This week I want to discuss a secret marketing weapon: Facebook groups. This underestimated marketing tactic is fantastic for generating engagement, leads and even sales. The goal is to get a high engagement rate within your Facebook group where people share, discuss and recommend your services. And yes, it's for free!
So what's a Facebook group? It's a place where like-minded people join to discuss similar interests and passions. Facebook groups can be used to promote your business, build a loyal client base and nurture your audience. You can choose to create a closed group, where posts can only be seen by other members of the group. We recommend you always go for a closed group to keep the space safe and unique to the members, so they feel safe to discuss their similar interests and passions. A study by Buffer showed that the most effective type of entertainment for Facebook is a combination of education and entertainment, or "edu-tainment".
Here's how you create a Facebook group
Our top tips for creating an engaged Facebook community:
1. Welcome new group members
Establish a connection with group members from day one. Welcome them to the community to help them to feel included and happy to contribute openly. Encourage new members to introduce themselves to get the conversation started. On your group discussion view, you can view the number of members you have in your group, as well as new members.
2. Set out clear rules to guide group behaviour
Establishing clear boundaries from the get-go is key to ensure your members feel safe to engage in deep conversation, instead of surface-level engagement or self-promotion/spam. This can be specified when an individual requests to be a part of the group.
Side note: feel free to ask for their email address when they request to enter the group too - this is a sneaky way to build your email list!
3. Use tools like quizzes, polls and surveys
People love a quiz or poll! This is an excellent way to get your community engaged and can help you to learn about your client's needs and take on their feedback. This helps you to understand your community better.
4. Post quote-based images
Everyone loves a quote image. Find an image and then a relevant motivational quote to put with it. Keep it simple. Ask your audience if they agree, or "like" to agree/disagree!
5. Ask questions
Asking your audience questions is a quick way to get them involved and share their opinion. You can ask closed questions (yes or no questions), like "have you been to a naturopath before?", or open questions like, "what did you enjoy the most about your first naturopath appointment?". You can even add an image alongside the question so it grabs the attention of your group members. This will spark conversation among group members as well as give you valuable information you can implement into your business.
6. Get frequency and timing right
The ideal frequency I recommend is 1-2 posts per day, so make sure you're putting time and effort into the posts you wish to share. The time of day matters as well, scheduling your posts between 1-3pm has shown to be the best time to post for optimum engagement. In saying that, check your Facebook insights and test out what works for your group. You can schedule your posts as well to make it automated and stress-free.
The key takeaway
Creating a Facebook group brings together like-minded individuals to connect and build relationships. It also allows you to understand your audience, obtain feedback and increase your value offering to your clients.
Originally published on Jul 01, 2021
