Alexis Kestler
Have you ever wanted to easily grow your audience and reach more people with your Facebook posts? Do you wish you could convert casual readers into engaged followers?
Well, I‘ve got great news for you!
Facebook offers a little-known Follow button that allows people to subscribe to your public updates without having to be friends. This opens up tons of organic growth potential.
In this epic guide, you‘ll learn how to unlock the Facebook follow button for your profile. I‘ll show you step-by-step how to adjust your settings to enable followers.
I‘ll also share pro tips for skyrocketing your follower count and engagement as an influencer, streamer or business.
Let‘s dive in fellow geeks!
Why You Need the Facebook Follow Button
Before we get our hands dirty with the settings, let me quickly explain why you should care about adding a Follow button.
Reach New Audiences Organically
The Follow button allows anyone to subscribe to your public posts without formal friending/connections. This means your content can reach tons of new people outside your existing friends and followers.
It‘s an amazing organic growth hack for expanding your audience!
Turn Casual Readers Into Followers
Followers are much more engaged than casual readers. The Follow button provides an easy call-to-action for people to sign up to your updates.
This converts drive-by readers into invested followers who regularly see your posts. More eyeballs on your content!
Get Early Access to the Follow Button
Facebook has been testing this feature since 2018. But it still hasn‘t rolled out the Follow button to everyone. By manually enabling it early, you get a head start on growing your following.
Stand Out as an Influencer or Public Figure
Influencers, streamers, businesses and public figures can benefit the most from followers. The Follow button lends legitimacy and allows you to stand out from regular profiles.
Clearly, this little Follow feature can make a big difference for digital creators and online personalities like yourself!
Now let‘s get into the steps to actually unlock it…
Step 1: Meet the Age Requirement
Before you can access the Follow button, you need to meet Facebook‘s age requirement:
You must be 18 or older to add the Follow button.
Don‘t worry though – you can change your birthday in your Facebook profile settings if you need to.
Here‘s how to update your age on both mobile and desktop:
Mobile
- Tap your profile picture
- Select "View Profile"
- Tap "About"
- Tap "Contact and Basic Info"
- Tap "Birthday"
- Update your birthday to show 18 or older
Desktop
- Click your profile picture
- Select "View Profile"
- Click "About"
- Click "Contact and Basic Info" in left menu
- Click "Birthday"
- Change your birthday to show 18 or older
Once your age is updated, you can move onto the Follow button steps.
Step 2: Set "Who Can Send You Friend Requests" to "Friends of Friends"
The first key setting is controlling who can send you friend requests. By default, it‘s set to "Everyone" which means any random person can try to friend you on Facebook.
To enable Follows, we need to change this to "Friends of Friends." Here‘s how:
On Mobile:
- Tap the ≡ menu
- Select “Settings & Privacy”
- Tap “Settings”
- Scroll down and tap “Privacy”
- Tap “Privacy Settings”
On Desktop:
- Click the down arrow ≡ at top right
- Choose “Settings & Privacy”
- Click “Settings” in left menu
- Click “Privacy” in left menu
- Select “Privacy Settings”
Now, scroll down and find the “How people can find and contact you” section.
Tap/click on “Who can send you friend requests?”.
It will be set to “Everyone” by default. Tap/click to change it to “Friends of Friends”.
This means only people connected to your friends can send you friend requests. Everyone else will see the Follow option instead when they visit your profile.
Step 3: Change "Who Can Follow Me" to Public
The last step is adjusting the “Who Can Follow Me” setting specifically. This controls who can see and use the Follow button.
Here’s how to change it to Public:
On Mobile:
- From Privacy Settings, tap “Public Posts”
- Find “Who Can Follow Me”
- Switch from “Friends” to “Public”
On Desktop:
- From Privacy Settings, click “Public Posts” in left menu
- Locate “Who Can Follow Me”
- Change from “Friends” to “Public”
And that‘s it! The Follow button will now be enabled and viewable by everyone.
Step 4: Confirm the Follow Button is Visible
You can quickly validate that the Follow button is live on your profile:
On Mobile:
- Go to your profile
- Tap the ••• menu
- Select “View As”
On Desktop:
- Go to your profile
- Click the ••• menu
- Choose “View As”
This previews your profile as a public visitor would see it. You should now see a blue “Follow” button instead of an “Add Friend” button.
Looking good! Your follow settings changes were successful.
Now let’s talk about how to use your new powers for good…
Use the Follow Button to Grow Your Audience of Loyal Followers
Unlocking the Follow button is just the first step. The real goal is attracting engaged followers who regularly view your updates.
Here are 7 pro tips for converting new followers into loyal fans:
1. Post Valuable Content Frequently
Followers are hungry for your updates! To stay top of mind, post daily if possible. Provide a mix of:
- Industry insights
- Behind-the-scenes peeks
- Personal experiences
- Entertainment and humor
- Useful advice and tips
Posting consistently keeps you in their feed.
