Drive the Most Sales?

Facebook doesn’t just drive sales for me, but for the thousands of stores on Shopify!

You can totally have a slice of the pie. Let me show you how to get more Facebook fans with these super easy strategies:

Host giveaways

There are two kinds of giveaways that you can do: internal and external giveaways.

Internal giveaways are hosted within your own Facebook page or website.

You’re responsible for setting up and promoting your own giveaway.

This is the one thing I started doing early on to get more Facebook fans.

I still remember the feeling when I reached 2,000 fans! It was glorious.

External giveaways are hosted on someone else’s page or site.

This can be amazing at amplifying your reach.

You can find a blog or Facebook page that you think share similar audiences as you.

Send them an email, asking them to host your giveaway.

Make sure that in order to participate, their readers or fans need to like your page first.

If you’re a good fit, bloggers almost always want to help. It’s their chance to give away free stuff to their audience!

Giveaways are my go to for increasing targeted fans quickly because they go viral.

Hot tip: Never ever give away an irrelevant prize. Everyone wants an iPad or some other fancy gadget.

The people you’ll attract to your giveaway will literally be everyone, which won’t do you any good!

You want fans who are interested in a product like yours and who will eventually buy it.

Use the Facebook like widget

If you already have some traffic coming to your site, you need to convert them into Facebook fans!

The Facebook like widget is something you can add to your website or blog so that people can easily click “like” without leaving your site.

Once you set this widget up (which should only take you a few minutes), it’s a set and forget thing.

Although it’s not the most aggressive way to quickly grow your following, you’ll surely get more fans this way.

Install the Facebook like widget on your site and start growing your page!

You can use this easy widget generator to create your widget.

Hot tip: Be careful not to use the “Share” or “Send” button widgets. These are used for very specific purposes, like for your individual product listings.

They don’t help build your fan page but I’ve seen so many business owners do this.

It’s frustrating as a potential customer – I often like a shop’s page so I can get updates on new products or promotions.

The share or send widgets only post the URL of the shop to my timeline for my friends to see, which doesn’t do anything for me!

Place your like widget on your sidebar or footer of your site so it appears on every page.

Collaborate with other Facebook pages

Start building relationships with other Facebook page owners that share similar audiences with you.

This strategy definitely takes time but the payoff is so worth it!

I previously worked with a blogger that has over 1 million Facebook fans.

She shared one of my posts without me asking her to, and I instantly gained a couple thousand new followers!

Here are the easy steps to get started:

• Look for and like pages related to yours
• Consistently share their content with your readers
• Drop them a comment every now and then
• Finally, send them an email introducing yourself and asking for them to share your content!

Increase engagement

With Facebook’s ever-changing algorithms, there’s one thing that I believe is here to stay: engagement.

Engagement on Facebook comes in the form of likes, comments and shares.

The basic concept is the more engagement you get, the more your posts are displayed on your fans’ timelines.

To bring this further:

The more your Facebook fans engage with your page’s posts, the more their friends will also see your posts.

This helps expose your page to people who are not yet your fans.

But the fact that their friends are fans makes it even more likely that they’ll want to come like your page.

That’s social proof and herd behavior working to your benefit!

Even if it’s a simple “Thank you” reply. Your fans will appreciate that!

Start to see the patterns and learn what types of posts create more engagement for you.

The different types of Facebook posts may include:

• quotes
• behind the scenes photos
• work in progress photos
• professional product photos on white
• selfies
• text only posts
• posts with URL links
• shared posts (other people’s content)
• promotional posts

Facebook ads (if done right)

First off, let me set something straight:

Spending on Facebook ads to gain fans is absolutely not the same thing as “buying fans”.

The latter involves hundreds and thousands of fake spammy Facebook accounts (that are not even US-based).

Facebook ads on the other hand, allow you to put your page in front of thousands of potential customers. Real people who could buy your stuff.

The new likes you gain from Facebook ads aren’t going to go away any time soon (unless you piss them off and they unlike your page).

Facebook ads done right is a super effective and fast way to build up your page with like-minded people eager to shop from you.

Yes, you will need a budget.

Start small, at about $2 to $5 per day. Then once you get comfortable with the system and if finances allow, increase your budget!

I currently spend $300 a month on ads and that gets me about 1,500 fans.

Hot tip: Take the time to create a great ad image.

People love color! And be sure to include a bit of text or call to action (a statement that tells people to do something) on the image!

Be ultra selective when targeting your ad.

If you have Google Analytics set up for your shop, pay attention to where your most people or your best customers are coming from.

What is their location?

What is their age?

Also consider what other Facebook pages they might like and target those too.

Take action and do something now!

Pick one of these strategies and start setting things in motion!

Giveaways can be set up in a an hour or two.

Ads can start getting you new likes in a few minutes!

Go look for pages to like so you can start building relationships with them.

Hot tip: Jot down your Facebook fan count today. A few months down the road, check back on that number and see how much you’ve grown!

Questions? Comments?

Do you have any tips to share on getting more fans?

What has worked for you? What hasn’t?

For any questions, leave me a comment below!