Last year, I decided to get on Facebook and grow my following. And guess what: my most successful online store reached 54,000 Facebook followers. Besides ensuring the success of my team and me and giving me a huge ego boost, all those “likes” served another important purpose. They allowed us to build a dedicated community of people who loved our country and, more importantly, our products. This started a beautiful cycle that led to more sales.

But enough about me. How can you implement this in your store? I’d like to share with you the best ways that helped me gain Facebook followers and increase Facebook likes.

How to Get Facebook Followers?

From Facebook ads for beginners to influencer marketing, there are many ways to get Facebook followers for your business. Here are 10 ways I’ve found helpful:

1. Run Facebook Ads

If you want to know how to get Facebook followers, Facebook ads are the obvious solution.

You can run “engagement” ads to increase your brand’s visibility on Facebook. But to be honest, any ad you create will likely increase followers, even “conversion ads.” If Facebook users like the ad's content, they’ll likely interact with the post and potentially like or follow your page.

So if your main goal is to drive in-store sales, you can run a conversion ad and also increase the number of Facebook page likes. 

2. Invite People to Like Your Page

The easiest way to grow your Facebook following is to invite people to like your Page. The simplest approach is to ask your friends and family to join. Once you start running ads for your store, Facebook will occasionally send you notifications inviting people to like your Page. 

I found that when I ran engagement ads, I could generally invite more people to like the Page. Even though I was inviting people manually, I ended up getting temporarily blocked by Facebook. Therefore, adjust the number of people you invite at a time.

Additionally, even if you are temporarily blocked, Facebook may still send you notifications asking you to invite people. However, you cannot invite anyone yet. Wait a day or two before trying to invite more people. You can invite your friends and family to support your Page by giving it a like. However, keep in mind that a small audience is better than a large and broad audience, as this may limit the effectiveness of your future ads.

3. Create Viral Content

I shared memes, funny videos, and insightful quotes on my most popular Facebook store page.

People tagged their friends in the post, which usually helps increase social media engagement, but also increases social reach. Chubbies is another online retailer that creates viral content. They regularly create fun content featuring their products. In this video, they promote their shorts with a silly video about the problems short films cause people.

Because the plots are highly dramatized, they create entertaining content that helps increase social share. About 290 people liked the video and 128 people shared it. If you don’t have the artistic talent to create your own viral content, you can still share unique viral content with your audience. But always credit the author.

4. Run a Contest

Contests are a great way to get more likes on Facebook. You can run a contest on your website using a tool like Rafflecopter. Share your contest in dedicated Facebook groups or forums, on contest websites, and of course on your Facebook page. If you choose one of the “Visit Facebook Page” options, you have a better chance of growing your Facebook followers.

Below is an example of a giveaway that CatLadyBox shared on their Facebook page. They used emojis to emphasize the keyword “gifts.” Since they shared it on their website, your Facebook subscribers will likely see you. They can share the giveaway post with their friends, which can also help them grow their Facebook followers.

5. Add a Facebook Likes popup

Some online stores require an email address during the checkout process.

However, if your main goal is to increase Facebook likes rather than followers, you can create a Facebook likes popup. OptinMonster is a popular pop-up tool that helps you attract new leads and can also be reused to generate Facebook likes.

You can also set a timer so that the popup appears after someone has been on your website for a certain number of seconds. Avoid adding too many popups to your website, as they can be distracting on mobile devices and can cause people to leave the site more quickly.

So, when you add a Facebook Likes popup to your website, make sure it is unique.

6. Collaborate with an Influencer

If you want to know how to get followers on Facebook, sometimes the secret lies in collaborating with influencers. The best influencers I have worked with were not influencers at all. Most of them were trending fan sites. You know, those niche sites that only share great products or great articles about a niche. They are all over Facebook. And they usually attract a very large audience. And they are usually cheaper than an influencer.

This strategy works well if you have a very tight budget. However, if you want to work with a real influencer, you can find influencers in your niche. The simplest approach is to search for “blogger [niche]” on Google. For instance, you could look up fashion bloggers. Then, browse their fan pages and contact them to find out their prices.

If potential influencers are willing to work with you, send them a product sample to try. If you share the post on Facebook, ask them to tag your Facebook page in the post. This way, people who are interested in your product are more likely to follow you.

7. Use Automation to Grow Your Business

Marketing automation can help you gain followers on Facebook. How? You’re not going to grow your Facebook likes if you never post on Facebook. And running a business can be very labor-intensive. Occasionally, tasks like posting on Facebook get overlooked. Do you have just 20 minutes a week to focus on your social media marketing? Use an automation tool to schedule a series of posts for the next few days.

You can add product photos to your post with a link to your website, a piece of content you’ve written, or even a funny video or image you found online (with proper attribution, of course). If you know you have to schedule posts for the following week every Friday at 5 p.m., you can spend the following week working on more impactful projects. The more you post on Facebook, the more likely you are to gain more Facebook followers.

8. Add Your Social Media Links to Your Networking Website

You’d be surprised how many new store owners forget to add their social media links to their websites. Depending on your theme, your social media icons can be in the header, footer, or sidebar.

If you want to promote your location, you can reach out to a Shopify expert or use Hey Carson for minor development work.

9. Create More Video Content

Want to know how to get likes on Facebook? Try video marketing. Video content on Facebook tends to get more engagement than images or text posts. Therefore, more people will see your content. The more viewers and likes you have on Facebook, the more likely your content is to be found by potential new Facebook followers.

The secret to getting new followers isn’t always about building an audience, but rather building your brand. And by consistently creating high-quality content in a popular format, you can build a stronger audience. So if you want to increase your Facebook post likes, you need to improve your content strategy.

10. Engage with Your Community

Some of the largest e-commerce brands don’t interact with their customers. This gives even the smallest retailer a huge competitive advantage. However, engaging with your community isn’t just about customer service, like answering questions about delivery times. It’s also about building relationships. And there’s no better way to do that than by being a little funny or answering in a way that makes the customer feel like they’re chatting with their friends.

Netflix is a great example of a brand on Facebook that regularly engages with its customers. Their comments are almost always funny and make you want to interact with the brand. By interacting with your followers, their friends can follow you.