With Facebook seemingly under constant change (I mean really…who here doesn’t get royally p*ssed off when they fix what isn’t broken), it’s hard to have a definitive guide for how to become popular on Facebook that will stand the test of time. So this article may be updated from time to time, but for now we’ll start with the basics.
What Does It Mean To Be Popular On Facebook?
Facebook is a little different than other social networks when it comes to popularity. In most cases the number of friends you have is going to be a big indicator of your popularity. However, there are restrictions in this realm when you are trying to grow your popularity on Facebook. For example, to have friends, you have to be a friend. There are no one-way connections like you might see on Twitter and other social networks. So this really limits you in how you promote yourself or your business. So how do you get around this? Fan Pages.
When you start a Fan Page, you eliminate the one-way connection limiter. You can have a million Likes on your fan page, but you might only have one actual friend for your account. Depressing yes, but it does illustrate what I’m talking about.
People use Fan Pages as an unrestricted division of their Facebook account. While you are limited in who you can invite to your Fan Page, for example, you can only invite your friends…there are other ways to increase the number of Likes you have. Each Like, is similar to a friend. Your updates will show up in their News Feeds and if they Like or Share what you post, then their friends may also see that and Like your page. It’s a very tiered and complex set of scenarios that can have a dramatic affect on your popularity.
Why Are Likes Important?
A Like is like a vote. So when you’re dealing with photos, links you post, status updates, etc. it’s good to get as many as possible. When it comes to Fan Pages however, Likes are similar to Followers on Twitter. If your Fan Page is for a business, some people will buy Facebook Likes for their Fan Page when it’s new, just to give it a little bump. If you have a business you definitely don’t want people thinking no one likes you.
When you update your Fan Page with a status update, link, etc. you are posting “as your page”. So if Tom Jones has a Facebook Fan Page for his company XYZ Widgets, then he has the option to Post, Like, and Comment as XYZ Widgets on Facebook. It also means that when Tom posts an update about his company, or a special they are running, it will show up in the News Feeds of the users that have Liked his page.
Facebook Popularity By The Hour
While Twitter seems to be more active throughout the day (find out how to become more popular on Twitter), Facebook seems to be more active early morning, evenings and weekends. For whatever reason, I tend to see most of my followers on during the evening hours. I would imagine this is mostly when people don’t really have much to watch on TV or they are settling in getting ready for bed and just want to see what’s going on. Typically when you post an update around this time you are going to get more Likes quicker. You’re friends will see it in their feeds while they’re active, which gives them more incentive to “Like” a picture, post, link, etc.
Friend Everyone You Can
Even though there are limitations on Friend Requests, it’s a good idea to friend every acquaintance, family member, high school friend, distant friend, maybe even friends of friends that you can. Chances are you are going to get a decent amount of people that accept your friend request. Once you’ve been friends for a while, you can subtly invite them to join your Facebook Fan Page, and from there if they accept you can really get the ball rolling. When they accept their friends can see that they have joined, which means you have that snowball effect again, where you get Likes from friends and then their friends and so on.
Popularity growth on Facebook is a little more difficult to achieve than it might be on Twitter and Instagram, but it’s no less possible. It just takes a different type of dedication and hard work. It’s also good to think outside the box on some of it. There are endless options for you to increase your popularity on any social network, you just have to find what works best for each one.