If you win followers but then start sending poor posts to them, you’re likely to get ‘hidden’ or unfollowed and that’s all your hard work down the drain!

Facebook – how to get back ‘hidden’ likers

We’ve been trying to work out how to get back likers that have ‘hidden’ your posts on Facebook. And it seems the only way around it is to lure them back with a promoted post or competition advert that has such an incentive for them to interact with your page, that they can’t resist!

How to stop people hiding your posts

So you’ve joined a Like ladder and now have lots of lovely new likers on your Facebook page. Or maybe you’ve run a competition which has resulted in plenty of new likers too. How do you make sure that these Facebook savvy people don’t like your page and immediately ‘hide’ it so that they don’t see your wonderful posts on their newsfeeds?

Be clear: tell people that you know they don’t want to be spammed with promotional stuff BEFORE asking them to like your page. Tell them you just want to invite them to the Facebook party on your page. Promise to entertain and engage them. Some of them are bound to listen!

Do not treat Facebook like a marketing tool

Unfortunately a lot of people run their Facebook pages in a way that will force people to ‘hide’ their posts. We often feel the pressure to send out the ‘right marketing message’ for people’s business accounts. And of course we respect that, while trying to gently nudge business account owners in the direction of a page that sends out posts that are Entertaining, Engaging, Educational and Enticing.

Remember why people are on Facebook

What you have to remember when you’re posting is that the people you are talking to are people just like you. They go on Facebook to be entertained; to fill in a few seconds while they wait for something else to happen; or to play on in the evenings when there’s nothing on TV. You need to make sure your posts are mostly entertaining or any of the four Es mentioned above, and then pepper them with indirect sales information about your product.

We represented an online retailer on Facebook. Up until we took the account over she had only posted product information. We decided not to mention her products at all in the first few weeks of working with the account. We built up likers through the use of the four Es, and then once we had them interacting with the page, we casually mentioned the product website and blog. It worked and we increased interaction on the page by 4000% in some instances. But whatever you do; limit your facebook business posts to ONE or max TWO a DAY! This isn’t Twitter; people WILL hide your posts if they feel hassled or bored.

Facebook for business isn’t easy

Facebook isn’t just another channel for you to put messages about your product on. If you think about it like that, it won’t work for you. You have got to be the person at the party that listens to other people; comment in Facebook groups; offer free advice and so on. It’s hard work. Remember that you are the face of your business and Facebook wants to see you more than your business; there’s a reason you mostly join groups on Facebook as an individual, not a business; Facebook believes that people want to do business with people, not faceless brands; and they are right.

Want to know more about how it works? The latest algorithm changes? How do get a return on your investment? Consider specialist social media training, run by social media specialists.

Susie