How To Revive A Neglected Facebook Page

Let’s talk about Facebook pages for our businesses.

We all know that Facebook getting tough for new businesses to find a foothold. There's massive competition and a very small window of opportunity. We know that our posts need to engage and attract our audiences and sometimes that can be really tough.

I get it.

In August, I took over the management of a (somewhat stagnating) Facebook page here in Laos, for a non-for-profit group. It's fun because a) I'm promoting a great charitable group; and b) they give me free rein to be as creative as I like.

As soon as I was made an admin, I started implementing some of the steps outlined below. And the page response jumped! We are getting lots more followers and engagement with every post. It’s awesome.

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If your Facebook page is already zipping along with lots of engagement and new followers every day, then woohoo! You’ve found your sweet spot. Pour yourself a glass of bubbles and keep doing what you’re doing.

BUT if your page is inching along like a snail, or worse - if you’ve given up on it altogether because it’s too depressing, then read on.

It is depressing pouring your time and effort into a thankless task. And feeling frustrated because what you think people should love and engage with seems to fall on deaf ears.

But today we’re going to dust off that page and get it back into the sunlight. Here’s how...

Post regularly on your page

Ideally, you want to post every day. Sit down and figure out an editorial calendar, even a rough one, of how you’re going to achieve that and exactly what you’re going to post.

Remember, you don’t just want to post interesting content, you want to post engaging content.

Here’s some tips:

Write a welcome back message:

Rather than pretend you never left, embrace the opportunity for a comeback. Be upfront and say what you want to achieve with your new and improved page. For example, “I’m now focused on X, so you’re going to hear a lot more about A, K, Y and Z. Please invite your friends to like this page!”

Post more visual content - videos and images are a must
Post your blog posts, articles, podcast link (or other regular external content) but don’t just drop a link into the page. Add a comment about why you wrote it, or highlight an interesting aspect of it that will appeal to your FB followers
Pose controversial questions or comments
Check out what similar pages are doing and see if you can emulate some of their ideas in your own style
Share other people’s content if it’s interesting and relevant to your own audience. Don’t forget to link back to original page; the original poster will appreciate it and may reciprocate!
Check your page insights to see when people are responding to your posts and schedule your activity accordingly

Remember that Facebook only shows your content to your followers who already engage with your page. So it may be hard to get back in front of your existing audience.

But new followers will see all your content for a while, until Facebook gauges how engaged they are with your page.

Freshen up your Facebook page

It’s time for a makeover! Refresh your page and make it look new and interesting. Here’s some ideas:

Update your cover image, profile photo and description
Add any new services or products and remove old ones
Change your page cover photo
Refresh your page description and make sure all your details are up to date
Change the featured photos on your page - you can sort these by featured, popular and recent photos

Get into video

Plan some interesting videos to drop into your page every month or so. This could be Facebook Lives, webinars, YouTube video, Facebook slideshows or other videos that you create elsewhere.

The point of shaking things up with video is that: a) it’s been shown to increase post engagement hugely. Which leads to b) increased activity on your page. Followed by c) attracting new people to your page.

Set up a Faceook event

Organise an event and link it to your page. In October, I held a charity film event which I had linked to my Eat Drink Laos Facebook page.

It was a great success (naturally!) and raised a lot of money but our entire marketing campaign was on Facebook. The event was relatively small with only 130 seats but the event page reached over 7,000 people! Which was awesome coverage.

Your event doesn’t have to be huge. Or raise money, or even cost you a cent. Maybe it’s simply Friday night networking drinks among your peers.

The point is that events can reach a wider audience than you can on your own. And any activity on your event page - RSVPs, comments, shares, likes etc - translates back to your page.

On a personal note - algorithms aside - events also give your followers opportunities to connect with you and like-minded people. They show that your business or organisation is active and happening.

Which is always an attractive thing.

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Be responsive on your page

It’s really important to respond to all your page’s comments, shares, and messages as soon as possible. Facebook loves pages that are responsive (because they want you to stay on their site as much as possible) but they’ll also reward you for it by putting your posts in front of more people.

Your audience will also appreciate your quick replies - it makes them feel valued. Be sure to add an automatic response to your messages to help keep your response rate healthy when you’re away.

Note that if things get busy, it really helps to have an extra person as another page admin. Managing a busy Facebook page can be a full time job!

Spread the word about your page

This is one of the simplest ways to get fresh page activity and new followers. Tell people about your page and ask them to like it. Here’s how...

Invite all of your friends to like your page. I mean ALL. What’s the point of having hundreds of Facebook ‘friends’ if you can’t ask a simple favour? If they’re not interested, they’ll ignore the request. No harm done.
Ask your close friends and family to invite all of their friends too. You’ve got to cast the net wide, you never know who it might reel in.
Link to your FB page on your website (you can add a FB like box as well with a bit of code)
Link to it in your email signature and everywhere else

Now, over to you! Is your Facebook page zooming, inching or stagnating? Tell me!