So you have a Facebook fanpage … now what? It’s the next step after creating a fantastic Facebook page that gets a lot of business owners hung up. With so many people using Facebook, how can you reach your target market? How do you drive fans to your page and then get them interacting with your content?

Well, the short answer is there is no magic formula. The truth is that there are many ways to gain fans but the real secret lies in keeping them. We can teach you methods of bringing in more fans more quickly but you’re still going to have to take action to keep those fans.

A fanpage is a community- a living entity. It’s constantly growing and changing and if you don’t put anything into it, you won’t get anything from it. There’s more to it than just building a page, reeling in lots of fans and then ignoring it.

Facebook also deems the relevancy of your page based on the interaction with it. Likes, comments and shares of your content will prove to Facebook that your page has a community of people who enjoy the content you are providing. This increases your Facebook EdgeRank (the algorithm used to determine relevancy and interaction on a page) and will allow your page to be shown more often in feeds, increasing your chances of more likes.

Let’s look at some quick tips to gain more Facebook fans that you can begin implementing today:

1. Determine Your Fan Base- You cannot share interesting content when you don’t know who you are talking to. You may feel like you have the next big thing or something awesome to share but will your target market actually be interested? Are you sharing information that is unique or helpful to solve a problem or provide a resolution? Before making any posts, you need to ask yourself “Who are we talking to?” and you need to have a solid answer for that question. Create character profiles of several typical users of your fanpage. Role play some typical conversations with those characters to get a feel for how your fanpage will operate.
2. Create a Plan- The next step after determining your fan base is to create a plan of action. How often will you post to your page? What type of content will you post? Who will have access to administrative duties on the page? Your plan is just that- blueprints to how your Facebook page will operate and what type of community you are building. You get to be the leader and the steps that you take will guide the way the community responds to your fanpage. If you want to gain more fans, there needs to a focus to your page and that focus only comes when you have a solid plan in place.
3. Build Engaging Content- Engaging content is easier said than done. All too often, people think that what they are posting is interesting, unique or engaging but honestly, it’s not. Facebook users are hit with so much content every day, it’s hard to find something that can really stand out and capture their attention. When all you do is re-share the same funny pics or de-motivational posters they’ve seen on countless other walls, there is a good chance you will lose fans and very little chance you’ll bring in new fans. Build engaging content and your existing fans will share it far and wide, bringing in even more fans to like your page and your content. So don’t get lazy with your content- your fans will thank you for it.
4. Interact with Your Fans– Interacting with the fans you currently have is going to help you keep them as well as bring more fans in. Don’t neglect the fans you currently have. The more activity happening on your wall, the more often your page will show up in the feeds of those who have liked the page. Make it a point to be the most active commenter on your own wall. Reply to those who post, ask questions and follow up on those questions and get involved in the community you are building on your fanpage. Take time to remember faces and names of the people who interact with your page.
5. Use a Call to Action- Every post you make should contain a call-to-action (CTA). If you want the reader to click the “like” button, then ask then to do so. If you want them to share with their friends or leave a comment, then ask them to. It’s as simple as that. Recent data from HubSpot shows a direct increase in the amount of likes when there was a call to action asking the viewer to do so. They concluded that posts including the word “like” got more likes and those with the word “comment” got more likes and comments and finally, those with the word “share” got more shares, comments and likes. So go ahead and ask the people for what you want.
6. Buy Facebook Fans- Here is a practice that is often debated in social media communities but there are some circumstances where it may not be such a bad thing. For example, if you have a brand new page, buying some fans to start you off can give your page the boost needed to build more actual fans. You can purchase a package of targeted fans and then use the above techniques to reach out to those fans and interact with them. If you engage them, it won’t matter how they originally found you and if they share your content with their networks, they could bring in a great number of other fans. One final point on this topic is that it builds trust. Which would you trust more: a page with 12 likes or a page with 12,000 likes?

Now that you know six great new ways to gain more Facebook fans, you can begin as early as today but don’t give up. Continue your efforts for as long as you have your fanpage and while you are bringing in new fans, make sure you’re also learning new techniques to keep those fans around. If they really like your page and the content you share, they will share with their networks and bring in even more fans for you.

What techniques do you have for gaining more Facebook fans?

Lisa Mason is a content marketing specialist writing for Buy More Fans, a leading supplier of Facebook likes, Twitter followers, Instagram and YouTube followers. You can buy Facebook fans to get your new business page started on the right foot or to boost an existing fanpage.