Increasing your Facebook Fan Count – Is it Worth it?

For many photographers, having the most Facebook Fans on your business page has always been a priority. Many photographers seek out other photographers, friends and acquaintances to ‘like’ their business page. Maybe it’s because they feel they don’t have enough followers, or perhaps it’s because they want to reach a certain number. Whatever the reason, photographers seem to focus on their ‘number’. Is it really worth your time? 

When we look at Facebook for photographers, in years past it has been the holy grail of marketing and advertising. Tagging your clients in your images meant the potential viral sharing of your image and name across the Facebook community. Times have changed, and so has Facebook. Today, sharing an image on your business page and tagging your client means you *might* reach an insane amount of people (aka potential new clients), but the likelihood is dramatically lower. This is because Facebook has changed their algorithm yet again, and your followers and your client’s friends aren’t always shown everything.  So why should you care how many followers you have?

1. A small percent of a large group can grow to be larger than a large percent of a small group. It’s always great to grow your following on social media, and although Facebook has changed the rules for small businesses, it still provides value. And one day, after a lot of work, the relatively small percentage of reach you have on your Facebook page may be larger than the number of fans who would have been reached in the ‘good ‘ol days’.
2. You can more easily identify and market to your ideal clients. Facebook is brilliant at a lot of things – including their advertising portal. When you take the time to grow your Facebook fan base, really targeting those people who you want as your clients, you can easily market directly to them with Facebook Ads. They have made it incredibly easy to set up an ad and target nearly anyone.
3. It can help you build your client base. Many times, potential clients look to your Facebook page to confirm legitimacy and validation that you are as great as you claim. Having a large following can help cement that validation for some people.  

Bottom line – yes, it’s worth it to continue pursuing a growing number of Facebook fans. But don’t stress over it, and don’t panic when you lose followers or aren’t gaining fast enough.