Over the past few years, Facebook has made a clear, definite shift towards a “Pay to Play” model. The online marketing budgets for Facebook really do need to include some dollars earmarked for paid promotions in order to get business messages out to the fans of those Facebook Pages.
In terms of fan growth, however, you don’t always have to spend in order to grow thanks to the Facebook Business Page “Invite Email Contacts” option.
How to Invite your Email Contacts to LIKE your Facebook Business Page
From the grey button with 3 dots in the bottom right corner of your cover photo on your Facebook Business Page, click on the “Suggest Page” option in the drop-down menu.
The pop-up box that appears offers a handful of popular options, including common email newsletter providers like MailChimp. You can also choose the “Upload Contact List File” option, uploading a .csv file of your email addresses.
We use MailChimp as our email newsletter provider. I followed the instructions to export our contact list.
MailChimp will let you know when the export of your contact list has started. You will receive an email with your .csv file attached.
Next, you need to upload your newly-exported .csv file to your Facebook Business Page.
Facebook will provide you with a preview of the email that will be sent to your email contacts.
Here’s what the email looks like that your contacts will receive.
As someone who has received Facebook invitations to email addresses she doesn’t have associated with her Facebook account, I know this isn’t a fool-proof, perfect approach. However, you have a much better chance (and easier time) converting someone who is already familiar with you and your business, into a fan. Plus, it’s completely free to do, and as your email list grows, you can can try inviting all your new contacts to your Facebook Business Page, too.
Do you keep an email list of current and potential customers?
mail chimp doesnt appear in this menu although i have connected it to my facebook page :/
any suggestions ?
Hi Sofia! Can you clarify what menu you are referring to? MailChimp is an option along with several other providers. Have you been able to download your MailChimp contact list in order to upload it here? Thanks!
I am having the same problem. I have my Mailchimp account linked to the Facebook page but it’s not appearing in the menu when clicking on ‘suggest page’.
Any guidance on how to get this working would be amazing
Hi Katherine,
Can you send me the link of your Facebook Page and a screen shot of what you see when you click on the button with the 3 dots and then the menu that pops up? I just tried this again on mine, and when I click on the button with the 3 dots and then the Suggest Page, I’m getting the option of MailChimp and others. Thanks! Info@EliRose.com
Hi I am having the same problem as the two people above when I click on my suggest page I do not have the option of MailChimp. Where you able to sort this problem out for the other two people above?
I hope you can help me with this, Many thanks
Hi Seamsu,
If your Page isn’t showing MailChimp as an option for some reason, you can opt to do it as a .csv upload. So instead of connecting directly to MailChimp, you can export your list from MailChimp and then upload it to your Page. You can choose “Contact List File” from the options to upload your .csv. Thanks!
Hi, i could not view any option such as suggest page at all. Could you please kindly advise? Thank you.
Hi Nisha,
I just checked a few of the Pages I manage and you are right! The option is not currently there! At this time, I don’t know if this is a permanent loss or just a temporary glitch (which happens a lot with Facebook), and this functionality will return. It wasn’t that long ago that I accessed this feature, so if it’s gone for good, this has to be a recent development. My best advice is to periodically check your Page and see if the option returns.