Help your Facebook Post Go Viral

Tip of the week:
Never underestimate the simple power of asking your friends and fans for what you need, for example simply adding something like this to a post can up the number of shares and viewers exponentially:

"If you like my work I would be so grateful if you would:
√ Like Page √ Comment √ Share √ Please "

For effectiveness, don't add this to everything you post as people will soon become inured to the request. Just use it when you really want to promote a finished piece, a class, a contest, a tutorial, something you really want to have seen.

In this example I've had 16 shares in a matter of minutes after asking for this post to be shared. Within a couple of hours I've had over 1254 viewers starting this post on it's way to going viral. 

So after taking that first step of 

1. Asking 

what is the next step to help this post go further?

2. "liking" the shares.

a. First "like" your own post.  Why, in the world would you "Like" your own post, isn't that like giving yourself a high five?  You might have noticed that Facebook has changed recently and you don't get to see all of your friend's posts any longer.  To make up for not showing your posts in all of your friends’ news feeds, Facebook added the ticker, an action column on the right-hand side of everyone's page that lists the activities of your friends "live" as they are occurring.  This is where “Liking” your own posts helps to get them seen by your friends that are actively engaging with Facebook.  When you “Like” your post, that action is noted in your friends’ ticker boxes, giving them a chance to see that you have posted something even if it doesn't show up in their news feeds.

b. Second "Like" the shares.  If you go to your post and find that number of shares in the bottom right hand corner (see the number 16 just under my post above) if you click on that it will show you who has shared your post.  Go in and hit the "like" under each of the shares but don't comment yet.  This will put the "likes" in your ticker box and it will also signal the Facebook Algorithm that your friends post is gaining in popularity keeping it toward the top of the news feed in the "Popular" category. 

3. Comment
Wait an hour after "liking" the shared post and then go back into the shares .  This time go to each individual sharers page and leave a nice comment thanking them for sharing your post.  This is only good potential client customer service and courtesy to your helpful friends but it will also once again add to the popularity of the post on your friends page once again pushing that post toward the top of the popular postings that are in the newsfeed. Interaction with a post is what helps it to gain popularity. If you want to be even more effective, comment on half of them wait another hour and comment on the other half.  This spreads out the activity from your newsfeed about this post allowing friends that come on at different times to see what you are "liking." 

4. Comment on your own post, thank people for their nice compliments in the comments.  Thank people profusely for sharing your post, let them know how grateful you are!  This is good customer service and it may spur other people that see your gratitude to take the time to share too! 

5. Repeat. In the interim most likely more shares have happened so repeat the process.

6. Post a link to your post in groups that you are part of that would enjoy seeing what you are up to.  As an artist there are a gazillion groups you can join and share your art and appeal to others to share your post. 

Give it a try, keep track of the numbers and statistics and let me know how well it's working for you! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Oh and be a Dear and please share my post, won't you?  :)
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=732291936794906&set=a.253114191379352.68705.231107300246708&type=1&theater