How to get more followers on your Facebook business Page

Since August 2025, people can no longer like Pages; they can only follow them, although they can still like posts. So "Page likes" is no longer the number to chase. Followers are.

Followers matter, but less than they used to for reach. Meta says Facebook Feed includes content you may be interested in from Pages and groups you don't follow, and that Page posts are public and can appear in search results and recommendation units. A good post can reach people who've never heard of you. Followers are still your most reliable audience: the people most likely to see your next offer, come to your event and recommend you.

So aim for the right followers, not the most. A hundred people within ten miles who might book are worth more to a local plumber than ten thousand followers on another continent. Every tactic below is chosen with that in mind.

Sources: Meta Business Help Centre: Best practices for growing your Page audience and engagement, checked 15 October 2026; Meta Transparency Centre: Facebook Feed Recommendations AI system, checked 15 October 2026; Meta Business Help Centre: About Page and profile posts on Facebook, checked 15 October 2026

Sending people to a half-finished Page wastes the visit. Meta's own growth checklist starts here, and it takes about an hour.

Then look at the Page as a stranger would, on a phone. In five seconds, can you tell what the business does, where it is and why you'd follow? If not, the cover photo, the pinned post or the first line of your intro needs work before any promotion.

• Pick up to three categories, the most specific ones that fit, so you show up in search.
• Use a square logo as the profile photo and a cover photo or video of something recognisable about your business. Meta says people tend to see businesses with both as more trustworthy.
• Add your website, menu or services list.
• Add an action button, such as Send message or Book now.
• Turn on recommendations, so new visitors can see what customers say.
• Make sure the last few posts are recent. A visitor who sees nothing since last spring won't follow.

Sources: Meta Business Help Centre: Best practices for growing your Page audience and engagement, checked 15 October 2026; Meta Business Help Centre: About Page and profile posts on Facebook, checked 15 October 2026

Your first few hundred followers usually come from people who've met you, bought from you or know someone who has. Meta suggests three moves: share your Page in your personal Feed and ask friends and family to follow and share it, invite friends who'd be interested, and ask friends to share a link to your Page with their networks.

Then take it offline. Customers who've just had a good experience are your warmest audience.

Hypothetical example: a new nail salon writes its Page name on the aftercare card it gives every client and tells them that cancellations are posted on Facebook first. Clients who want a short-notice slot have a real reason to follow, and every new follower is a local customer who has already paid once.

• Print your Page name and web address on receipts, menus, business cards and van livery.
• Add a link to your Page in your email signature and on your website.
• Mention it at the till or the end of a job: "we post our free slots on Facebook first".
• Give people a reason: first look at new stock, last-minute availability or event dates.

Source: Meta Business Help Centre: Best practices for growing your Page audience and engagement, checked 15 October 2026

Meta suggests posting as your Page in local groups or groups related to your industry, and sharing posts from your Page to groups you've joined. Facebook lets you join a group, act as your Page in it and invite your Page followers to a group you run, but group admins decide whether Pages can join or post, so read each group's rules first.

The approach that works in groups is help first, promotion rarely. Answer questions in your area of expertise, share useful local information and only mention what you sell where the group allows it. People click through to a Page that keeps giving good answers.

• Do answer the question that was asked, fully, before mentioning your business.
• Do share local news, events and warnings people will thank you for.
• Do thank people who recommend you, and reply to follow-up questions.
• Don't paste the same advert into several groups on the same day.
• Don't argue with competitors or critics in public threads.

Sources: Meta Business Help Centre: Best practices for growing your Page audience and engagement, checked 15 October 2026; Facebook Help Centre: Pages in groups, checked 15 October 2026

People follow a Page when they expect the next post to be worth seeing. Reels are the clearest test of that: Meta's reel insights include a followers figure, the number of people who followed your Page within 24 hours of watching a reel. Check which reels win followers, not just views, and make more like them.

Series help too. A weekly "what's new on the shelf" reel, or a monthly "ask the plumber" post, gives people a reason to follow rather than just like one post.

• Last-minute availability: cancellations and free slots, posted before anywhere else.
• First look: new stock, menus or services before they're announced elsewhere.
• How-to: one useful tip a week from your trade.
• Local: your area's events, openings and news, with your view on them.

Source: Meta Business Help Centre: Insights on your Facebook Page, checked 15 October 2026

If you advertise, Meta offers two routes designed around your Page. Profile visit ads use the traffic objective and show a Visit Page button that sends people to your Facebook Page, with placements including Facebook Feed, Reels and Stories. Or you can run an engagement ad with your Page as the conversion location, set to maximise Page follows.

Paid followers are only worth it if they're local or likely to buy, so keep targeting tight and judge the campaign by what those followers do later, not by the follower count.

1. Pick a reel or post that already won followers organically.
2. Promote it to people in the area you serve, for one or two weeks.
3. Note net followers before and after, and the cost per new follower in the ad results.
4. A month later, check whether those followers message, book or come to events.
5. Repeat only if they do, and stop if the followers you gain never interact.

Sources: Meta Business Help Centre: About profile visit ads, checked 15 October 2026; Meta Business Help Centre: Best practices for growing your Page audience and engagement, checked 15 October 2026

Facebook's insights show net followers: new followers minus unfollows over the period you pick (7, 14 or 28 days). A jump in unfollows after a run of sales posts tells you something. Track it monthly alongside where new followers came from.

You won't always see the source in Facebook's numbers, so add your own. Ask new customers how they found you, note which posts were shared into groups, and keep a simple monthly tally. After a quarter you'll know whether your followers come mainly from people you know, groups, reels or ads, and where to spend your time.

1. Each month, note net followers in your insights.
2. Note the three posts or reels that won the most followers.
3. Note any spike in unfollows and the posts around it.
4. Plan next month to repeat the winners and drop what caused unfollows.

Source: Meta Business Help Centre: Insights on your Facebook Page, checked 15 October 2026

Disclosure: this is our product. A steady posting rhythm is the part of growth that's hardest to keep up. Zolyp plans, writes and designs your Facebook posts against your Brand Brain, schedules them and publishes after you approve, so the Page stays active while you work on the rest. There's a 3-day free trial, no card required.