Six Tips for Succeeding on Facebook from BoligPluss

It all started when two Norwegian Bonnier Media-magazines - BoligPluss and FHM - started their own battle internally for Facebook fans, says Siri Høstmælingen, web manager at BoligPluss.

"When we told FHM that we had almost reached 10,000 'likes,' it wakened the competitive instincts of their web editor Espen Skogen," says Høstmælingen. "It ended in a nerve-racking duel between FHM and us at BoligPluss to be first to reach 10,000. The fight continued even after work hours with our editor-in-chief Christina Dorthellinger working evening from home publishing posts on our site so that people would spread the word and follow us. Our readers were eager to help, so we won - but now FHM has surpassed us again and has nearly 21,000 fans. We can only say that there are more men than there are women interested in interior design in Norway!"

Høstmælingen, Dorthellinger and the rest of their colleagues in editorial work a lot with the Facebook page. Even product managers Lene Grønli and Linn Skålerud are involved  in developing the magazine's social network.  

"We are really driven and so is the magazine," says Høstmælingen

Siri Høstmælingen's Six Facebook Tips:

1. Start with an open page – not a closed group. And don't spend time creating a personal profile but a corporate page for the brand, because personal profile's for companies aren't allowed on Facebook.

2. Use competitions and cool prizes to draw people to the page. It's an effective way to get people interested, especially in the beginning before you are well-known. But contests on Facebook shouldn't replace those in the magazine, because while it's easier for people to answer on the net contests there don't generate more subscriptions.

3. Publish relevant content daily.  It gives users the feeling that they can miss something if they don't follow the page. Speak the same language as the readers, and try not to sell in the magazine but instead write as if you're giving a tip to a friend. Use Facebooks statistics tool Insights to see which type of posts create the risk of users choosing to hide your page's updates in their newsfeeds. 

4. Link to your site – it's a great source for traffic. The main rule when you post is to always link to content on your site that's connected to the topic. Boligpluss.no gets more visits from Facebook than from direct hits or search engines.

5. Communicate with users. Answer questions quickly, especially if they are critical. Have contests that readers can contribute with something, like a photo of the most beautiful table setting or Christmas decoration tip. A lot of answers can end up providing content such as a "reader's best tips" article on your site - a guaranteed click success!

6. Be more than one. One person can't be responsible for all the activity on the page. At BoligPluss we've divided it so that the product managers post the contests and contact the winners, the web reporters post tips about content at boligpluss.no, and the editor-in-chief and editorial staff answer questions from readers. The Facebook page should be a tool for the entire editorial staff - not one staff member's baby.