Recently, one of our social media clients, Heartland Industries, experienced the awesome results that come when people share your post on Facebook. Heartland Industries provides employment training to persons with disabilities and has “Second Time Around” Thrift stores in 5 locations. The Heartland Industries Facebook page has less than 500 fans, but one of their social media posts generated 142 shares, 21K reach, a 20% increase in fans, and many new donations on their doorstep! Let’s take a closer look at what made this simple post go locally viral and how to maximize Facebook sharing.
How to Maximize Facebook Sharing – (What worked for this post):
- The post asked the community for support and action – “We need your help”.
- The post expressed gratitude “We would be so grateful” and “THANK YOU”.
- The post included a photo – even though it didn’t have people in it, it did include a picture of their storefront, so people could tie the need (clothing donation) to the location (drop-off spot).
- We responded to comments and questions quickly. When people had questions about the type of donations accepted, after-hour drop-offs, and the goals of the organization, we responded quickly.
- Interestingly, the post was made around the noon hour on a Friday, and more of the shares and engagement happened within the first couple days during the weekend. Many people may work on decluttering and home cleaning projects over the weekend, so the timing of the post may have made a difference.
- We asked for the share without saying the word “share”. This was posted right around the same time Facebook announced their intentions to demote engagement bait posts. We didn’t want to blatantly ask the fans to “share” but did ask them to “Spread the Word”.
- We thanked people who shared the post. When privacy settings allowed, we commented on the shared post, with a “Thanks for sharing this post, it means a lot to us” reply.
- Local influencers made a difference. We noticed that a few local influencers were part of the 142 people who shared the post, which extended our reach significantly.
- We invited people who liked the post to like the page. Whenever someone likes or reacts to the page’s post, we invited them to like the page. To do this, just click on the spot that says how many likes are on that post, then click to “Invite” each person who doesn’t like your page or has been invited yet.
- View the original post here on the Heartland Industries Facebook Page.
Sometimes the power of Facebook sharing can even outweigh Facebook ads! A carefully crafted post with quick follow up can make a difference. We don’t know exactly which factors listed above made the most significant impact, or if it was a nice combination of all. Whatever it was, it’s great to know that your community has your back when you need help!
“The miracle is this: the more we share, the more we have.” – Leonard Nimoy
