Facebook Groups for Business

Starting a Facebook page for your business is beneficial but also sometimes poses a challenge.  While most can think starting a Facebook Fan Page for business would be the the optimal spot for engagement and pushing sales…with the new Facebook algorithm, it can make you jump over hurdles and issues that make it harder to get organic traction without the help of paid ads. Cue the Facebook Group!

It’s Never Too Late to Start

Don’t have a Facebook group for you business? Sign up NOW! Building a Facebook Group for your business is the best way to work around a decrease in page engagement and growth.  By leveraging Facebook Groups – you’re able to build an engaging community of people who are already interested in learning more about your business and connecting people to others with similar interests.  The benefit of Facebook groups really dials down to your business being able to laser focus your messaging to a group of people who are easy influenced and personally engaged. When setting up your Facebook group, you’ll have the option to make it a “closed” group or “open” group.

In order to get the most qualified people engaged in your group, I recommend utilizing the “closed group” feature and asking a simple qualification question that will help you make the most of your community.  You can accept everyone who requests to join, but gives the opportunity to “vet” your participants which will better serve the community of people who truly want to be there.

It’s always a good idea to set up a question or two that will help you qualify your group requests so you’re getting the most out of your community. This enables you to property “screen” the people joining your group to ensure they’re qualified to be there in the first place, so you can truly optimize marketing and engagement opportunities within the group.

Related: Facebook Page vs Facebook Group

Utilize the Features

Another great part about leveraging a Facebook Group for your business, is that you’re able to utilize polls to help better understand your target market.  Polls are a great way to focus test your current and potential customers to see what they’re looking for when it comes to content, product development, events, etc. At the end of the day, you’re always looking to provide value to your potential customers and your community.  By posting polls, you’re automatically giving your audience a call to action to engage in the group AND you’re getting pertinent information that will help you build out your product development pipeline, social channels, and overall workflow. It’s a win, win!

Take Advantage of Exclusivity

One of the other benefits of having a Facebook Group vs. a Facebook page is you can announce special offers to your group that are exclusive to them.  You can prompt them to invite a friend and they’ll receive a special offer, or give group members early access to sales and exclusive offers. By doing this, you’re able to leverage these types of “perks” in order to get more people into your group and in turn – eyes to your site and product offering.

Calling out these types of “perks” and promotions on your other social channels will entice your already existing community to join your group.  If you’re consistent with posting quality content and value to your group, they’ll start to invite others to get in on the action!

Related: How to Turn Facebook into a Reliable Lead Gen Source

Start Engaging

As a moderator of the group, the most integral part about your responsibility is you get to initiate the conversation, and then the group runs with it.  The biggest value in being a group moderator is YOU get to start and end those conversations when necessary. You are the authoritative voice that has the opportunity to  share personal insights and engage directly with your community. The great thing about a successful group is that eventually…it starts to run itself. People start engaging without the moderator prompting the topic of conversation.  

You’ll come to find that some of the greatest insights as a brand come from when your group starts to ask questions to each other. You’ll learn a ton from this engagement so be sure to chime in where you can. This is a huge opportunity to re-promote yourself and your brand by stepping in and sharing your expertise and qualified skills.  Nothing is off limits when it comes to the conversations in groups. Leverage this opportunity to subtly promote your own products and services! By being active in your group – you’re able to target the SPECIFIC type of person you’re looking for. Use that tool to your advantage.

Wrapping Up

All in all, groups are the best way to truly understand your current/potential clients, engage & build a community, and promote your brand.  By leveraging groups in addition to your existing social channels you’ll be able to cross promote and optimize your community to make the most of it.  If you have any specific questions or need help setting one up. Feel free to reach out!