You're gonna think I'm crazy when I say this, but the selfie played a big part in the growth of our business page.
The social media milestone comes two and half years after I launched Silhouette School blog and the Facebook page. Yeah it took awhile...but we grew the page 100% organically - never paying for an ad or boost. I say 'we' because our assistant Ashlee is a huge part of our social media presence and schedules about 80% of everything that we post.
I would be willing to bet pretty much anything you'd find it nearly impossible to find a blogger or a small business owner who says they love Facebook all the time. No...everyone has a love/hate relationship with Facebook. Facebook can be the mean girl, as the bloggers who taught a class on Facebook so appropriately titled the session.
So how did I get 90k followers without paying one red cent? I could write a novel about how to grow a Facebook page: post consistently and often, engage with followers, share quality and relevant content, speak in your own voice...and get personal.
We have tried posting more or fewer posts per day, we've tried posting at various times throughout the day, we've tried using various schedulers, and mixing in viral-type content. But the one thing I've found that works and resonates with followers almost undoubtedly is the selfie. You think I'm kidding. I'm dead serious.
For a long time I never shared a photo of myself on the Facebook page - I felt Instagram was the platform where I could get a little more personal. Then I read something that suggested changing your blog or business' Facebook page's profile picture to a photo of yourself rather than a logo. Of course to change your profile picture it blasts across your timeline. I basically just added a note like "uhh just ignore this - it's housekeeping" and my followers went wild....1000 people did not ignore it - they 'liked' it. (Insert emoji of eye-covering monkey)
That was my first real clue that these people like to see ME. Uhh...ok. So then when Facebook launched Facebook Live I decided to give it a try....OMG these people were LOVING IT. Again, it's basically a selfie....they get to see the 'real' you and because it's live the real 'unfiltered' you. Believe me I've had my share of 'OMG did that just happen' moments...like when Blake decided it would be a good time to say "I just farted" live on Facebook while I discussed the challenges of working from home during the summer months.
But the reaction is always the same and I've heard it time and time again...'we like you because you're just like us' and 'It's good to see you screw stuff up too!' They're getting that personal touch and while they love the tutorials and all the blog has to offer - seeing the person behind it all just really took things to a new level.
Here's a quick look at some of the stats and views on my Facebook Live videos. You can see, they do really well.
So this week when I knew I would be giving one lucky winner all seven ebooks in my Ultimate Silhouette Guide series I knew I had to do a selfie if I wanted maximum reach and engagement. Keep in mind 'People Reached' is basically how many of your followers actually see a post (usually it's between 5-10% and that's on a good day) and engagement is how many of those followers engage by either 'liking', commenting, or sharing.
And if you're not familiar - and you're looking at this like whoppty-freaking-doo you have 3.5k (as of this writing) comments, but you have 90,000 followers - so that's nothing percentage-wise. Well, yeah...except look at the last four Facebook posts on my page which represent the norm for reach and engagement.
THIS is why Facebook can be the mean girl. I mean why are you only showing these posts to a fraction of my audience when 90k+ have VOLUNTARILY opted to follow my page?! Oy
Now, don't go all Kardashian on me here and just start posting selfie after self. There is definitely a time and place for selfies especially on a business page like Silhouette School where people initially came to the page - and return to the page and blog - to learn about how to use a Silhouette CAMEO die cutter machine. That's REALLY what they care about.
So if you're going to mix selfies in, do it sparingly! Here's a look at my most recent photos...you can see there is just one selfie in all of these photos (which represents about 2-3 weeks worth of posts)
So basically what I'm saying to you is - GET PERSONAL! What I'm NOT saying is to get TMI personal. Just show your pretty little face from time to time because it is FACEbook after all!
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