To the naysayers claiming Facebook is dead, Bart Graham, Sr.’s success proves them wrong. Bart is the Development Officer for the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) Tampa Bay Wing and grew its Facebook page from zero to over 6000 followers in a mere twelve months, all organically.
Bart, a member of Zoetica Media founder Kami Huyse’s Smart Social Mastery membership program, recently sat down with Kami to share what he learned, offering insights others can use to grow their Facebook page quickly and affordably.
Starting from Scratch
The CAF’s Tampa Bay Wing Facebook page was created in the summer of 2023. At the end of the year it had nearly a 1000 followers, at which point Bart decided to start posting daily to see if that would have a positive impact on the follower count. It paid off.
“I post at least six times a day. The other day I posted 15 times, and I don't normally do that, but if something comes across our feed that I find interesting, I'm going to post,” he says.
In terms of content, he calls himself “a mini Storyteller,” explaining, “I tell small stories, I don't tell big elaborate blogs, but I just thought to tell a story every day of something” on the Facebook page. He coupled this with strategically following and liking to others’ content.
Connecting with big names helps too. “I like to follow a lot of other pages … [and] if I see a page that has quarter of a million followers, I just figure if I'm seeing something that pops up…that I'm interested in, I'm going to repost it and I'm going to tag them, and figuring that by tagging people it's going to pull people maybe from their page to look at our page,” he adds.
Show Some Personality
Bart feels that with so many Facebook pages available from which people can choose, it’s important to capitalize on your strengths and show your unique personality.
“I'm a little offbeat, I like using humor,” he admits. One of his favorite things to post are cartoons. “I'm also starting to use some oldies stuff; I put stuff from some of these oldie pages up there because a lot of our members are 35+, and it's like you post stuff up there from the 80s or something and people say, ‘oh I remember that.’ so now you got a new following and you get comments.”
Have an Open Mind About Content
Each social media platform has a different feel to it, and users expect postings to reflect that. “People are looking to be a little bit entertained on Facebook right,” says Kami. “It’s not just about ‘like me and my company and what we're doing,’ it's about the people that are watching our pages.”
It’s also good to know the frequency of postings your audience is comfortable with. In CAF Tampa Bay Wing’s case multiple postings per day work really well, while for other pages once a day or even just a few times a week might be best. But that’s different for LinkedIn, for example. “We know on LinkedIn really right now, one post a day is really what you need to do,” she notes.
Sharing content that people relate to emotionally, even if it’s not directly related to the Facebook page’s topic, can spark interest. “You get followers that way, and then you get people commenting, and then I try to go in and make sure I acknowledge everybody's comment,” says Bart.
You Don’t Have to be a Tech Wiz
Bart is the first to admit that if he’s been able to learn the ins-and-outs of social media, others can too. “If you told me two years ago I'd be doing a Facebook page, I would [have] said you're kind of, I don't know, what's in your water jug or whatever,” he jokes.
“I think a lot of people think you need a lot of tools, you need a lot, you need to pay, you need to learn a lot of new things, but [Bart, is] keeping it kind of simple as far as it goes” and still having great success, Kami points out.
Take Action
Bart credits a lot of what he’s learned to being a part of Kami’s membership program. If you’re interested in seeing what it’s all about, you can sign up and take part in the free upcoming Brand Voice Blueprint Workshop: Attract and Captivate Dream Clients Workshop. You’ll learn how to craft a powerful brand voice that is uniquely you, so make sure to sign up and secure your spot!