The Facebook Passion Page Project Part 2: The Big Reveal

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Welcome to Part 2 of the Facebook Passion Page Project, in which I take you along with me on a ride in an attempt to build and monetise a successful Facebook Page. If you missed Part 1, do check it out here, as you'll learn about my reasoning for starting a Passion Page, and how they can be useful for any business or marketer. Now, though, it's time for the big reveal!

Exercise Motivation Quotes 

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My Passion Page is Exercise Motivation Quotes . I deliberately kept the subject matter completely separate from my social media marketing "niche" so that there would be no audience crossover and so I could judge the progress (or lack thereof) of the Page as fairly as possible.

The Exercise Motivation Quotes Page was launched on June 14th, 2013, and the idea behind it is simple: to post images overlaid with quotes to help fans motivate themselves to start, or continue, to exercise and be healthy. 

As you can see from the Page's first ever cover photo above, the branding is targeted towards women, as my research ahead of the project revealed females to be the most likely to post and share this type of content. 

Content Strategy

Any search for "exercise motivation quotes" or "fitspiration quotes" will return countless images that receive a lot of engagement on social media from people who want encouragement to keep fit. If I wanted a slice of this market for myself, I needed to create original content... preferably quickly, cheaply, and easily! I settled on the kind of stuff you can see above; knocked up in Photoshop in a matter of minutes, visually appealing, and very shareable. Each post contains a written quote, and is branded with the Page's Facebook URL.

At present, I post twice a day - once in the morning and once in the early evening, both times that people are likely to be thinking about exercise. 

Launch strategy

Other than a plan to post consistently, Exercise Motivation Quotes' launch strategy involved nothing other than purchasing just one cheap Facebook ad, encouraging women who list their interests as exercise to like the Page. 

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In around 10 days, I had spent just £22.50 ($36.50) and attracted 299 likes, enough to give the Page the kick start it needed. I have not spent any more money on promotion since.

Page growth and current statistics
Page Likes
June 14th 2013: Page launched
October 3, 2013: 3,386 fans.

     Post Reach
    Average post reach: 4,216.
    Average engagement rate: 7-9%

    Spend
    Ads: $36.50

    Earnings
    $0.00

    Profit
    -$36.50

    Coming up... 

    In the next part of this series, I'll talk about my initial steps into monetising Exercise Motivation Quotes. Will I lift the page out of the red and turn a profit for the first time? Make sure you subscribe via RSS or follow me on social media to be notified when the next blog goes live! 

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    Andrew Macarthy is the author of the #1 Amazon Web Marketing Bestseller, 500 Social Media Marketing Tips, available for Kindle and in paperback. 

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    The Facebook Passion Page Project Part 1: What is A Passion Page?

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    What is the Passion Page project? 

    The Passion Page project is a multi-part blog post series in which I'll be telling the story of the launch, growth, and hopeful monetisation of a Facebook Page, with very  little investment, both monetary and time-wise. My hope is that this will be a success, and that you will be able to replicate the process too.

    In this first part, I'd like to introduce the concept of Passion Pages, explain how they differ from ordinary Facebook Pages, and why they could be lucrative for you and your brand. Without further ado, let's go... 

    What are Passion Pages? 

    Chances are that you have already encountered plenty of Passion Pages on Facebook, and you might even interact with them regularly. They're Pages that, rather than focus on a specific brand or product, instead post content that is centered around a specific theme or idea, either serious or silly - but mostly the latter. Two popular examples include "Welcome to the Internet" and "I fucking love science"

    Why should businesses care?

    Passion Pages are home to some of the most liked, commented-on, and shared content on all of Facebook. As a brand, it can sometimes be hard to juggle to image that you want to convey of yourself on your Facebook Page against the desire to post content that, however shallow (cute cats, sarcastic quotes, random funny images) will garner attention, and hopefully earn you some return on investment. This is where Passion Pages come in.

    Passion Pages allow brands a separate space to experiment with different types of content - often light-hearted - without the risk of upsetting their existing fan base, but also provide an opportunity to subtly nudge viewers in the direction of your core Page or to introduce new revenue streams on the Passion Page itself. 

    Think of Passion Pages as the Pinterest-y board side of Facebook; a place where companies can shine of the spotlight on the wider culture of their niche, however weird and wonderful that might be. To make up an example or two, McDonald's could launch a Passion Page called "I hate gherkins in my burgers" or one from Home Depot could be called "Epic DIY Fails." 

    Coming up: The story of my own Passion Page

    I launched my own Passion Page on Facebook in June 2013. With a very small initial investment, at the time of writing has over 2,500 fans, nearly 3,500 engaged users per week, a weekly reach close t 40,000 people, and attracts over 50 new fans per day.

     In the next part of this series, I'll be lifting the lid on my Passion Page, with a story of its history up to the present day.

     Will you be joining me on my Passion Page journey? Let me know in the comments below!

    Andrew Macarthy is the author of the #1 Amazon Web Marketing Bestseller, 500 Social Media Marketing Tips, available for Kindle and in paperback.

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