Use Graph Search in order to find Pages that your brand can follow via Interest Lists.
When it comes to finding and targeting the right Facebook audience, the platform has a variety of tools to aid marketers. While quantity is nice, the quality is better: the end goal is to find an audience that finds your page, products and company interesting. An effective Facebook strategy is about identifying the right users and adding value so that these users then convert to customers and share your content with like-minded users.
But how?
Well, I’m a huge fan of Graph Search and Interest Lists. Interest lists are a great way for me to categorize different sorts of content on Facebook. I personally have lists that contain pages I like and lists of people that post about Social Media, music, Marketing, local news, sports and a bunch of other stuff that interests me.
Basically, Facebook Interest Lists are my map to the content I want to see on the platform. So, how do you build an effective Interest List? Well, it starts with Graph Search. With Facebook Graph Search it’s very easy to find new pages to follow, old and new friends, people with similar interests, new places to explore, and anything else that interests you.
Used together, Facebook Graph Search and Interest lists can help you find interesting content, engage with fans, find new fans and increase your reach. This is all done in three easy steps. Let’s hit it!
Step 1: Use Graph Search
Let's start by searching for pages that you, your fans and your target customers are interested in. By searching for these pages we are aiming to understand what they’re posting, engage with their followers, and to expand our reach. Being a part of the Marketing team at Meltwater, I’m curious about what other pages our fans like. I start with a very simple search: “Pages liked by people who like Meltwater Group.” This search is a good place to start, but it’s quite broad. So, even though I find some pages that might be of interest to our audience, it’s time to narrow the search in order to find the gold.
Since we are a Saas company operating in the field of Online Marketing and Social Media Marketing, I’ll add an interest to the search. “Pages liked by people who like Meltwater Group and social media” is a better search. I found more relevant pages of interest to me, our fans and our target audience. This means I can now like these as the Meltwater page and increase brand visibility.
Here are some more examples of narrower searches that might be useful to you:
- Pages that friends of your fans like -> Pages that friends of people that like <your brand> like.
- Pages in a specific category -> Restaurants liked by people who like <your brand>.
- Pages in a specific region -> Media/news/publishing pages liked by people who like <your brand> and who live in San Francisco, California.
- Books that specific users like -> Books liked by people who like <your brand>.
- Interesting Pages for your brand -> Pages that are of interest to <your brand> / <your competitor>.
Step 2: Add Pages to Interest Lists
Now that I’ve searched and found a couple of interesting pages, it’s time to add them to a Facebook Interest List.
First, I go to the page. The image on the right shows to click on the Gear Icon under their cover photo. Next, I click on 'Add to Interest Lists'. Here I can either choose to add the page to a specific List (if I have any set up) or I can choose to create a new one. For this example, I will choose 'New List' as this will be a separate one that I'll use to find relevant content, engage with users and identify users that have common interests that might be of importance to our brand.
In the pop-up box that follows, I’ll click on 'Next'. I will then give the Facebook List a fitting name and select whether I want it to be public, available to my friends or just available to me. By clicking on 'Done' I have now created my list and I can easily add more pages by visiting their Facebook page, clicking the gear icon and simply adding it.
Facebook Interest lists can easily be forgotten if you don’t get reminded to visit them on a daily basis. Therefore, by clicking the pencil icon I can choose to 'Add to Favourites' meaning I will see it to the left each time I log in on Facebook.
Step 3: Engage!
If you've followed the steps in this article, you now have a full Facebook Interest List that is full of insightful pages for you and your brand. So, what exactly can you do with it? To name a few:
Attract new followers.
Be a part of the discussions that happen on posts by sending out valuable and engaging content as your company Facebook page. By showing your knowledge and adding value to the discussions, more potential customers will see your page, engage with your content and return to your page.
Find new angles.
What is engaging your target audience? Are there any particular posts in your list that engage a lot of users? Do you have anything interesting to add on the subject? Post about the topic on your page, add interesting opinions and see how potential customers interact with the topic. This will allow for more informed and strategic Marketing and Facebook ads further down the line.
Engage with fans.
By adding your opinions and comments on posts that your fans find interesting, you engage with your current fans and get the chance to find new followers. Be sure to use your opportunities wisely. Use this tool to understand current and potential audiences. Post smart and relevant content that is interesting to your current target demographic and analyse how they engage with it.
So, there you have it: Facebook Interest Lists and Graph Search are two features that will help you find, engage and grow your target Facebook community. Looking for more audience targetting tools? In the last few years, Facebook has introduced capabilities in their ad manager to further aid marketers including:
- Create ads
- The ability to track ad performance
- Edit schedules and budgets
- Receive push notifications
- Create targetted messenger ads
Do you use Facebook Interest Lists? What do you think of the steps given in this blog post?
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