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5 Effective Tips for Marketing Using Facebook Groups

5 Effective Tips for Marketing Using Facebook Groups

Facebook Groups are a great way for small groups of people to communicate and get organised. You will typically find Facebook Groups organised around events, but they can also be a powerful way for business owners to connect with followers and customers.

If you are a marketer, you should not ignore Facebook Groups since they are quite popular and have a massive following. In fact, Mark Zuckerberg himself said in an earnings call back in 2015 that over 850 million people use Facebook Groups, which is an impressive number.

Here Are 5 Tips for Facebook Group Marketing for Small Business Owners

1. Initial Analysis

It is important to first do some analysis before you start using Facebook Groups for marketing your business since they are not suitable for every demographic. Facebook Groups are better suitable for B2C rather than B2B.

The first step is to enter a topic that you might be interested in, into the search box, click on the group box, and start exploring the existence of groups using various keywords. You will find some with up to tens if not hundreds of thousands of members, which provides a huge opportunity for you to meet and engage with a lot of people, even internationally.

Public Facebook Groups can be joined without approval, but many are private or closed and require administrator approval. Just because a Facebook Group is set to ‘closed’ or ‘private’, you shouldn’t be dissuaded from requesting to join. Most requests to join are usually answered quickly. Keeping them closed is for keeping trolls and spammers out.

Once you join a group, the first step is to read the terms since not all groups allow commercial posts and your content may be removed from the group. Similarly, publishing posts too frequently to multiple groups simultaneously may be flagged as spam by group members and you might be temporarily banned from posting.

It is generally advisable to spend a lot of time in analysis and never underestimate it. After a thorough study, choose groups that are relevant to your business and target just a few.

2. Show Your True Face

Once you have found relevant groups to join, it is now time to start engaging with the group members. You can start with a brief introduction and letting fellow group members know that you are available if and when they need help.

It is important to realise that you cannot engage with a Facebook Group using an alias or your business account. You might not like the idea of showing your ‘true face’, but it is impossible for you to engage with Facebook Groups without actually using your real profile.

3. Focus on Collaboration

Facebook Pages are predominantly regarded as a one-way broadcasting platform where the key goal is sending out information. Facebook Groups, however, tend to be more focussed on equal and open communication and discussion. It is meant to be a collaborative experience, with all participants being able to take part in the conversation.

If you are a marketer, you are probably wondering how Facebook Groups can actually offer value if collaboration is their focus. From a marketing perspective, collaboration might seem like a drawback since Facebook Groups aren’t ad-centric. However, they do give you an opportunity for engaging users in an authentic and meaningful way.

Members of the Group have an interest in the topic covered by members. This can allow you to talk with a targeted audience directly and gather a wide range of information. It is why Facebook Groups are great when it comes to discovery and connection, especially as engagement levels for publishers and brands keep falling.

4. Contribute to the Conversation

When you join or create a Facebook Group, it can be tempting to get your sales pitch out there. However, this is not what you should do. Just like you should create quality, engaging content for a Facebook Page, it is advisable not to blanket the Facebook Groups that you have joined with blatant advertising.

A better approach would be to engage with other group members, participate in discussions, answer questions, and establish yourself as an authority. If you do that, you will create a buzz around your brand, draw in Facebook users thus growing your Facebook following, and separate yourself from the rest of the group.

The best way to identify content that contributes to the conversation best is to check the most popular posts and try to post similar content. For instance, if the content that receives the most engagement on a particular group is long-form content, you should also try to post long-form content. If short explainer videos work best, you should try using the same, and so on.

5. Regular Posting

Consistency is the key when it comes to building interaction on any social media platform. However, it can also be the most challenging. If you fail to build consistency, it will be very difficult for you to establish yourself as an authority and encourage engagement.

Fortunately, you can use management tools to make posting to Facebook Groups easier, particularly if you are a member of multiple groups. When you plug your content into such tools, you should not forget about scheduling your Facebook Group posts.

Tools such as AgoraPulse allow you to set your posts to recurring, which means that you don’t even have to think about scheduling the same things every week. Instead, you can concentrate on the posts that are most likely to build engagement.

Final Thoughts

Social media is an incredibly powerful resource in the world of business today and failure to make use of its maximum potential can be detrimental in the end. Employing tools for group management on social media such as Facebook Groups ensures that you, your brand, and your followers/customers engage in quality communication.

Facebook Groups can be a successful marketing tool since they provide a comfortable environment for members to engage in discussions and the exchange of opinions. The more invested in the conversation you are as a small business owner, the better the reputation you will create for yourself and your business. Use Facebook Groups as explained here and you will get the best results possible for your business.

If you are looking to generate more sales through marketing using Facebook groups, but you’re not sure where to start, book in a free strategy session with one of our business growth specialists today.

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