Can anyone give me some advice on how to get more “likes” on my business’ Facebook page?
I have a link from my website, along with the news feed to draw attention. I have posted notices on my personal page but most of my friends there are not horsey people. Any great ideas? Show me your creativity 
Post the link on your status here. Find any breed organizations, other breeders/trainers/customers, etc that you are interested in, and like them (depending on what kind of page you made you can do that). I am trying to think…I have several farms that I follow on FB, but I don’t remember how I found all of them.
Link your COTH siggy for starters 
It’s a slow and steady process if you aren’t going to pay for advertising. You really just have to dedicate a small amount of time each day and then just wait for the Likes to accumulate. Most people say to post from your page only 1-2 times per day. If you have a loyal fanbase you can get away with more, but that’s a good general rule of thumb so as not to annoy people/look desperate. As you can see, it will take some time to build a following.
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Generate content - take photos of your horses and share them. Make sure they are good photos of course, and only post The Absolute Best of the lot. Remember, internet time spans are < 3 seconds. I find photos get much better response than videos.
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Proofread and really think about your content. It needs to be catchy & original, a fine line between wit and overbearing/egotistical. If you can complete a facebook post in under a minute you are probably doing it wrong. Creative writing & thinking skills are a huge asset to social marketing.
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Select to “Use Facebook as Trinity Sporthorses” under the arrow next to the Home link, then scout other breeders & companies pages and start “liking” them. Then go through the pages they Like and start liking those. This is different than you as a person liking them - when you press Home as Trinity Sporthorses you will see a newsfeed with updates from all the companies you just liked. If they have posted content you like, then add a worthwhile comment to it while using facebook as your Trinity page. Don’t post worthless content (sometimes a ZOMG Cute! is unavoidable in the horse world, but try to be someone that has something worthwhile to say), and don’t post so much that you overstay your digital welcome and become suspect of spamming.
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Share memes. Preferably ones that aren’t already being over-shared and flooding news feeds. They should be horse related, so surf around, get off the beaten path and “discover” something fun/humorous/cute/wise to share with your fans. This is the only ticket to a rapid increase in likes, but it’s a crap shoot. Good original memes aren’t that easy to find.
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Buy facebook ads. Really no reason not to, you can set whatever daily budget you want (we’re running an $8/day campaign right now). When you’re really frustrated because you’ve been stuck in the 200s forever (or something) just throw $40 at facebook, select your best photo, and run some ads for your page. It will give a quick boost in Likes and reinvigorate the wind in your sails
Search Social Media for Equestrians and the 2012 Equestrian Social Media Awards, bet they are full of informational tips and links.
well, I just “Liked” you, so thats another one to add to your list :winkgrin:
Thanks dags, great advice!
Tapperjockey, it seems I can’t “like” a number of other pages that I want to because I am a business?
Thanks to you, too, wcporter 
[QUOTE=TrinitySporthorses;6237307]
Thanks dags, great advice!
Tapperjockey, it seems I can’t “like” a number of other pages that I want to because I am a business?
Thanks to you, too, wcporter ;-)[/QUOTE]
There are a few different types of pages… One is the personal page… another is business… another is a group page, etc…
Ok, I have added it on my signature (I think)…hope it works!
I just liked your page too
It looks great, the pictures are actually quite good, the content isn’t mundane, and I’d say you are totally on the right track. But, your fan-base is too small to generate in virility. Right now when you post it goes out to 30ish people and therefore you have 30ish chances that those people will like or share the content so someone new sees it - b/c you need new people to see your content, not just your current fans, to build likes. So, investing in advertising to load your starting fanbase up to 80 more than doubles the value of every post you make on facebook.
Keep in mind that the average click thru rates for banner advertising is .1% - yes, that’s a point before the 1, and it’s measured per 1000 clicks. Banner advertising is not the same as social marketing, but it’s not that different either. By that industry standard, your presence isn’t even large enough yet to build it’s own momentum… but hang in there!
Look on your fb admin section to get your custom URL, you should be able to turn that ugly long link into www.facebook.com/TrinitySportHorses by claiming a custom url.
Then, when you edit your Coth signature, write what you want your link to say, such as “Follow us on Facebook!” then highlight that text, click the little globe with the link icon (link kinda looks like a paperclip) and paste the link to your facebook page in the box that pops up. That will clean up your signature line (if you want)
If coth signature doesn’t have those editing options open one of these post boxes, follow the steps above, then instead of posting copy everything in the post box (should look like [URL…]Follow us on facebook!) and paste that into your signature.
Liked and I shared it on my wall as well for you. Good luck. I think FB is a great marketing tool and have also made some life long friends through it as well 
Great suggestions thus far! Slow and steady wins the race!
Same boat here, hovering around 250. I’m just not online nearly enough to make a difference at this point. It seems like most breeders with 1000+ likes are either very well known, or spend a good bit of time online and marketing.
But then I look at some of my friends with 800+ “friends” so I think they just friend who ever comes along. I’m a little pickier who I friend, but my farm page is set to public.
We cracked 7600 today and should be around 8000 on Monday-Tuesday. I have an ad budget and have only used our farm logo since that started about a year and a half ago. We were pretty stagnant at 1200 for a few months and then it took off. We’re averaging between 50-200 new fans per day. If I put some more time into shooting video & photos (or if my clone did ) and getting them up, it would grow faster.
My strategy - new photos each and every day. Some are more mundane things (shot w/ the iPhone as I go through my chores, the barn cats) and then the rest are different horses schooling, competing or just hanging out. You guys might criticize the ‘candid’ yearling ucky photos as not professional but ‘regular’-non-horse-owners love them!!! The herd shots get the most compliments and likes. The fans adore seeing the horses out in their pastures - running, playing and just being horses. They also like the more serious training photos but it boils down to this…they want to SEE where the horses come from. IMO of course! FWIW - most of our fans are overseas. They seem to be drawn to what is an American Warmblood and like to see them in photos & videos. They also like to see photos of our farming equipment (big tractors & hay stuff) and what horse breeding/raising/training farms look like. They also like to see what we ‘do’ with the horses and what a wet baby looks like as an FEI horse.
