Are you Cool? How to be Popular on Facebook

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In this article I talk about your popularity on Facebook, why it’s important, and how to keep your page popular.

If you haven’t had a chance, check out posts #1-6 from this Facebook Series here:

1. Save Time With This 3-Month Social Media Content Calendar

2. The Quick & Dirty Way to Boost Facebook Likes

3. How to Share your Music Page with a Like Button

4. 10 Easy Social Media Contests to Make Your Fans Engage

5. 3 Powerful Features to Use on your Facebook Bandpage

6. How to Stop Losing Visibility on Facebook

8. 7 Mistakes that will Kill Your Facebook Efforts

9. My Most Popular Posts on Facebook

“Everybody wants to hang out with the cool kids.” This is a theme we’ve all become accustomed to ever since grade school.  Sometimes you just can’t escape it. Being cool and popular is a coveted role in almost every aspect of life, and Facebook is not above it. This is evident in Facebook’s news feed algorithm.  Your fan page is given a popularity ranking based on how other users engage with it. Facebook monitors activity on your page such as likes, comments, clicks, and shares to determine how relevant your page is in a given time period. Your relevancy then dictates how often your posts will be served up in news feeds. Unfortunately, getting fans is only half the battle when it comes to Facebook. If you want your fans to see your posts in their news feeds, you have to do more work. There are things you can do to increase your exposure, and stay in the news feeds. I dig into that a little toward the end of this article, but for a more in depth look at how to maximize your exposure on Facebook take a look at post #6 in this Facebook Series (Stop Losing Visibility on Facebook).

Be Seen

In order to be popular, first you must be seen and be seen lots. Think about when a new song comes out for a mainstream artist. You hear it played over and over and over again on radio, TV, in movies, commercials, and sometimes even politicians and public figures use these tunes as their theme songs. Why? According to Marty Foley on Danex-EXM,  “any marketing communication is most effective when it is repeatedly brought to the attention of your target market.” If you want your music and brand to stick, you have to employ some measure of repetition. Taking this approach as a means to promote your own popularity on Facebook, here are some tactics to consider:

Try getting people to share your music.

Sharing your music on Facebook is a great way to be seen and heard by many. However, if you can do it without actually doing it yourself, you will look like a cool kid.  What I mean is that you will look more credible if someone else is promoting you and not you yourself.  If another person has taken the initiative to share one of your tracks, then people in that person’s circle will respect their recommendation. It will be much more effective coming from that person rather than from you.  You can easily do this with a street team by asking them to share a song of yours. But what if you don’t have a street team? Ask your most supportive fans and closest friends to share your music and videos in person by sending them messages on Facebook. Have them either share a specific post from your bandpage or simply share a link with a message of their own and ask them to tag your page.  You can say something like this…

Hi Jeni,

How’s it going? I hope you are doing well this holiday season. I just wanted to let you know that I am gearing up for an album release next year and I’d like to start getting the word out but I need your help. Would you mind sharing this sneak peek song (provide a link to the song or a link to the post from your Facebook page) on your timeline?  I’m only asking a few of my most trusted supporters to do this because I know that you guys have my back and the people in your circle respect you and your opinions just like I do.  It would mean the world to me and I really appreciate you being a part of my team.

Thanks so much,

Your Name

Be sure not to bombard the same folks every week with these requests. Use this method in moderation so that you’re not imposing. This method works even better if you have a circle of superfans that you regularly communicate with whether it’s on Facebook or some other social media platform or through e-mail.

Interact with New Fans

When you get a new fan, let them know how grateful you are for their support. Send them a direct message, welcome them into your community, tell them what they’re going to get, and engage with them. You will look like a real person to them and they will want to engage back.  Start a conversation to keep them engaged with you. This is important for three reasons. Number 1, you are setting the precedent for what they will get with you as an independent artist. You are getting them used to hearing from you. Number 2, it increases the number of times they see and hear from you. As I mentioned earlier, repetition is king when it comes to marketing and promotions. And number 3, it cultivates a relationship with them and if you can win them over they might even become a superfan who would be willing to share your music with their circles if you ask them in the future. Do you see how this comes full circle? The more effort you put into meaningful relationships with your fans, the more they will give back to you. This is a theme that exists in every culture on the planet. Give and you will receive.