2. Go Live as Much as Possible
Live video is hugely popular. Go live daily or a few times per week to engage followers in real time.
Interact with viewers through the comments. Being accessible builds loyalty.
3. Respond and React to Follower Engagement
Always reply to followers who engage your content. Like, comment on and share their posts in return.
Building these relationships encourages two-way interactions.
4. Message New Followers to Say Thanks
Send new followers a quick DM thanking them for the follow. Ask what they’re looking to learn from your updates.
Personal outreach makes them feel welcomed and valued.
5. Use Hashtags and Location Tags
Hashtags help people outside your network discover your public posts. Always tag your content with relevant hashtags and locations.
6. Cross-Promote Your Followable Profile
Let your audiences on other platforms like Twitter, Instagram, TikTok etc. know they can follow you on Facebook.
Cross-promotion draws in followers from your other social profiles.
7. Make Following You Easy
Put “Follow me on Facebook” buttons with links on your website and other channels.
The simpler you make it to follow, the faster your community will grow.
Apply these tips, and your follower count will be growing in no time!
More Expert Follower Growth Strategies
Beyond those seven starter tips, there are tons of proven follower-building approaches you can try.
Let‘s dig into some more advanced tactics…
Leverage Facebook Ads
Run ads promoting your Facebook profile and new posts. Use your pixel to retarget visitors who engaged your updates.
Ads let you get your profile in front of thousands of new potential followers.
Join Facebook Groups
Look for relevant niche groups related to your industry or interests. Provide value by answering questions and engaging in discussions.
You’ll gain exposure and credibility. Some group members will start following you.
Run Facebook Contests and Giveaways
Contests are hugely effective for follower growth. Come up with a fun prize/incentive and ask people to follow you to enter.
Make the barrier to entry super low – just a follow – and watch the entries roll in.
Collaborate With Other Influencers
Partner with influencers in similar or complementary niches. Promote one another to your respective followers.
Cross-promotion will introduce you both to new audiences.
Use a Follower Exchange Site
Follower exchange sites allow you to gain new followers in exchange for following others. The ratio is usually 1:1.
Just be sure participants are real accounts with engaged followers (not fake bot accounts).
Analyze Your Follower Demographics
Use Facebook Analytics to dig into the gender, age, interests and locations of your followers.
Then tailor your content strategy towards creating more of what your ideal follower personas love.
Make Following Your Profile "Exclusive"
Create FOMO by framing follows as exclusive access to your content. Use “only followers see this” as a carrot.
Exclusivity makes people feel special and included in an inner circle.
The sky‘s the limit for attracting engaged followers! Try out different strategies and see what converts best for your niche.
Troubleshooting: Common Facebook Follow Button Issues
As you explore the follow option, you may run into some hiccups. Here are fixes for the most common problems:
Follow Button Not Showing Up
Double check you changed both the friend request and follow settings mentioned earlier. You need to update both for the button to appear.
Also confirm your profile age is 18+. The Follow button won’t activate otherwise.
Followers Can’t See Your Posts
This means your posts’ visibility settings are too restrictive. Go into your settings and change post visibility to “Public” instead of “Friends” only.
Now all followers will see updates in their feeds.
Suddenly Lost Ability to Have Followers
Facebook likely removed the feature if you violated their rules. You can try appealing the removal via the Help Center. But reactivation is not guaranteed.
Seeing Wrong Follower Count
The number shown includes followers + friends. For just followers, check your follower list under “Friends and followers” on your profile.
This shows the raw follower count without friends included.
Followers Don‘t Get Notifications
Unlike friends, followers don‘t get notified of new posts. They only see updates directly in their feeds.
If engagement is low, try promoting new posts on other channels to drive followers to your page.
Hopefully these tips save you some headaches! Now let‘s wrap things up…
The Power of Followers is Yours!
Phew, that was a beast of a guide! Here are the key takeaways:
⛵️ The Facebook Follow button lets anyone subscribe to your public updates, expanding your reach.
⛵️ To unlock it, open your settings and change "Who Can Follow Me" and "Who Can Send Friend Requests" to Public and Friends of Friends respectively.
⛵️ Post value-packed content consistently to engage and retain new followers.
⛵️ Use cross-promotion, influencer collaborations, contests, exclusivity and other tactics to grow your following.
⛵️ Troubleshoot issues like incorrect follower counts, visibility problems and more.
Crushing your Facebook game is all about gathering a loyal audience around your profile. The Follow button turns casual visitors into engaged followers.
It’s an incredible built-in growth tool for content creators and influencers on Facebook.
So what are you waiting for? Go enable that Follow button and start building your online community! The followers are waiting…