I do about 2 hours of work on FB, the blog, website and/or YouTube per day. Some days that stretches to 6-8…whatever I can fit around riding, teaching, chores and all the rest that goes on around here. It is a full time job really and I am always thinking of what would be a good idea for that evening or the next morning. Lots of scheming and plotting of how to interact with our fans! I love Facebook for expanding our equestrian community & network of friends!
I currently have 1400ish fans on my farm page.
My personal Facebook presence is pretty… public. IE I don’t post anything on there I wouldn’t tell the entire universe, I accept tons and tons of (horsey) friend requests – and I then suggest they like my farm page. Every now and then I’ve asked my fans to please share the link with anyone they think might be interested. (This also means I keep personal news and info off of my personal FB, and I abstain from anything political – even when I really want to share/say something. My business face to the world is NOT the place for that – some people have a hard time realizing that, and I personally believe it is bad for business.)
I don’t post on there every day, but try to two to three times a week. Sometimes I hit that, sometimes I don’t. I try and keep it EXTREMELY up to date (as with my web site).
I also have a news page on my web site, but that’s not quite as up to the minute as FB, or other pages on my site. On the news page, I mention that the most up to date info can be found on FB, and give the link.
[QUOTE=rideagoldenpony;6237624]
I currently have 1400ish fans on my farm page.
My personal Facebook presence is pretty… public. IE I don’t post anything on there I wouldn’t tell the entire universe, I accept tons and tons of (horsey) friend requests – and I then suggest they like my farm page. Every now and then I’ve asked my fans to please share the link with anyone they think might be interested. (This also means I keep personal news and info off of my personal FB, and I abstain from anything political – even when I really want to share/say something. My business face to the world is NOT the place for that – some people have a hard time realizing that, and I personally believe it is bad for business.)
I don’t post on there every day, but try to two to three times a week. Sometimes I hit that, sometimes I don’t. I try and keep it EXTREMELY up to date (as with my web site).
I also have a news page on my web site, but that’s not quite as up to the minute as FB, or other pages on my site. On the news page, I mention that the most up to date info can be found on FB, and give the link.[/QUOTE]
As someone whom is a fan on FB of yours… I must say that the way you keep your website and FB page updated… spoils your fans lol. I am fans of another farm too, and they last posted in January… but I keep checking!!!
While great photos are fine on FB, I have to say people LOVE the more candid, casual shots. A cute muddy photo of a youngster can generate much more interest than a snooty posed clean picture. Don’t get hung up on an elistist snob appeal; it can turn lots of people away.
Tasker & GoldenPony, what a great job you’re doing! I’m especially happy to see Tasker’s response to the paid ad campaigns, that is very impressive.
I was going to add something along the lines of Tasker’s tactics, and that is taking the time to develop a sort of “persona” that is consistent and likeable - interesting helps too. This can create a very loyal fan base.
[QUOTE=not again;6238341]
While great photos are fine on FB, I have to say people LOVE the more candid, casual shots. A cute muddy photo of a youngster can generate much more interest than a snooty posed clean picture. Don’t get hung up on an elistist snob appeal; it can turn lots of people away.[/QUOTE]
I think you can post quality photos of your horses without being considered snooty or elitist (that was kind of a snooty remark in itself). Note, you said “cute” in your description of the muddy photo, and that is what is most important. But something else to keep in mind is this is not a popularity contest, even though facebook does everything in its power to make it seem like one. This is a very intelligent way to expose your farm to a highly targeted audience, if you know how to work the metrics. Now, I’m not saying us show folk don’t enjoy a cute muddy baby, but I can promise you they very much enjoy seeing an animal showcased at the height of its appeal.
We have always found quality over quantity to be an effective selling tool. It certainly doesn’t get us the most traffic on the internet, but it does turn the highest sale numbers.
My academic research is about social media, rhetoric, and the viral spread of information. I think you’ll find this short article useful, but the Cliff’s Notes to the article is “Post early in the day so that people will be very likely to see it, post short status updates that encourage interaction by asking questions or soliciting feedback, try to post things that people actually want to share/pass around (like pictures of sale horses etc.), and try to post at least four times a week if possible.”
http://socialmediatoday.com/bigsea/370308/writing-effective-facebook-posts
Very informative thread! I’m going to have to steal some of the ideas!!
Thanks!
Am I the only one who finds excessive sale-horse-posting disturbing? I try to put informative stuff on our FB page, things I feel would be of interest to our clientele. Somehow I think it’s more essential which ‘likes’ I reach than just how many.
Likewise I try not to push myself onto other people’s websites or business pages uncalled for as I think that is not what social media is really about. Creating a network actually invovles interaction. To me interaction does not equal plastering invitations all over the internet but to give and take. There is a lot of FB pollution I try to stear clear of. Our Germanhorseconnection page is lingering around 2.400 likes which is still a bit more than I have friends as a person up there. I’m quite happy with the slow but consistant growth I’ve had and seem to be getting likes from more I actually want to reach than before.
When I still sent out invitations to ‘friends’ I received a lot more likes on the page but I stopped doing that at some point as I’ve found the people who find me by recommendation from others or straight off my website are closer to my target group.
Good advice in this thread I’ll see if I can change the URL that should certainly be helpful.
One thing I still don’t get is how to connect your FB persona closer to your business page. Think I’ll try putting my name with the info… Great food for thoughts thank you Tasker, dags and others!
