Facebook Groups 101: The Benefits, How To Grow Them & Best Practices!

Have you thought about launching a Facebook group? Not sure where to start? We got you.

Have you created a Facebook group with bright and shiny visions of thousands of members and a highly engaged audience just to be faced with……. Crickets? We got you too.

There are so many benefits to having a Facebook group, but here’s the top six!

1.     It’s the perfect place to build an engaged community of YOUR target audience.

2.     You can build connections with like-minded people in your niche.

3.     You have the ability to grow your email list!

4.     You can collect free market research whenever you want!

5.     It will boost your credibility and authority in your niche.

6.     You can turn your group into a money-making machine!

How do you create a Facebook group? Watch this video for a live demo!

Before you get started… Consider these things.

1.     Determine your group’s purpose.

Everything has a purpose – so what’s the purpose of the group. Sit back and think about it honestly. Here’s a hint. If your purpose of the group is self-serving – chances are, it’s not going to grow or perform well. The purpose of your group should benefit the members first and foremost!

2.     Create the right type of community.

When you create a group, you have the opportunity to create a public, closed or secret group. Each serves a specific purpose. If you’re looking to grow your group quickly – having a public group can make it easier for individuals to see the value in the content being shared so they can make the decision to join the group! A closed group will make it so only people who are a part of the group can access the content being posted. This is great if you’re using your group to grow your email list as well! Secret groups are only found by the members and not easily discoverable. Not the best option for your online marketing efforts – but GREAT for internal use!

IMPORTANT NOTE – when naming your group, make sure people can tell what topic the group is centered around right away. Use keywords if possible. Having a creative name might sound fun, but if potential members can’t tell what it’s about or can’t search easily to find it – it’s kind of pointless!

3.     Ask Questions!

To deter spammers from joining your group, ask qualifying questions. Make it a requirement that they have to answer the questions to join.

HINT – make one of the questions a confirmation that they agree to your group’s rules!

4.     On that note… Make rules.

Set clear expectations for how the group should be used. What conduct is and isn’t okay. Create a promotional policy. And once you have the rules – stick to them. If people aren’t following the rules… Boot them out. Make your group a safe place for everyone.

5.     Promote your group to the right people!

Numbers are great – but having an active and healthy group is far more important. Make sure that when growing your group, you’re focusing on your target audience. There are a few ways to get your group in front of the right people.

Your Facebook Page – if you already have a page for your business, then use that page to advertise your new community. You can link your group with your page. Try posting about the group or do a Facebook Live showcasing the value that it will provide to your following.

Go old school – Sending a simple invite does it a lot of the time! Invite the people in your email list or go through your friends list and reach out to people you’re connected to that match your target audience.

NOTE: Avoid mass inviting people to your groups. They still have to accept the request. It would be much better to send a personalized message to the people you think are a good fit.

Link it everywhere – Make sure the link to your group is easily accessible. Put it in your email newsletters, icon bars, email signatures, bios… the list goes on. Put the link anywhere that you think it might be useful.

6.     Content… Content…. Did someone say Content?

At the beginning of launching your group, it is going to be like talking to a wall. It’s going to be hard. Your community wont be built in a day. It’s up to you to put out the content. Engage with your members. Provide value. Ask questions. Entertain them. Over time, others will begin to join the conversation and eventually it will run itself.

HINT – Ask your members what type of content they like! Ask how you can provide them the most value. Try to fill their needs.

7.     Engage DAILY.

Relationships take work. Find out when the best time is to engage with your group. What time are they online? Try to post your best content at that time. You can prepare and schedule content to go out during those times – but make sure you’re available to respond to comments.

Speaking of which…. This is going to be vital to the health of your group. Engage with your members, answer questions and respond back to every single comment. If you’re not 100% in… Why would your members want to be?

Growing your group can be difficult. Here are some ways to help grow your group!

·        Add the link to your group as a tab on the main navigation menu of your blog or website. HINT – brand it as a free community vs a Facebook group.

·        Add the Facebook group link in your email signature so every email you send will be an opportunity to gain a new member.

·        Are you on YouTube? Put a call to action inviting people to your Facebook group at the end of your videos and in the caption of your videos!

·        Create Pinterest graphics for your group and pin regularly. The lifetime of content on Pinterest lasts for months longer than Facebook, Twitter, or other social media platforms.

·        Create posts on Twitter and Facebook with a call to action to join your group. Pin these posts to the top of your profile so it’s easily accessible.

·        Add a link to your Facebook group everywhere that there are links to your other social media!

·        Do you have a welcome email for your new email subscribers? Include the link to your group in there!

·        Put a button to join your group on every single one of your “Thank You” and confirmation pages on your opt-in offers or paid products.

·        Share about your group regularly on social media. Add it to your content schedule.

·        It’s been mentioned before, but it is worth repeating. Utilize Facebook lives to promote your group!

·        You can run Facebook ads.

·        Try hosting a challenge within your Facebook group so when people sign up for the challenge – they join the group!

·        Provide incentive programs to increase engagement. Announce and reward the most active and most contributing members.

This should get you started – but if you need more help, we have a Facebook Group to answer all your questions! See what we did there? ?

You can join our Social Media Bootcamp here.

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