Ideas for Building Your List on Facebook

Danielle Johnson

Social media is about having a conversation and creating a movement with your fans. By posting interesting, moving, or thought provoking content and images your organization creates a way for fans to engage with your mission. The ladder of engagement creates trust and affinity, and as fans move up the ladder it can lead to donations and volunteers. 

 

For fans Facebook is about their relationship with friends, family, and colleagues. It allows people to share their life events, express opinions, advocate for causes, ask for help, promote their business and in some cases share stories of disappointment and frustration about brands.

 

Because of this need to connect and communicate, the platform enables organizations to harness the social power of their fans. Facebook is a great way to build your housefile with the right hook and incentive. Here are few ideas to get the creative juices flowing.

 

• When running a housefile building campaign, promote it with Facebook ads. Tip: You can upload an email list to FB and target just those users with the ad.
• Run a petition campaign with sites like thepetitionsite.com, change.org or actionsprout.com. Tip: When you import the records into CON360, send an email acknowledging and thanking the people for signing the petition. It serves as a reminder for HOW they got on your list and starts a gratitude strategy.
• Use Luminate Online to run a pledge campaign using the survey tool and eCards. Integrate with a tab on Facebook and ads.
• Put an opt-in form (enews sign up) on your page. Download the free kit from the Community to do it yourself.  Tip: Make sure it’s easy to find, it should be tab 2 or 3.
• Post interesting mission based photos and ask people to stay connected then link to an enews registration tab. Don’t just tell them to find it, post the photo and be sure to include the registration link in the post.
• Put a donation form tab on your Facebook page. While it won’t raise a ton of money, it’s a good idea to have it readily available for people to share. Check out the SPCA of Monterey County's page.
• Use ShortStack to run a photo sharing contest, voting promotion or goodie giveaway.

For more information on building your email list on Facebook check out the npEXPERT webinar presented by John Haydon. Seven Powerful Ways to Build Your Email List with Facebook Or you can download the slides for examples and tips.