There’s a lot of contradicting information out there about how to engage your network on social media, more specifically Facebook. How do you know what’s the right way?

For me it’s about what feels good for me – for my personality and the way I want to be perceived. When I found the 5-5-5 Plan, I knew this was something that not only could I do, but it would feel natural for me.

Moreover, leads on Facebook don’t need to cost money and don’t need to involve frequent posting about my business either. Instead, successful business owners use this powerful social media tool to interact and contribute on a regular basis.

It’s about listening and responding rather than talking and hoping for a response.

Create Real Relationships using Facebook

Using any social media platform to generate leads is all about creating REAL relationships with people through engagement. If you think you can just post and forget, and the leads will just come to you, you’re kidding yourself. Genuine engagement is a must.

The more you stay in contact with the people you know, the more you are likely to generate business from your Facebook friends.

But how do you do this in a genuine way that doesn’t take up most of your day? We all know that Facebook can drag you in and, if you’re not careful, hours can pass in the blink of an eye.

You need to develop a system to engage with your Facebook friends but you also need to understand the rules of Facebook.

Ensure that you can easily engage with your friends’ posts daily. Facebook puts only the posts that you interact with the most at the top of your news feed. Interacting with people that aren’t going to give you leads puts the wrong people at the top of your Facebook news feeds and hides the people that will actually refer you business far down at the bottom. Spreading friends out in different lists helps you see everyone’s posts so that you can like, comment or connect with them offline to stay top of mind.

My suggestion is you create five lists – you don’t want too many that it becomes cumbersome, but you want enough so that it makes sense for your business.

Here is an example of five lists that make sense for most small business owners:

  1. Clients for life – name your list what you want them to be!
  2. Trusted Referral partners (ie. for Real Estate Agents, this might be Agent referrals)
  3. Friends
  4. Family
  5. “I Gotta Guy” (ie. General Contractors, Insurance agents etc.)

To learn how to create Facebook lists, click this link.

The 5-5-5 Plan

You’ve created your lists and now it’s time for REAL interaction with your “friends”.

So what’s a 5-5-5 Plan?

The first is liking five different posts for each list. Sounds simple enough, right?

Next, write five wall posts or comment on five posts for each list. Again, keep it authentic and make sure you’re being you and your posts and comments make sense for your relationship with this friend. You’re likely already doing this so keep it up!

Finally, write five personal messages for each list. This can be as simple as a happy birthday greeting, words of encouragement, congratulations on a personal achievement or some other type of genuine connection.

Also think contribution here: how can I help? Can I connect them to a plumber, painter or cake decorator to fulfill an immediate need they have?

At first, this may sound like a lot, but if you break it down into manageable chunks, it’ll be achievable and you will find it easier to be consistent. When you’re waiting to pick your kids up from school, when you’re eating your lunch or right before you go to bed at night. But remember, the more of a habit you make it, the easier it will be to keep up.

A follow-on from this is to make sure that your notifications are at zero when you are on Facebook. This will make sure that you’re not missing responses or opportunities for engagement.

It’s more about your friends and less about you! Don’t use this as an opportunity to sell, but as an opportunity to engage and stay top of mind.

The critical thing to remember here is a genuine and authentic contribution and connection with your “Friends” will keep you top of mind when they need your service. Trying to sell will turn your friends off and maybe even get you unfriended.

Consistency is key so develop a system to ensure it does not consume your day.

Co-written with the team from Your Mortgage Advantage – Martin Breeze, Brooke Juba, Garett Courtier and Jeff McGinn