Facebook groups. Love ‘em or hate’ em, one thing’s for sure: a solid Facebook group for your business is one of the fastest ways to cultivate deeper connections with your audience and grow your business (read: audience, email list and/or client roster) as a result.
The fact is Facebook groups work. But the reason they work is because they provide a safe, private space to connect with you, learn more about your services and offers, and showcase your expertise.
If done right, a well-oiled Facebook group will not only serve as a 24/7 lead-generating machine.
And even better? You can do it without dropping a single dime.
Not sure where to start? We’ve got you. Here’s a quick step-by-step guide to follow to help you grow your own engaged Facebook group:
Step 1: Create a ‘Searchable’ Name
If you want people to organically find your group on Facebook, try creating your Facebook group name with keywords in mind. What might your ideal client be searching for if they were looking for a group centered around your area(s) of expertise? Include 1-2 of these words/phrases in the name for maximum results.
Step 2: Set Rules and Expectations
Every Facebook group has rules. Each rule is listed and clearly visible to both members looking to join and members currently in the group. Recommended rules include: “Keep is positive,” “No hate speech or bullying,” “No spam or irrelevant links,” and “Respect everyone’s privacy.” You can add your own rules to the list, of course, but those are just a few to get the wheels turning.
Why does having group rules matter? Because rules like this ensure your members–or members-to-be–feel safe, supported and comfortable in your space. And when they do that, the odds are they’ll keep showing up, sharing and connecting and–best case scenario! inviting others in their circle to join.
Having clear rules and boundaries in place also garners respect and helps you put your values front and center, so people can see what you’re all about. While this might not be the most direct way to gain members or grow your business, it will absolutely foster a positive culture–and ensure members stick around to find out more about you.
Step 3: Post (Really) Good Content Consistently
Engagement in Facebook groups is everything. And the best way to get your group to contribute and stay involved in your group is to post regular content for them to engage with!
One easy way to consistently create content for your group is to use weekly theme days. For example, maybe you always post marketing tips on Mondays, tech tips on Tuesdays and allow promotions on Fridays. It’s up to you–but this will give your audience something to look forward to and expect from the group–plus make it easier for you to stay consistent.
Here are a few ideas for content that performs well on Facebook in general, but especially in Facebook groups:
Polls
Surveys and quizzes
Questions (yes/no or open-ended)
Memes and photos
Quotes
Another tip: Mix it up. Switching between various content types keep your group feed interesting and engaging. You can also encourage user-generated content by asking the group at large to answer a question, post a picture of their ‘fur baby’ or favorite spot to vacay. Mixing user-generated content with your own content (like, those Facebook Lives or videos, interactive content like polls, and posting infographics and meme) keeps the group fresh and fun–and your group members will refresh their feeds and/or visit the group often just to see what’s new.
And if you ever get a little stuck or run out of ideas (it happens to the best of us!), you can simply scroll through past posts and look for hot topics. What keeps coming up over and over again? What topic(s) could you go deeper on, or provide more explanation or context.
Step 4: Welcome New Members and Get to Know Them
Your members joined your group to build a connection with you. Be sure to give it to them. Create a welcome post (or have your VA do this for you) every few days and individually tag new members and ask them to introduce themselves. Make every new member feel seen!
You’ll also want to engage–a lot. Respond and comment on others’ posts. Respond to their messages. Keep conversations going. Don’t just post and ghost. Let your group members know you are a real person, and you know they are real people, too.
Step 5: Go Live
Another way to help others in your group get to know, like, trust you faster than you ever thought possible? Go Live!
Video content allows you to more quickly connect with your audience. It only takes a few seconds for people to get to know your face, voice and vibe via video. And if they like what they see and hear? They’re more likely to not only stick around the group, engage with you when you ask questions and post your next poll, but also purchase from you. (And obviously, that’s always our end goal!)
Step 6: Cultivate and Encourage High-Vibe Community and Genuine Connection
Everybody who joins your group wants to feel like they’re part of the group. It’s refreshing, fun and fulfilling to feel like you’re among like-minded people with shared interests–and goals. (Especially if they don’t have these types of people in their ‘real life’!)
That said, one of the best ways to cultivate community and connection is to create regular posts that encourage it. Maybe it’s a weekly collaboration thread, where people can announce what they’re looking for help with and connect with others with that skill, for example.
You can also create weekly celebration posts, where others can post their wins. This can create a fun, supportive environment–and is super easy for you to create.
When people feel like they’re part of a community–they’ll trust the glowing testimonials from your past clients and customers a lot more. They’ll also want to join their Facebook group BFFs within your paid containers, too.
Step 7: Hire Help to Continue Growing
As your group grows (and fingers crossed it happens fast!), you’ll likely need people to help moderate all the new member requests, posts and comments. Having more than one admin takes some of the pressure off you. This way, no one gets left hanging waiting for an answer to an important or time-sensitive question (like how to get into your latest webinar, or what your new promotion is!) and you won’t get buried in a pile of notifications a mile long.
This will also free you up to show up more generously in the group because you’ll have more energy. You’ll also have more energy to show up for your current clients, who in turn will hopefully become loud & proud members of your group singing your praises–like your own internal marketing team!
Step 8: Make Sure People Actually See Your Content
There’s no use creating lots of crazy-good content or trying to spark conversations and connections if nobody winds up seeing your posts. Use the Facebook Group Insights tool to help you figure out when your members are most active, as well as who is the most active and what types of posts get the most engagement. And then? Do more of that!
Also, encourage members to turn on their notifications for the group so they don’t miss anything–like your new program announcement or special group-only discount code. You can also use the “@everyone” tag to ensure everyone in the group gets a notification whether they have them turned on or not.
Step 9: Give Generous Discounts
Ideally, your Facebook Group will become an active, exciting place for your ideal clients to engage with each other and learn from (and connect with) you. Reward your loyal followers with special group-only discounts to programs and offers, VIP or skip-the-line access to your most exclusive 1:1 offers or provide them with exclusive trainings they can’t find anywhere else.
And there you have it! Also, don’t forget to promote your Facebook group both on and off Facebook. Treat it like any other marketing tool in your arsenal–nurture it, promote it and update/refresh it regularly. If all goes according to plan, pretty soon your business will be more-than-booming, at least in part thanks to your fabulous Facebook group.
