How to Use Facebook Groups to Grow Your Business
Many brands have reported better success on Facebook when running their own private Facebook groups. Well, the good news is that you don’t have to create your own Facebook groups to grow your business. (Although, I’ll discuss this more in a minute.) You can be a member of other groups and use them to your advantage! Here’s how:
First, find the right groups for you.
The first thing you absolutely must do is to find the groups that are right for you and your brand. If you choose the wrong groups, it’s not going to benefit you at all. In order to use Facebook groups to grow your business, you need to figure out where your audience is and invest your time into those groups.
The best thing you can do is to search Facebook and do a little research online to find the best groups for your niche. Choose groups that appeal to you and your audience and are also active. You don’t want a group that doesn’t get much engagement. If a group is closed and you can’t see how much posting occurs, you can always request to join and then leave if you find it’s not for you.
It’s very easy to go overboard when joining, so I’d recommend sticking to a few core groups that you know you’ll participate in regularly. Try joining fives groups to dedicate your time to.
Be an active member.
This probably seems pretty obvious, right? If you want to use Facebook groups to grow your business, you need to be an active member of the groups you’re in. You should be sharing posts other members would enjoy. You should be commenting on the posts others share. You need to be present in order to be seen. Figure out how much time you want to dedicate to your presence in Facebook groups and make time to be there throughout the week. There’s one thing you should keep in mind though:
- Make sure you follow the rules of the Facebook group. If a group doesn’t allow you to promote your blog posts or products, DON’T. Some groups (like my own) have certain days of the week that are dedicated to sharing blog posts, products, and services. There’s a time and a place for self-promotion and someone else’s group is not it if they don’t allow it.
Provide value to the group.
Being an active member requires you to provide some sort of value to the groups you’re in. Not only should you be posting regularly, but you want to share content that adds value and benefits other members. Create posts that share advice or helpful tips you know the group would enjoy. Share a story that’s relevant and would be interesting to others.
You should also keep an eye out for posts from others that you could chime in on. Did someone ask a question that you can answer? Do it! As a member of these Facebook groups, you need to focus on being of service instead of thinking about self-promotion. If you’ve provided value to someone, they’re more likely to check you out, which is why you need to remember my next tip…
Optimize your personal Facebook page.
So, if you aren’t allowed to promote yourself whenever you want, how can you use Facebook groups to grow your business? You need to optimize your personal Facebook page. Make sure you’ve included your business as your current job. If you have a Facebook page for your business, you can link to that in this section. You can also share links to your latest blog posts on your personal Facebook. By doing this, you guarantee that anyone who visits your profile from a Facebook group will see what your business is all about.
If you aren’t comfortable promoting your business on your personal Facebook page, consider creating a separate account to use when joining groups. You can treat that profile as an extension of your business page.
Learn from others.
You’re likely to encounter a diverse group of people in the Facebook groups you join. Take advantage of this by engaging with others and learning from them. Don’t just check in on groups when you have something to say. You need to be present and listening to what others have to say, too.
Creating Facebook Groups to Grow Your Business
Alternatively, you could also take things one step further and create your own Facebook group for your brand. This allows you to be in control of your own community and provides many benefits that will help you grow your business. Here’s how:
- Use it to get to know your audience. Because your Facebook group will be comprised of people who are already interested in your brand (and therefore likely to be your target audience), it’s a great opportunity to really get to know them. Learn more about their interests, struggles, and what they need from you so you can provide it. Don’t be afraid to just ask them questions in the group so you can understand them better.
- You can focus on providing value. You can use your private Facebook group as a way to share even more beneficial information for your audience through posts, responding to others, and doing Facebook Live broadcasts. Consider the needs of your audience and address them in your group.
- It helps you build a relationship with your audience. Facebook is an amazing way to engage with your audience. You can connect with them on a whole other level on Facebook than you can on Twitter or other platforms. Encourage your audience to join and post regularly. And when they do share posts, respond to them. Leave comments and be of service when needed. It’s a great way to build trust if you take the time to nurture these relationships.
- Use it as an email opt-in. If you want to grow your email list as the same time, make your private Facebook group your email opt-in and only grant access to those on your list. It works well if you have a thriving community people would love to be part of.
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