If you want to learn how to market your business on Facebook without paying for ads, there are few better people to talk to about it than Holly Homer.
The straight-shootin’ owner of Kids Activities Blog and leader of the 3.4 million-follower strong Facebook Group Quirky Momma knows a thing or two about how organic Facebook marketing works.
She’s a self-professed queen of trial and error, and on any given day you can find her gleefully sorting through analytics and numbers on the backend of Facebook to find out exactly what’s working…and what definitely isn’t. All of her findings funnel into a fun, experimental approach to making organic Facebook content that sticks!
“Once you flip from being mortally offended that Facebook doesn’t love you, things change. I’ve been there like, ‘Okay, Facebook, you’re smart. I’m smart. Let’s see what we can do together.’
And truth be told, Facebook needs me. Facebook needs you. Facebook needs quality content creators.”
Holly Homer
If you need some inspiration for getting your Facebook marketing game in gear – and maybe a bit of a kick in the pants along the way – you won’t want to miss this episode of Marketing Unleashed. In this episode we discuss:
- The biggest challenge with marketing organically on Facebook
- What the algorithm actually considers spam (it’s surprising!)
- The real reasons people buy from ads
- The biggest mistake people make in Facebook marketing
- Tools and tips to gain traffic and reach audiences on Facebook
And so much more!
Watch the full episode here!
On the biggest challenge of marketing organically on Facebook…
“I think the biggest challenge is that we lose sight so often when we are promoting something that this is a social network. And algorithms are getting better and better at eliminating spam. Spam to an algorithm is not like what we think of as spam. Spam to an algorithm is anything that doesn’t get engagement. It’s just going to mark it off the list. It doesn’t have to show it in the feed.
The problem is if you’re doing something at all salesy or promotional, you’re just not going to get any conversation going on it because this is a social network.
We have to figure out how to get people talking around what we’re talking about or starting conversations and continuing conversations. Otherwise, we’re just going to be lost in the feed.”
On not being too salesy…
“I have almost gotten to the point where I throw out salesy. I don’t even think it works. People can see it a mile away. You’re better off trying to promote it like a catalog.
The thing is people don’t buy products. They buy from people and they buy solutions. So all you really need to do is figure out what problems you’re solving and why other people would want that and have conversations around those things, where you’re meeting and connecting with other people on a true level.
It doesn’t have to be like “Oh, we’re soulmates.” It’s more like, “Hey, I know that Holly girl; she makes me laugh” or “She’s just like me because X”, or “She reminds me of my sister cause she’s so nuts and oh, she sells stuff that I need.”
And so then it’s not a sale anymore. It’s a match. Because if you know, like, and trust me, and you know that I have something that’s going to solve a problem, that’s not even a question. You’re going to be like, “Hey Holly, what is that thing you sell? Because I want some, because I know you and I trust you.”
On why you should be giving away stuff for free…
“I have everything in the world that I’ve ever taught for free on my blog. I have 13,000 blog posts on my blog. I have 150 YouTube videos. I have thousands of hours of Facebook Live video. The truth is if you wanted to know everything I know, you could just follow me around on the internet and watch all that stuff. The thing is, who has time for that? I’ve accumulated that over 15 years.
What we’ve got to stop thinking about is that you’re selling this thing. You’re not selling this thing. Like if you have an informational product, you’re selling information. But actually what you’re doing is selling “Hey, tune out all this information and just do this because if you Google things now, you’ll get over 17 million results.”
We have a lot of information in this world. What we have a lack of is clarity and very concise steps to get there.”
On pricing for value…
“When I take on coaching clients, I’m not pricing that as “It’s going to take me three hours to do this” because that’s not what it’s valued at. The value is, this is an area where I can literally shorten your journey by five years.”
On staying motivated…
“Who is going to succeed if it’s not me? I have thousands and thousands and thousands of hours I’ve invested in this platform, which is what the price of free is.
There is a point where I could get frustrated and I have walked away and said “This is not worth it. This is absolutely not worth it.” But then I’m like, “Okay, is it worth it to see if it’s worth it?” And so that’s generally what I go through. I use everything as a kind of laboratory. I do some tests to see if it’s worth it.
On the biggest mistake marketers make…
“The biggest problem is really that whole definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. That is never going to work.”
On what to post on Facebook…
“What you need to do is post something. I don’t even care what it is. Go see if Facebook liked it. If Facebook liked it, post that and something similar to that. And again, if Facebook didn’t like it, try something else.
It’s an algorithm. It’s not a judge. You’re not figure-skating here. Once the numbers align, you just keep doing it.”
On pacing yourself…
“There are cycles and if you’re just always doing what you think is best, looking at the data, making adjustments, pushing forward, seeing whats working (even if it’s only working a little bit at that point), things start to pay off because you were one of the few people doing that. You’re not touching lightning in a bottle. Slow and steady wins the race. It’s not glamorous being the turtle, but it’s a good turtle.”
