Written by: Brenda K. Johnson, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Driving traffic on Facebook is like drawing a photo. Each part must interact with the others. Without that interaction, it just doesn’t work. After trying various methods to increase Facebook traffic, this one works the best.
Why does it work? Because people stop, look and read when they see a photo of you, your family, your animal or a place you are visiting. It seems to create curiosity without using the curiosity approach. The curiosity approach is a technique of not being specific about what you are selling or doing, but just using enough words to pique their curiosity enough for them to ask you about the event without you having to invite them.
The Know, Like, Trust (KLT) method is working for me. And I wanted to share it with you.
Know
As people begin to know you, they begin to know your brand. The concept is very simple however consistency is the key. One of the best and easiest ways is through Facebook posts. I am only going to discuss Facebook and posting within Facebook. Posting within your personal page, business page and group pages on a consistent basis is how they begin to initially notice you and your brand.
If I do not post anything then no interaction with those online will occur. However, as you begin to post people begin to notice your activity. Initially, you may not have much of a response. But as you continually post something begins to happen and you begin to get noticed.
I recommend telling stories about yourself and your lifestyle. Traveling, during yard work, outside for a walk, playing with your pets, family interactions and even working your business at your office desk. Begin to write simple language stories about yourself and bring them back to your business or what you do.
Do not use this as the time to pitch or sell your products. I do not even recommend putting a link in the story. Just a photo or two that circles back to the story that you are telling that day. For example, if you took a short business trip from one state to another, stop and take a selfie at the state line sign or another scenic site that you saw along the way. Make the story about what you did that day and about your business at the end of the story. Not too long. Perhaps, no more than 500-800 words. Make it easy on you, especially since it is something that you will do daily.
As you tell your story, people will begin to notice the changes that you have made on your pages and begin to comment. If you have a group that you can work with and support each other’s posts then your activity will grow even faster. It may take a few weeks to a month or more, depending on how active you were on the site before.
This is how people will begin to know you. See how you live, work and play. Initially, being somewhat of a private person and letting others it was different for me. But as I began to write my story day by day it became easier and my interactions grew.
Another important factor is to reply and respond to them with a heart rather than a like. Facebook seems to give the heart symbol higher response perks, than a like symbol. Try to respond to each one with a short sentence. Like anything, it is a commitment. Depending on how active you are how long it may take. Growing your presence online is the end goal. Keeping that in mind should help you to continue to post daily or at least four to five times per week.
Like
As you continuous expand your presence online by writing and posing your story daily, your interactions will grow organically. What I mean by organically: Without buying ads. Often, depending on the type of ads and how often and where they are posted, many do not work. Therefore, this is a free way to expand your presence online. Therefore, it is called an organic method.
As you post day after day you will see your presence growing. Do not become disappointed if it does not grow as fast as you hoped or thought. Just keep going. More and more people will begin to see you, notice you and like your posts. Make sure your posts are light-hearted, nice, clean and circle back to your business (most days) in a gentle manner. No blunt, buy from me now or here is my link or jump on a call now, those only sound like a sales call. Fear not, I already made those mistakes.
The point is for your audience to begin to know and like you. As you begin to open up about yourself, who you are, what you like to do, your family, pets, vacations, what you do for fun and in your time off, they begin to like you. You are your brand. As they like you your brand begins to be liked and grows too.
Trust
Being online, people do not know you or like you, in many cases. It is a step-by-step process to grow any online business. You can also post videos, but only once a week to start. I found, after too many videos, at least on Facebook most people do not look when they see you go live. I found once I stopped going live all the time, then when I go live, people look and watch.
As people see you online and read your stories, they begin to notice you, like and trust you. Then your brand will grow. Your brand is you. Have you noticed if people do not like the owner of a business they then do not like the brand? We want people to like us and then they like and trust our brand.
Being consistent matters. Them seeing you daily engaging with them is important. The public is who will shape your business and brand. Them knowing, liking and trusting you is an important factor in your business growth.
