9 Facebook Growth Hacking Tips for Painting Contractors
Having a Facebook page is great, but if nobody knows it’s there, it’s not doing your painting business any good.
It would be like having a store hidden down a dark alley – no chance of finding any customers.
Today I’ll share 9 ways to grow your Facebook following, specifically for Painting Contractors.
Facebook Growth Tip #1 for Painting Contractors: Post Engaging Content
Posting engaging content does not mean that you have to create it yourself.
It’s okay to share other people’s content on Facebook but when doing so be sure to copy and paste the content & photo then give credit to the original poster versus just sharing.
Facebook favors “original” posts more than shared posts.
One thing I’ve noticed is that many Facebook Business Pages are strictly posting things about their business only.
However, a large percentage of your content doesn’t have to be about painting at all!
Share funny cat videos, outrageous memes, inspiring quotes -anything to keep your audience engaged (and of course throw in some posts about your painting business in between).
We actually curate/create a ton of engaging content like this for different painting businesses and then schedule it to recycle forever.
One thing you have to stay top of mind to is that in order to grow engagement you have to put yourself in your audience’s shoes and think about what they would want to see.
Here are 5 types of Facebook posts that drive engagement like crazy:
1. “Caption This” Contest
Post a funny image that prompts your audience to see who can create the funniest caption!
Here’s an example from TD Painting & Wallcovering:
Take it one step further and offer an incentive like a $10 Starbucks or restaurant gift card to whoever can post the funniest caption.
Here’s another example of the “caption this” post I do every Friday, offering a free blog post:
Since this post performed really well, feel free to steal the photo here!
Related: 11 Google My Business Post Ideas for Painting Contractors
2. GIF Prompts
People LOVE gifs because they’re funny, dramatic, and can describe a whole lot more than emojis.
When creating this kind of post, just ask a question and then ask people to respond using a GIF.
Here’s an example from Sir Paints a Lot:
As humans we naturally enjoy sharing little things about ourselves, so you need to give your audience the chance to; here’s a simple GIF post I made which received 62 comments:
3. Memes
One thing that 9 out of 10 people will appreciate is memes.
Sure they don’t contribute to your business directly so most would argue they’re a waste of time, but they sure contribute to your readers laugh-box!
Here is a funny yet relatable post by Selah Painting:
4. Ask a Question
This is my favorite kind of post for engagement, but when you ask a question, make sure it:
- Is an open ended question -not a “yes” or “no” question
- Isn’t controversial or even slightly offensive
- Isn’t too personal, but makes the audience think about their answer
- Is something people would want to share about themselves
Here’s a question I asked recently that drove a lot of conversation:
5. Short Story
Facebook prefers that you post long-form content versus a 1-2 sentence post.
Get on Google and search for short stories that are funny or interesting, then find a picture that relates to it, and post it!
Here’s an example that received 50+ likes and 11 shares so far.
Read the full post here and feel free to steal it!!
Facebook Growth Tip #2 for Painting Contractors: ALWAYS Respond to Comments
One way to stay in touch with your customers is through the comment section.
It’s important to ALWAYS respond to comments on posts in a timely manner for 2 reasons:
- Your friends/customers/prospects know that you care (if they care to leave a comment, you should care enough to respond.)
- It shows Facebook you are engaging so they grant you “cool-points” by showing your post to more of your followers
Side Note: Facebook doesn’t automatically show your post to all of your friends.
It shows your posts to a portion, then if it receives enough engagement, it shows your post to more of your friends.
Therefore, always, always, ALWAYS, reply to comments!
Even if it’s just to thank them for their feedback, an emoji, or even a gif.
Here, for example, Steve Burnett replies to every comment in a thoughtful manner:
Facebook Growth Tip #3 for Painting Contractors: Facebook Stories
When it comes to posting stories on Facebook, how often is enough?
It is recommended that you create about 3 stories on Facebook per day.
Doing this helps to keep your Facebook page/account “active” in Facebook’s eyes.
Here’s a tutorial on how to create a Facebook story:
Facebook Growth Tip #4 for Painting Contractors: Go Facebook Live
When you go live on Facebook, you immediately connect with and are able to speak with your audience responding directly to comments over video.
On top of that, you can build up the excitement every week by making posts in the days leading up to it, encouraging people to leave questions for the Facebook live event that you can answer.