Utilize Facebook’s Video Streaming or Live Feature

Currently, Facebook is prioritizing native videos. When you scroll down your news feed, native videos (the ones that play automatically) seem to be very prevalent. In November of 2015, BBC, published a very insightful article about Facebook competing with YouTube over video authority.  In the article, BBC confirms that Facebook prioritizes videos in news feeds and is actively trying to usurp YouTube in becoming a leading video platform on a social network.  What this means for you? If you post native videos, Facebook will most likely place it into your fans’ news feeds. You can use this to your advantage by uploading videos of you performing new songs, giving a message to your fans, or anything you wish to present that’s relevant to your brand identity.  Taking this a step further, utilizing the LIVE streaming feature on Facebook will give you even more exposure, because every time you go live, Facebook sends a notification out to users about you being live.  This provides even more exposure to your fans through their notifications. If they do tag along and watch the video, you get a one on one opportunity to interact with your fans.

I do, however, want to give a word of caution, regarding native videos on Facebook. Be careful when posting videos of you doing cover songs. If you don’t have permission from the song publishers, as of the time of this writing, Facebook is actively taking down illegal copyrighted materials and issuing warning messages to offenders.

Place monthly Facebook Ads

It doesn’t hurt to strategically buy advertising when you have a budget for it. I know as independent artists, we’re often on a shoe string budget.  However, if you have a few dollars to spare, doing an ad on Facebook every once in a while can really benefit your quest for popularity in the long run. Just $10 dollars once a month to boost a high engaging post will be enough to get the ball rolling.  With $10, you can reach up to 500-1000 fans! I did a contest once and I really wanted to use the contest to increase engagement on my page, so I posted it and paid to have it boosted and I gained fans and was able to cultivate new relationships as well as revamp older relationships. Using Facebook ads strategically can enhance your exposure with your fans and help you find new fans. Do a little bit of research first before jumping off into advertising on Facebook. There are some strategies you can employ to make your dollar go further. Check out the many blogs dedicated to social media marketing. A couple of my favorites are Social Media Examiner and Vertical Response. They will have some amazing tips on best practices when it comes to boosting posts on Facebook.

Be Seen with the Cool Kids

Interact with other Pages

Find other artists in your genre and interact with them. If you are trying to gain a local footing, find other popular local bands in your area and interact with them. Post on their Pages, interact with their fans in comments, and tag their Page Names on your Facebook Page. When you engage, remember to act as your Page instead of your personal profile. Write meaningful comments/posts and be consistent. This will increase your own exposure, plus it will generate good will with the other acts. They might return the favor by tagging you on their timeline. As an added benefit, when they come across an opportunity to perform where they can’t do it, you will be fresh on their minds since you’ve cultivated a relationship with them.

Other Ways to Win Popularity on Facebook

Focus on Getting More (Targeted) Fans That Will Engage

The more Page engagement you have, the more likely Facebook will serve your posts in news feeds. Therefore it is in your best interest to get fans that are targeted. Your fans should be people who genuinely like you, because these are the people who will like, share, comment, and click on your posts. There are so many third-party services available where you can buy fans for $5. I don’t discourage this method, however should you try it, please keep in mind that these bought fans are often not targeted and will not engage with your posts. They are just there for the numbers and nothing more. Buy fans to boost your numbers sparingly.  The majority of your fans should be organic, real. The best source for real fans is your live show. Ask audience members to like you on Facebook. Make it into a contest, and give a prize to one lucky person who likes you on Facebook during the show.

Pay Attention to Comments on Your Posts and Interact

Do not neglect fans who are engaging with you. Answer every comment even if all you have to say is ‘Thank You.’ Believe it or not, even your own comments factor in to Page engagement rankings. Make the investment and spend time commenting with fans on your own posts. Ask questions to get them to comment even more. The more they comment, the higher page ranking you earn. Remember to tag them in your comments. Every time they someone mentions them or tags them, they get a notification which means even more exposure for you.

Generate Anticipation by Creating a Post Series

Is there a way you can get your fans to come to you?  One way is to create a post series where fans anticipate a certain post from you on a weekly basis. It could be a weekly song, or contest, or unique encounters while on the road, or frequently asked questions.  A bonus will be if you can get them to comment every week on the post. Think about how you can get your fans to comment on a weekly basis.

Honestly, I was never popular in school. I was a nerd. I made good grades and kept to myself. I was an introvert. Well, I’m still an introvert to this day and popularity is not a natural thing for me. All of these tips are unnatural for me. I just want to do my music and hope that it speaks for itself. Unfortunately, art doesn’t speak for itself if no one knows that it is there. That’s why getting in front of people is so important for an artist. I’ve tried these tips myself. They work and I hope they will work for you. What tips have you tried to stay relevant in today’s ever changing world of social media?

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