Continue to engage, reply, respond and grow online. Your effectiveness on social platforms is based on your engagement with your audience. Then they will trust you and may want to work with you.
Tactics that work
Another tactic that seems to work is working as a group supporting each other’s posts. For example, if you have a group of eight to ten people that work together and support each other’s posts by engaging with comments, increases the amounts of views you receive. Have you noticed that others stop strolling and engage when they see something getting a lot of attention? They become curious and stop strolling and look. They call it pattern interrupt when our post can stop someone’s normal behavioral pattern and we can get their attention quickly. It’s like a jolt that causes them to stop and look immediately. Especially, when they had not planned on specifically looking at your post. Your post took them into another state of thinking that was not on their original agenda.
There is so much to look at on Facebook breaking through to get attention can be tough, but with a few techniques, it is possible. During this phase the person is just looking, perhaps they are a potential customer or client and you are prospecting at this phase. It becomes necessary to attract the attention of new people because we want to grow or start our businesses.
The objective is to get the attention of new people and of those that had lost interest in you. Why had they lost interest, because it appears to them that you only want them to buy your product? We know that is the case, however, we must over-give to those that we want to draw into our business. We can never give out too much. Once you feel you are giving too much, then you need to learn more. That was the advice a successful online entrepreneur taught me.
Pattern interrupt can turn individuals that normally do not stop or break the habit of someone who is “not interested” or a “no thank you” to rethink your message. When I think of a jolt it makes me think of an electrical wire that was touched by accident and you feel a sudden jolt! Like magic, a person will stop and look at what you are saying. If they stop and read your post that is not the time to pitch. If you pitch now, you will lose them.
As mentioned above the Know, Like, Trust method will gradually bring in new clients without pitching them. If done properly, they will ask you to work with them and teach them. You will not have to pitch them. Most people do not like to be pitched. Pattern interrupt breaks patterns that have developed in our lives. By interrupting our thoughts suddenly pattern interrupt breaks through and causes us to look at something or do something that we had not planned to do. It is an unconscious response that fools our conscious mind. In so doing, a new habit is replacing an old habit. It can provide a chance for someone who would normally automatically say no to stop and rethink their response. It can disarm someone and have them stop and read your message. Providing another window of opportunity.
Other methods
The other methods that were tried did not work! Posting banners with various slogans and even compassionate sayings only drove small amounts of traffic. Posting upcoming events, such as 3-Day Challenges, 5-Day Challenge and other types of challenge events only seem to drive small amounts of traffic, unless your name is well known in the industry. Facebook seems to like posting personal stories with personal photos of you, family, friends, events and even scenery that you are a part of.
Another tactic that seems to work is working as a group supporting each other’s posts. For example, we each support each other’s posts. Then we are driving traffic to each other’s pages increasing visibility to all. I call it, the team method.
The team method drives traffic to each of the person's involved pages. Especially, if all involved support each other. It may take time; however, it is worth the effort because everyone wins. Being in a group that supports each other is unique and effective.
The bottom line is creating something that gets the attention of your audience and makes them break their normal behavioral patterns. Your personal story can do that. Try sharing your story and not ending the post with a link to contact you. They already know how to reach you. That normally comes off as salesy.
Brenda K. Johnson, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
BRENDA K. JOHNSON is a multi-focused retired U.S. Army Officer and businesswoman who has lived and worked internationally in both beautiful and dangerous locations. Brenda grew up in a single-parent home with a business-owning mother. She has volunteered with many veterans and prison reform organizations and currently is a board member for Keystone College in Pennsylvania. Coaching basketball for girls led to establishing a women’s basketball team for a College in Doha, Qatar. Brenda is a writer and motivational speaker.
Brenda K. Johnson is using her years of experience as a military training officer and business owner to write and share her professional heartfelt experiences as a co-author in Intuitive Living. Her chapter entitled “S + S = Success” elevates women leaders, providing them with the tools to achieve their ambitions. As the founder of the Powerful Women Business Academy, Brenda coaches and mentors women empowering women to live their business dreams and contribute to the world by assisting others.
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