When you go live on Facebook, you show up on a map, and the more views you get during this livestream, the higher your ranking on the map — and this in turn can only help increase the number of followers that you have on Facebook.
Now, if you’re human, you’re most likely scared to go live because it’s out of your comfort zone… there’s a fix for that!
Practice a few times by restricting your settings to “Only Me”, making it private so you can get in a few practice runs.
Here’s how to do it:
1. Act like your going to create a Post, then select “Go Live”
2. Select the privacy setting option at the bottom that says “Friends”
3. Select “Only Me”
4. Record your practice video, then at the end, choose whether you want to post the replay publicly to your Facebook page or not:
Is it worth it?
See for yourself:
I have to brag about Nicholas Painter (yes that’s his real last name) of Brush & Color Eco painting real quick.
Nick is a Facebook Live MACHINE, he goes Live probably every few days…
Facebook Growth Tip #5 For Painting Contractors: Participate in Facebook Groups Each Week
What exactly is called “participation”?
In terms of Facebook, participation means that you get involved in group posts by commenting and liking.
By taking part in Facebook groups people see your organization exists and whenever you answer people’s questions they can see your knowledge in those topics.
They don’t even necessarily have to be strictly related to your industry — just people seeing you out there might be enough to help get you some new followers.
Facebook Growth Tip #6 For Painting Contractors: Giveaways & Contests
Who doesn’t love free Starbucks and Amazon gift cards???
Even offering a $25 gift card will attract people to want to follow the rules of the giveaway.
Typically, a giveaway will have you ask people to like your painting business page and share the giveaway post, and in doing so you accomplish two things:
1. You immediately get a new follower on Facebook by the person who liked your page in order to enter the contest.
2. You have the possibility that all of that person’s Facebook friends will see the post and consider entering the giveaway as well.
Considering that the giveaway is costing you only the cost of the gift card and the value of the followers you gain is likely to be a lot more than that, this is a steal!
I find that some Facebook pages host these giveaways monthly.
Here is an example of a giveaway that was hosted by Vizion Decorating Contractors LTD for two VIP ringside seats to a boxing event:
Here is another great example from Sir Paints a Lot, hosting a “Painter for a Day” giveaway:
Facebook Growth Tip #7 For Painting Contractors: Ask Facebook Followers To Invite Their Friends
Word of mouth is one of the best ways that traditional painting businesses have gotten new customers.
A person gets work done by you — say they get their kitchen cabinets painted.
They then are so happy with their newly painted kitchen cabinets that every time someone comes over to their home, they talk about how great they are.
In the digital world, things can work similarly, but instead of having a conversation face to face over a cup of coffee, people just have to click a few buttons and soon all of their friends are being invited to like your Facebook page.
Here, for example, Sunlight Housepainting asked their existing Facebook Followers to invite their friends to like their page.
Notice the emotional appeal at the bottom of the post — “Supporting small business doesn’t require spending money…thank you for all your support…”
Here, First Place House Painting has a similar post. It really works!
Facebook Growth Tip #8 For Painting Contractors: Send an Email Campaign
If you have an email list (hopefully you do) consider sending out an email to them asking them to like your page if they haven’t already.
Related: 7 Ways a Monthly Email Newsletter Will Benefit Your Painting Business & What to Include In It
It’s pretty straightforward and isn’t likely to be thought of as a big ask from your e-mail audience — it’s not that hard to just click a “like” button, after all the worst they can do is nothing.
Facebook Growth Tip #9 For Painting Contractors: Post Videos
You should ideally aim to release one video every week on your painting Facebook page as this is one of the better ways to increase your followers.
Facebook videos tend to do better in what Facebook calls engagement — the time that the person spends with that particular piece of content — than text posts or even text posts that have pictures on them as well.
There are quite a few different kinds of video posts you can do as a painting contractor including some painting related tips, general advice, and the occasional video testimony from clients who were satisfied with the quality of your work.
Additionally, people are more likely to share Facebook videos with their friends than other post types — and the more shares you get, the more potential there is for people to ultimately like your page.
I hope these 9 Facebook growth tips help you to receive a larger following on your painting business Facebook page!
If you ever need help with your social media engagement, our team at DYB Virtual is ready to automate… forever!
If you want to learn more about how we automate social media you can check it out here:
