(This article was originally posted in Boost.re’s official blog)
How to give visibility to your blog on Facebook
Facebook can be a powerful tool in bringing traffic to your blog.
The problem is, given that Facebook is a social network, its users rarely want to see Ads.
This is why the average Click Through Rate (CTR) of a Facebook Ad is less than 0.26%.
This is also why the traffic you receive from Facebook Ads is sh*#ty and considered as low quality.
So, how to avoid this issue and get people to consume your content?
1. Create practical and valuable content
First things first, your content has to be valuable. If you are trying to “push” a piece of content that does not deliver what the headline promises, you’ll be wasting everyone’s time (including yours).
Check this article for some advice on how to create valuable content.
The content has to be practical. Interesting content is harder to spread. Besides, if your content is practical, your Call to Action (CTA) will boost your conversions, as it will be easily related to the actions described in the content.
Avoid creating interesting or sensationalist content, it might get you some traffic, but at the end of the day nothing really actionable.
2. Define your target audience/user persona
Once you’ve crafted great content, the next step is to define the kind of people you’d like to read it.
The best place to start is to create a profile of your target audience/user persona, people you know exactly how they act and think.
In case you still don’t have a user persona, this article can help you.
3. Go to Facebook, find your target audience and share your content with them
Once you have defined your user persona, the next step is to go to Facebook and find them.
In order to succeed with content marketing on Facebook, you need to make sure your content is distributed mainly to your target audience.
How to find your target audience on Facebook?
Facebook is structuring itself as a “social-news” website. It wants to deliver fresh content, making the Newsfeed its main feature.
One special part of the “social-news” structure is Facebook groups.
They are created specially to deliver peer-shared content around a specific topic.
Facebook groups are becoming the best way to find passionate people (your target audience) because they usually have fresh content that highly engages their users.
You should join and share content in the groups linked with the topics you’re blogging about.
There is a high chance that the content you shared in the Facebook groups will then be displayed in the Newsfeed of your target audience.
You’re already sharing in Facebook groups and your traffic still isn’t growing?
Well, this part is tricky. Mainly because it is not as simple as finding the groups, it is also knowing how Facebook works and how the content is displayed in the Newsfeed.
First of all, the groups that really work, meaning, the ones that have an engaged audience, have often at least 10,000 members, a full pack of moderators, and an audience really vocal against spam.
On top of this, Facebook uses an algorithm to prioritize the order of the posts in the Newsfeed. It is somewhat similar to the problem you have with Google and SEO, but with completely different and darker rules.
If you’re interested in knowing more details about this Facebook algorithm, and how news are prioritized in newsfeeds, this article and this blog are a great place to start.
You need to start testing. Testing the best times to publish, the best descriptions to go with your link, the best interactions that create more interactions.
Get to know the group before posting anything remotely similar to a content marketing piece. Participate in conversations, express your opinions, let the other you are a knowledgeable peer.
Yes, it may take a lot of time, but well worth it when done well.
There are also services that can help you amplify your organic reach on Facebook. These services are a lot cheaper and faster than a full-time community manager. One of the most popular services is Boost.
Avoid always publishing from the same domain
Remember I said before that the best groups are “aware of spam”?
Well, when you only share from the same domain, you’re putting yourself on the spot, and not only the community will notice, Facebook itself will notice.
The preferable ratio is 10–20% of your content, and the rest from various sites.
Remember, at the end of the day, Facebook remains a social network, and its users want to be treated like peers and not like containers of information.
Conclusion
The best way to power up your content marketing on Facebook is to start creating practical content and finding the right audience.
Hence, avoid using Facebook walls, fan pages, etc… in which your content will likely disappear in a void of disinterest.
You can leverage the power of Facebook groups, in which a community is gathered around a common goal, and they’re usually eager to consume interesting content that adds value to their passions.
Used smartly, Facebook groups can help you Boost your high quality traffic and also help shape your image as a thought leader in your industry.
If you’re tired of trying Faceboonk and you’re looking for now rising and over underutilized platforms, maybe Reddit is the one for you.
