I thought I would jump right into it and talk about Facebook Pages. How I love/hate them.
Facebook is both a good/terrible platform to use for cosplay. I've got a page myself and I honestly do not use it to the full potential and I will explain why.
For work, I have trained small businesses on how to be social media savvy. I've created successful social media campaigns for them and got them the precious reach they have needed to get more sales and to create fans of the product. I've even created twitter profiles and organically grew the channel to have over 1,000 followers in less than a week. Facebook on the other hand, is a tricky beast at times with organic reach.
I know the ins/outs and what to do and what not to do. I can see a page a mile off with bought likes. It's mega easy just look at their engagement on posts: if they have 2,000 likes and a photo they post only has 2 likes after a day. You know it's a bunch of bots just liking the actual page due to the lack of engagement.
Be warned Facebook does limit how much your page can be seen by others without paying. It's the sad hard truth. There are ways around it and I will talk about them in my handy tips below.
I do not treat my page as a small business and the reason why is for me Cosplay is no longer my main drive/hobby in life. I'm 2 years off my 30's, building myself a career, I have a mortgage and I live for having my yearly Disney trip. Cosplay is expensive and I do not have the time to dedicate to it as much as I would like too. I have downsized how many events I attend and only really attend the events I am actually interested in especially as I've grown out of love for anime sadly. I just can't find anything to grasp my attention like I used too.
But the most important thing for me about cosplay is I do not/will never do cosplay just for likes or popularity. I do it to socialise with my friends and because I love that character enough to wanna dress up as them. If your only goal with cosplay is to be popular, then you are setting yourself up for potential failure and missing out on the best aspect of cosplay. Friends.
I do not treat my page as a small business and the reason why is for me Cosplay is no longer my main drive/hobby in life. I'm 2 years off my 30's, building myself a career, I have a mortgage and I live for having my yearly Disney trip. Cosplay is expensive and I do not have the time to dedicate to it as much as I would like too. I have downsized how many events I attend and only really attend the events I am actually interested in especially as I've grown out of love for anime sadly. I just can't find anything to grasp my attention like I used too.
But the most important thing for me about cosplay is I do not/will never do cosplay just for likes or popularity. I do it to socialise with my friends and because I love that character enough to wanna dress up as them. If your only goal with cosplay is to be popular, then you are setting yourself up for potential failure and missing out on the best aspect of cosplay. Friends.
But if you are interested in getting some extra likes beyond friends, family or people you meet at conventions here are 5 handy tips.
1) Posts that gain more reach: Videos have the best reach out of the options of videos, photos or text only posts. There have been recent arguments if photos are now dropping the organic reach but I've found with working with Small Businesses that photos and videos are the strongest.
So as I've stated Videos do have the best reach on facebook. The length of time should be anything between 20 seconds to 3.5 minutes. Unlike YouTube people are less likely to watch more than a 5 minutes video on Facebook.
1) Posts that gain more reach: Videos have the best reach out of the options of videos, photos or text only posts. There have been recent arguments if photos are now dropping the organic reach but I've found with working with Small Businesses that photos and videos are the strongest.
So as I've stated Videos do have the best reach on facebook. The length of time should be anything between 20 seconds to 3.5 minutes. Unlike YouTube people are less likely to watch more than a 5 minutes video on Facebook.
2) Consistency: With all the small businesses I work with, I ALWAYS automate my posts to schedules. Facebook has its own inbuilt automation tool, but I would opt for the likes of Buffer which is free to use if you are happy with only setting 10 automations per profile at a time and you can post the same post onto multiple channels like Twitter, PinInterest. If you are looking at Cosplay being a career then I would invest in some form of automation.
I also found the reach on the Facebook automation tool to struggle. With the likes of Buffer it can actually work out your optimised time for scheduling posts such as if you are based in the UK but your main audience is from the US East Coast then you would want it scheduled to hit them at the right times.
Handy tip: Monday mornings and Friday afternoons have the better reach times due to people are more likely to check Facebook at work at these times.
I also found the reach on the Facebook automation tool to struggle. With the likes of Buffer it can actually work out your optimised time for scheduling posts such as if you are based in the UK but your main audience is from the US East Coast then you would want it scheduled to hit them at the right times.
Handy tip: Monday mornings and Friday afternoons have the better reach times due to people are more likely to check Facebook at work at these times.
3) Spam isn't your friend. I've found with working with several businesses that Facebook isn't the greatest tool to deal with more than a couple of posts a day unless you are paying for it. The reach level will drop each post sadly. I cannot explain why but I find it pretty noticeable on occasions.
Unlike Twitter where multiple posts a day is what I would suggest. I would limit to a max of 3 posts a day if you are not willing to pay for your posts. I would opt to use your priority post at the best optimised time for reach for you.
Unlike Twitter where multiple posts a day is what I would suggest. I would limit to a max of 3 posts a day if you are not willing to pay for your posts. I would opt to use your priority post at the best optimised time for reach for you.
4) Sharing is caring. Tag the businesses you got your cosplay items from in your facebook post or if your friend came over and helped. If you are attending an event ALWAYS tag them in your post as when people hit the search bar they could potentially find your posts. Tagging where you got your bits from means that the business you bought from is getting both of you more reach plus added bonus they might share your post to their page.
I would also see if the event the attending has posts that you can happily promote yourself on without bugging them/others. I will drop and say that the Celebrate Cosplay page loves seeing other people's facebook pages. It's a way to network and potentially meet some new friends.
5) Use multiple social networking channels. All the businesses I've worked with, I have used multiple channels for. With Cosplay it's all about the imagery.
The best social media platforms I would use the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Amino and Twitter. I would use YouTube only if you feel it's the right platform for you. Always leave links in the other channels to your facebook page if that's your priority.
I would also see if the event the attending has posts that you can happily promote yourself on without bugging them/others. I will drop and say that the Celebrate Cosplay page loves seeing other people's facebook pages. It's a way to network and potentially meet some new friends.
5) Use multiple social networking channels. All the businesses I've worked with, I have used multiple channels for. With Cosplay it's all about the imagery.
The best social media platforms I would use the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Amino and Twitter. I would use YouTube only if you feel it's the right platform for you. Always leave links in the other channels to your facebook page if that's your priority.
As well as joining some of the cosplay profile sites like Cosplay Island and Cosplay.com and interact on the forums, leave comments on other cosplayers pictures and generally be a nice person. With thinking of forums, facebook has plenty of groups you could join as well to push up that reach if you wanted. But only opt for this if you are actually wanting a conversation with others rather than just to self-promote because desperation can be smelt/seen a mile off.
I hope you have found this helpful if you are eager to drive your cosplay facebook page more. If you found this interesting please let me know and I am happy to do some future social media with cosplay related posts.
There are plenty more tips I can share about facebook pages. If you have any question please don't hesitate to ask!
Well that's enough of that,
There are plenty more tips I can share about facebook pages. If you have any question please don't hesitate to ask!
Well that's enough of that,
Chevi X
