If you’re a small business owner who wants to gain and retain more customers, being on Facebook isn’t an option. It’s a requirement.
Every month, around 2.8 billion people go on this social network. You can’t pass up the opportunity to get your business out there.
But setting up a Facebook page is just the beginning. As anyone with experience in digital marketing would tell you, even posting quality content regularly isn’t a guarantee that your brand will gain the audience it wants.
So what can you do? If you feel that your organic reach and ad spend aren’t at the levels you want them to be, then there is another way to reach your target audience on Facebook. And that is through Facebook groups.
Here are the things you should know about Facebook groups and how to use them to promote your small business:
The Difference Between Facebook Groups and Facebook Pages
Businesses relied heavily on Facebook pages to attract and connect with their audience for years. But as more and more businesses got on Facebook, the algorithms changed and pages started suffering from low organic reaches.
It was 2018 when Facebook dropped a major bombshell—a shift in their algorithm. The social platform giant would begin showing more content from friends and groups in people’s newsfeeds and less from brands and businesses.
For business owners and marketers, it was a huge blow to their social media marketing efforts. They had to come up with a different way to keep their audience.
And that is how Facebook groups began gaining momentum.
Now, Facebook groups have been around for ages. But it’s only in recent years that Facebook has enhanced this feature with new tools for individuals and businesses to enjoy.
Facebook groups are now being used by billions of people every month because of those tools. That should be reason enough to create a group for your small business.
Don’t get us wrong—your Facebook page is still an essential part of your social media marketing. But, if you want to improve the way you interact with your audience, having a Facebook group is the way to go. It allows for more genuine, two-way conversations.
7 Tips and Tricks for Promoting Your Business via Facebook Groups
You’re now aware of the value you can get out of a Facebook group. Congratulations!
But how do you start one? And what best practices should you follow?
Check out these tips to create a strategy that works for your business:
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Establish a Clear Set of Rules and Expectations
This is probably the most crucial part of creating your group. It may not be as interesting as other parts of social media marketing, but it’s necessary if you want to avoid spam and chaos.
Before you list down your rules, think about what you want out of the group first. What will your members be posting? What guidelines do you want them to follow?
If your rules are clear-cut and well-enforced, you and your members can enjoy quality discussions. It should be a safe, friendly, and spam-free place for everyone to share their thoughts.
Facebook has its own set of suggestions for Group rules that you may want to use. These include:
- Respecting fellow members’ privacy
- Prohibiting spam and irrelevant links
- Being firmly against harassment and hate speech
- Encouraging positive conversations, comments, and feedback
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Post Regularly for More Activity
You’re doing something right if your members keep participating in discussions.
Having more activity is always a plus. It will also boost your group’s chances of appearing in your members’ newsfeeds.
Now, it takes a lot of dedication to post frequently. Therefore, we suggest planning what to discuss ahead of time. You can list down your weekly or monthly themes in a content calendar.
Another tip for more engagement? Post when your audience is the most active.
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Don’t Hard Sell
People join a group because they’re interested in the value they can gain from it. No one voluntarily becomes a member for a barrage of links and promos.
So you shouldn’t only discourage your members from posting these types of things in your group. Practice what you preach. When you post links or sales-y messages, make sure your audience knows why you’re posting it.
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Show Your Group That You’re Paying Attention
Don’t ignore your notifications, especially if they’re from posts that you made yourself!While your members can probably keep the discussion going by themselves, replying to the comments will tell them that you actually care about their opinions.
You don’t like being ignored when you tag someone, right? So make it a habit to respond to tags and replies.
But, that does not mean you should monopolize every conversation. Allow your members some room to share their own thoughts.
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Optimize Your Group and Content
Make it easier for potential members to find your group by optimizing it. Add keywords that your target audience might search for to your group description. You should also have a cover photo that will command their attention.
After all, you want to attract the right members.
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Create a Closed Group for a Touch of Exclusivity
If you’ve explored Facebook enough, you’ve probably observed that many groups are “closed.” Closed groups mean that members can only be part if they’re approved by the admins.
Something is intriguing and almost secretive about closed groups that will make people want to join them. Plus, since you get to choose who to accept, you won’t just have an easier time moderating. Your group will also have higher-quality discussions.
You should consider making your group a closed one for these reasons.
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Test Out a Variety of Content Formats and Posts
You can’t read your members’ minds, so the best way to discover what interests them the most is by experimenting with your posts.
Doing this won’t only help you improve your algorithm, though. It will make your audience excited and prevent your group from becoming a little dull.
Here are some of the things you can try posting:
- Images (e.g., infographics, gifs, and memes)
- Interactive content (e.g., questions, polls)
- Facebook Live videos
- User-generated content (encourage your members to share photos or videos)
Wrapping Up
Moderating a Facebook group is not an easy job, but if you really devote your time to creating a community for your audience, your hard work will pay off. It can make a huge difference in your social media marketing game.
Just follow these tips, expect some trial and error, and be patient. We’re confident you can do it!
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Say no more. Our team at Proweaver can provide you with the help you need! With more than a decade of experience handling social media for a variety of small- to medium-sized businesses, you can count on us.
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Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us at +1 (949) 242-9506. We look forward to hearing from you soon!