We all hear about the importance of social media, having a presence on Facebook and making sure you interact with your followers. But how do you simply and effectively build up your likes on your company Facebook page? Why would someone go out of their way to follow a company? Here’s our one simple way to increase likes on your company Facebook page.

This post isn’t going to be about the basics i.e. making sure that you have a good page layout, that your logo is clearly displayed, that you have a pleasing cover photo and regularly update (once every day) your page. I’m going to assume that you have done all that and are now looking for ways to start building your “Likes”.

There are lots of different ways to get more people liking your page but we are going to look at one method in particular that I have had great success with in the past.

It all centers on Facebook ads and giveaways. Create a Facebook advert saying, “Like us to join our free giveaway after 1000 likes” then watch the likes roll in. It’s really that simple! Don’t believe me? Here’s a real life example, a luxury Nile cruise company that I have worked with went from having 120 likes to over 1300 in a little over 4 weeks, made two sales off the back of it which easily covered the cost and are well on their way to 2000.

There are a couple things that you need to be careful of. Set a budget for the campaign and make sure that you spread it out across a few weeks to avoid spending more than you can afford on adverts. Also don’t promise a massive prize, in fact don’t promise anything at all… just say it’s a “giveaway”. There are also the legal issues. Here are the official Facebook rules (go to section E covering promotions) and if you, like most people without a law degree, are struggling with the language this blog gives an easy to understand breakdown of the rules.

The giveaway can be anything at all from Starbucks coffee vouchers, to restaurant vouchers, a day out somewhere or a free gift; it doesn’t need to be much. Once you have reached 1000 rinse and repeat. The great thing about this process is that you can do it for as long as you like. It’s best to do it every 1000 so people feel that it is worth a Like; if the goal is too high then people won’t bother.

When it comes to targeting 10,000 think big! Give away something that really matters… a weekend in Paris, £1000 shopping vouchers, or a free TV. Only this time tell them what you are giving away. It will build excitement and publicity.

But why do this? It’s simple, you are building up a massive data base of people that you can market to, better yet you will have 10,000 people that have already shown some sort of interest in your company and your brand! With that number of people to target there is no reason why you will not be able to generate more sales to cover the costs of this marketing campaign, you just have to make sure you use (but not abuse) your new audience.