With more than 1.65 billion Facebook users, it’s crucial for businesses to use this social medium to connect with current and prospective clients. While we’re guessing that you already have a Facebook Page for your business, you may be wondering how to amass thousands of followers and millions of “Likes” on it. To help you on your way to gathering 1 million Likes, let’s look at some well-known brands, who are extremely popular on Facebook (and in real life), and examine what they’re doing right.

Burt’s Bees

Total Page Likes: 2,818,505
Number of People Talking About This Page: 11,031

As a retail company, Burt’s Bees uses their Fan Page to promote its products and increase sales. One way they do this is by introducing new products in an interactive way. Thanks to a “Poll Tab” on their Facebook Fan Page, Burt’s Bees is able to connect with fans (i.e., current and prospective customers) by surveying them about flavor preferences, product names and more.

By allowing fans to help make decisions about product development and marketing, Burt’s Bees not only creates a buzz about their products, but they also inspire fans to purchase their latest goods, because the fans feel invested in the decision-making process.

Finally, Burt’s Bees ensures that it’s easy for fans to buy products via Facebook, thanks to their use of short Bitly links that quickly redirect fans to their retail site.

If you are a retail company, consider adding a tab or app to your Facebook Fan Page as a way to include your customer in your company’s decision-making process. This will help grow your fanbase and keep fans coming back to your page to weigh in on your latest developments.

Old Spice

Number of Facebook Fans: 2,620,434
Number People Talking About This Page: 9,345

Old Spice, a household name for more than 80 years, uses their Fan Page as an extension of their traditional marketing efforts. For instance, they post their ever-so-popular “manly man” commercials on their Facebook page, in essence, extending the commercials’ air play time. Posting these commercials on their Facebook page also gives fans the opportunity to Like and comment on the commercials, which creates even more chatter about the already-popular television spots.

In fact, last year, the commercial featuring the towel-clad, former football star Isaiah Mustafa, a.k.a. “the Old Spice guy,” received more than 1 million comments on Facebook. In this way, Old Spice is able to introduce an old brand to a new generation, expanding their fan base both on social media and offline.

Zappos

Number of  Facebook Fans: 2,119,078
Number of People Talking About This Page: 33,297

Zappos is well known for its great customer service, and it continues to provide this fantastic service via their Fan Page. For Zappos, Facebook is another avenue that can be used to address customer questions, suggestions and concerns. More so, using social media for customer service allows the smart company to respond quickly to its customers’ product inquiries, in the comments, as well as to provide a direct product links to entice happy customers to buy an item, stat.

Thanks to their use of social media as a customer service channel, Zappos is able to interact with their customers on a personal level, which keeps fans coming back to their Facebook page—and encourages them to share their great experiences on the social channel, continuing the cycle of fan growth.

In addition, they have established brand loyalty by using each post, contest and call to action to emphasize their company culture, on a public platform. Strategies such as employing discussion posts, a “Fan of the Week” contest and timeline updates keep their fans excited and continuously engaged. With well over 100,000 Facebook fans, you can see that Zappos uses the social medium to nurture a tight-knit community of fans.

What You Can Learn From These Brands’ Fan Pages

Consider using the strategies outlined here to manage your Facebook Fan Page and garner as many Likes as possible. For instance, you can create opportunities on your Fan Page that allow audience participation, like Burt’s Bees does. Or, you can take a cue from Old Spice and expand your traditional advertising efforts onto Facebook, which can ignite a public conversation about your ads.

Finally, consider using Facebook to provide great customer service—and personalized dialogue—as Zappos does. With these tips, you will be well on your way to garnering 1 million Likes on your Facebook Fan Page!

Make sure to stay on brand as you build your following. Download our latest guide, The Importance of Reputation Management on Social Media to get started.