Having millions of fans on our Facebook pages would be a dream come true, and many social media and public relations professionals are searching for that secret formula to gaining mass popularity on the site. Today, PR Daily published an article highlighting four successful Facebook brand pages and the strategy behind that success. While not all Facebook brand pages may have the resources of Red Bull, Coca-Cola or Oreo, the social media team can still employ similar tactics to engage their fans and increase followers. Here are a few ways to use these Facebook giants’ methods for smaller brands.

• The key ingredient to success for Red Bull is strong content. Yes, even in social media, content is king. However, Red Bull has the luxury to tap into partnerships to gather content to fuel their lifestyle branding. How can smaller brands use this same notion? The most important element about Red Bull’s content is that it’s not blatant self promotion. Rarely will any of the videos or photos have the Red Bull logo in them. Smaller brands should do the same – feature content that is tied loosely back to their brand but will engage their fans nonetheless.
• Oreo’s secret to Facebook renown is knowing its audience and giving them what they want. This concept is simple to implement with smaller brands, as long as those brand managers listen to what the followers are saying. Give fans what they want and engagement will increase.
• Coca-Cola’s success is mainly in the hands of its fans. The page actually was first created by a Facebook user who was looking for the official Coca-Cola page and couldn’t find one. Since then, the brand has kept this fan-first mentality and the fans are constantly posting to the page, driving the content. Though this is a unique situation and very few brands will have this type of base, other brands can learn from this and encourage their followers to post content. Maybe it’s a call out for stories or photos. It could start with posting a review or comment from a fan and asking others to share their opinions.

Are these bulletproof ways to gain a million fans overnight? No, but it’s a good place to start and we can thank these brands for showing us the way.

Follow Olson Communications, Inc. account executive, Veronica Graves, on Twitter at @vgraves.