How to Grow Your Facebook Fan Base [Customer Story]

Posted by Mark Kilens on Tue, Jan 31, 2012

The eMarketing team at Encharter Insurance had been trying to grow our Facebook fan base, but we were struggling to see really noticeable growth. We were regularly posting to our page, but did not receive an ample amounts of interaction and shares. Our fan base number had seemed to hit a plateau. After seeing HubSpot articles about how to run an effective Facebook contest, we decided to give it a try.

The result: We more than doubled our Facebook fan base in less than a year.

Here's how we doubled our Facebook fan base:

Step 1: Create a Facebook landing page using the HubSpot Welcome Facebook Application

We created a contest on our Facebook page with the HubSpot Facebook app and HubSpot landing page tool (as pictured below). We came up with a message to “Like” our page in order to enter to win. We asked for the necessary contact information to contact the winner, and in turn, build a lead.

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Learn how to install the HubSpot Welcome application on your own Facebook fan page.

Step 2: Send an email blast to prospects with a clear CTA leading to the Facebook page

To further promote the contest and gain fans, we sent out eBlasts to our clients and prospects. To direct this traffic, we used a Call-to-Action button to evoke action.

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Learn how to send an email blast to leads using HubSpot.

Step 3: Purchase Facebook ads to accelerate growth

Additionally, we created a Facebook Pay-Per-Click ad to encourage our target audience to “Like” our page and be a part of our contest. Using this application, we were also able to view the effectiveness of the ad. Through Facebook Insights we could see how many people clicked on the ad, as well as how many new fans “Liked” our page. All of the applications were very easy to use and we started noticing results soon after.

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The HubSpot tools that we used to double our facebook fan base were: HubSpot Facebook Welcome app, Landing Page app, and the Call to Action app.

Encharter Insurance is a full-service insurance agency in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Our eMarketing team is constantly trying to find new ways to implement social media into our marketing strategy. We've been a HubSpot customer since Janurary 2011.

Tags: Social Media, Customer Story

Comments

I think the true test will not be to just have the fan numbers, but to see if they interact/share after the contest is over.

Posted @ Tuesday, January 31, 2012 7:58 AM by Cathy Boudreau

I agree with Cathy. And also does it lead to sales. An engaged fan base seems more important (and more difficult to achieve) than a large one.

Posted @ Tuesday, January 31, 2012 8:06 AM by Marian Marbury

Yes, Fb likes are definitely early in the sales pipeline. But once they have liked the page, you can use coupons and offers just for them. Also, running ads on FB that uses "Jon Smith likes Co" is very effective.

I think it may be better to omit step 2. I don't think you need people already signed up for your newsletter 'liking' your FB page. You could have people unsubscribe.

Posted @ Tuesday, January 31, 2012 8:58 AM by Sarah

The ultimate goal is to see these Facebook fans turn into leads and then sales. Through Facebook, we hope to develop relationships with our fans so when they think of insurance, they think of the Encharter name. We use interactive posts to prompt conversation and hopefully gain that attention.

Posted @ Tuesday, January 31, 2012 9:24 AM by Alyssa

Hi Mark - I enjoyed reading your post and agree with your thoughts to grow your facebook pages fan base. I was hoping to see more of what your business is doing on facebook and found that your website homepage facebook link is not going to your facebook page. Obviously an error that you can quickly fix.

I'll search to find you, but wanted to let you know about this ASAP.

Posted @ Tuesday, January 31, 2012 11:44 AM by Neil Silverthorn

Hi Mark, We use our FB for our customer base and interact with them there. We have come up with a weekly contest for a Free Haircut - Free Haircut Friday - it is fun and easy to enter. We do have our blogs for our franchise posted there as well. We grow about 20 new fans per week. To grow quickly we did do a photo contest, but found that this adds fans quickly, but some of these will unfan once the contest is over. As I write I could say so much - I think I should write my story! We did try the FB ads as we learned on Hubspot but FB charged us for 8 times the number of clicks that Hubspot logged and 3.5 times the number that Google Analytics logged so we will never do that again!

Posted @ Tuesday, January 31, 2012 5:11 PM by Shear Madness

@Shear: I would love if you shared your story. Here's the landing page you should complete and I'll get back in-touch within a day or so.

http://learning.hubspot.com/story

Thanks,

Mark

Posted @ Wednesday, February 01, 2012 8:53 AM by Mark Kilens

just curious - i'm afraid to do this because of the regulations of running a FB contest. That's why I thought you HAD to use the wildfire app. Should I not be worried about that?

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What a great blog! It is a pity that I can not find RRS address. If RRS offers a subscription service, I can easily follow your blog!
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