The shortest answer to how to get more followers on Facebook is to be more visible to your ideal followers.
The long answer? Consistently post engaging content to be in front of your target audience.
Based on how educational or entertaining your content is, some folks will start following you right away. Others will likely see your posts a handful of times before hitting follow.
Either way, being visible is the key to growing your follower count on Facebook. This guide gives you the inside answer to getting in front of the right people and turning them into loyal followers for your business page.
1. Understand Facebook’s Algorithm
During Q3, 2023, the Facebook algorithm showed 23.7% of content in people’s Feeds from sources they weren’t connected to.
This alone makes it essential for you to track how the algorithm works so you can create content that shows to your target audience.
Essentially, the algorithm reviews the type of content (topics and formats) that users interact with the most to show them non-follower content that will likely interest them.
For example, if a person watches lots of climate change videos on Facebook, the algorithm will show them more similar content.
2. Know Your Target Audience
The more you know your ideal audience, the better you can create content that resonates with them. In turn, you encourage people to engage with it and even (eventually) follow you.
Not to mention, when followers interact with your content, a slice of their followers see it too. Again, this gets your brand in front of more people.
See how Fitbit shared 12 exercise ideas to engage their audience of fitness enthusiasts:
Here’s how you can better understand your target audience:
- Study Facebook insights to track content performance and user behavior on your business page. 91% of businesses agree studying social insights gives them a stronger understanding of their customers. Learn what topics and types of content are driving the most likes and comments.
- Analyze your competitors’ content. The Facebook audience insights dashboard shows you competitor pages to keep tabs on. Alternatively, type your niche in Facebook’s search bar to study pages that come up. Review what they’re talking about, how they drive engagement, and the content formats they’re creating to inform your content production.
- Survey and poll your audience. Ask them what topics interest them. Also, regularly open doors for feedback on the Facebook content you’re creating.
3. Create Engaging Content
Facebook’s algorithm tends to boost the reach of content that gets higher engagement.
This means all those likes and comments increase your brand visibility, further unlocking followers.
But instead of assuming what your followers find relevant, return to your audience research data. Use it to inform content creation.
Here are more tips for creating engaging content:
- Write curiosity-inducing hooks to open your Facebook posts. Strong hooks get attention in a sea of content, prompting them to read your content.
- Include scroll-stopping visuals that supplement your message. Instead of using stock images, create branded visuals (Canva templates can make this quick and easy for you) to stand out. Also, make sure you use a variety of visuals, including infographics, memes, bite-sized videos, and GIFs.
- Write conversational copy that pushes people to comment on your post. One good way to do so is to ask them a question.
- Use storytelling to create engaging Facebook content. Either share your story or your founder’s story. You can also share a customer’s story to inspire and engage followers.
Take this post from Calm as an example. It’s conversational in style, includes a helpful, branded graphic, and closes with a question to drive comments:
Pro tip: Use the 80-20 posting rule to balance out promotional and educational/entertaining content. 80% of your Facebook posts should be to inform, entertain, or educate. 20% should talk about your products/services.
4. Consistency Is Key
Consistent posting and engaging with your followers help you stay on top of their minds.
With time, they start looking forward to your content — taking you as the authoritative source on business-relevant topics you talk about.
Take Athleta, for instance. They regularly post content to boost their target audience’s confidence and inspire them to invest in their well-being.
Regular posting also lets you appease the Facebook algorithm, ensuring wider reach.
Lastly, consistency amplifies your brand message and values, fostering trust and loyalty. In turn, a loyal audience spreads the word about you, making it another proven answer to how to get more followers on Facebook.
The only catch? Being consistent is a challenging feat. So make sure you follow these tips:
- Plan your Facebook posts using themes and a content calendar — more on this below.
- Pick a consistent posting schedule that identifies how frequently you’ll post and at what times. Here’s your guide to creating the ideal social media posting schedule and the best time to post on Facebook.
- Create a content plan. Based on your posting frequency, work out content formats. For example, post infographics on Tuesdays and videos on Wednesdays.
- Pre-write a week’s load of content to hit the ground running. This helps maintain consistency if you’re unable to make time to write a social post on any day.
5. Use A Social Calendar & Scheduling Tool
Organizing Facebook posts in a calendar tool gives you an overview of your planned content for the month. This lets you easily identify gaps in your strategy and plan for important dates.
Using CoSchedule’s Social Calendar, for example, you can not only get visibility into your Facebook content but across various social channels you use — all in one place:
The best part? CoSchedule’s Social Calendar also provides automated publishing features — giving you the option to schedule content to go out at the best times.
This way, you can reduce guesswork around when to post on Instagram, Facebook, and other channels and focus more on creating engaging content.
Recommended Reading: Best Times To Post On Social Media [Based On Original Research]
6. Build A Community
Community building instills loyalty among your followers, generating word of mouth and bringing you new followers.
Consistently sharing valuable content is the first step to this.
The next step is to actively reply to the comments and messages you get, as Away does. Doing so shows folks you’re active and invested in the community you’re building.
It also indicates you value their comments, encouraging them to interact more with your brand. Ready to learn how to get more followers on Facebook using this tactic? Try this:
- Incentivize people to share user-generated content. Tell your followers to share their stories, experiences, and photos. Then, repost their content to acknowledge their contributions. Here’s one way GoPro is doing this:
- Host giveaways and exclusive offers. Host giveaway contests or tell people to tag their friends to follow your page to win exclusive deals.
- Collaborate with or appreciate active participants’ contributions. Give active community members a shout-out or a surprise gift to prompt them to continue contributing.
- Welcome feedback and refine your Facebook strategy accordingly. Prompt members to share feedback and suggestions for improving the community. Make changes based on the feedback you get commonly to show your followers’ input is important to you.
7. Leverage Facebook Features
Facebook constantly introduces new features to help marketers better engage their followers.
Using them not only gives you a competitive advantage but also more visibility since Facebook’s parent company, Meta, tends to incentivize users to try new features by increasing their reach.
Facebook users also welcome lots of these features fairly quickly. For example, more than 140 billion users play Reels daily across Meta apps.
Another feature, Stories is also a loved one. According to Facebook’s data, half a billion watch Stories every day.
So make sure you’re leveraging the following features to win more followers:
- Facebook Group
Create a Facebook group for your most dedicated followers and people interested in learning about the topics you cover.
Post exclusive content in the group, such as free advice and giveaways. Also, offer opportunities for group members to network and learn from each other.
For example, Jasper.ai created a Facebook group to help its followers learn about creative ways to use their AI tool. The group is an effective channel to engage their followers and increases user retention for them.
- Facebook polls
Get your audience’s opinions with polls. Since voting doesn’t take much effort, you can easily see lots of engagement in your polls.
Don’t forget, not all questions you ask need to be serious. Some can be fun and light-hearted as well.
- Facebook Live
Virtual events engage your audience in real time, fostering a strong sense of community.
Host live educational sessions and AMAs (ask me anything) on topics relevant to your business. You can also go live to create hype around a new product launch like Benefit Cosmetics does:
- Reels and Stories
Share authentic, unpolished behind-the-scenes content that shows your brand personality on your Stories. For Reels, tap into storytelling, show your face, and leverage prevailing trends, including audio trends.
In a nutshell, the fastest way to grow your followers on Facebook is to nail understanding the algorithm and who your target audience is. When you do that, you can consistently publish engaging content that gets people to interact with and follow your page.