A Facebook community is a must-have commodity for any growing business to connect with its target audience.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, or have not been on Facebook for months – and let us just say that we think those are basically the same thing – you already know how much value there is in Facebook groups.
Facebook community growth is through the roof after Facebook made a few ‘adjustments’ early on in 2019.
The result: “All we see in our newsfeeds are group notifications”* and not everyone is happy about it.
*slight exaggeration
If you’ve seen the light; realizing that creating, nurturing and growing a Facebook community for your business is beneficial, keep reading.
In this article, we will give you five tips for Facebook community growth you can implement starting today, growing your community, your business, and furthering your relationship with potential and current clients!
Five tips for Facebook Community Growth
For both new or existing Facebook communities, we have identified five areas to work on as you focus on Facebook community growth.
These include
- Defining the purpose of the Facebook group
- Linking to the Facebook Page and utilizing the power of that page
- Moderating the Facebook community
- Being present in the group
- Offering exclusive content to that Facebook community
Let's dive into each of these tips for actionable ideas you can put to use for Facebook community growth.
#1 Define Your Facebook Group’s Purpose
Facebook groups come in all shapes and sizes. Picking the right topic, as well as the right target audience to reach your business goals, might mean you need more than one group!
Many businesses start out with a large, general topic group, then creating a second group for a more targeted audience.
Here is the thought behind that first type of group.
For an industry like Real Estate, you might be a group called
“Fun Things To Do In CityName” or
“CityName Residents” or
“Ask Anything About CityName”
If you are a realtor and you own that group, being in charge of the content is an important piece to the puzzle when new residents start asking questions about the region. You’d be the lead realtor (or only realtor) to give advice.
You could employ that same strategy for a local restaurant
“Pizza lovers of Cityname Unite”
“Best Places To Eat in CityName”
“Real Restaurant Reviews for CityName”
If you are the restaurant who owns that Facebook group, you can keep tabs on what people want, what are looking forward to eating and when they want it, and adjust your menu, events and even specials to accommodate the local residents.
The second type of group would be more focused, and usually much smaller.
That Facebook community would include current customers and loyal patrons in the group, for a specific business.
To go back to the previous examples:
The realtor could create a group of his/her past and current clients.
The restaurant would invite those who’ve dined with them and maybe are part of their loyalty program.
Without a clear purpose of any Facebook community, a groups content strategy would be muddled.
Get clarity on the group's purpose, intent and target audience first and foremost – so that you can attract the right people into the Facebook community.
Once you start attracting the right people as you implement tips #2-#5, your audience will, in turn, invite their friends to join. Know that Facebook’s algorithm will support groups that grow quickly and are active, by showing these groups as options to people with similar interests.
#2 Link The Facebook Group to the Facebook Page
Once a Facebook group is set up, it is beneficial to link it to a business page.
Plenty of people who interact with a page, look for a community of like-minded people to join.
By linking, people can click through from the page to the groups and request to join, thus stimulating Facebook community growth.
The Facebook Page can also be used in other ways to grow the community.
Here are some ideas.
- Write a blog article about the group and share on the page with a call-to-action to read and join.
- Update the Facebook Page cover with a call-to-action. Add a ‘Click here to join’ graphic and when people click the cover, take people to the link of the group.
- Once a week invite your fans to join the group. Give them a reason to do it ‘right now’ (exclusive content, special training, live video)
Last but not least, you can invite those on your Facebook Page to join your Facebook community with an official Facebook invite, making this an easy process to continue to grow your Facebook community.
#3 Moderate Your Facebook Community
If you do not have the
- Interest
- Bandwidth
- Resources
- Budget
to properly moderate your group, don’t start one, as Facebook community growth will dwindle, stagnate and eventually decline if no one is in charge of the group!
An unmoderated Facebook community, even a closed group, will become a swamp full of spammers, driving anyone in your target market away. This will ultimately damage your reputation.
Moderate your community with a team; consider your options, including hiring a dedicated community manager.
Here are three additional thoughts:
- Set rules, and enforce the rules.
- Block unwanted and rule-breaking members.
- Set an example of group conduct by speaking positively and enthusiastically, not in a negative and rant-like manner.
Don’t allow Facebook marketing techniques to cloud your community vision.
A Facebook community’s purpose is to grow personal relationships with your target audience, one member at a time!
#4 Don’t Leave The Facebook Group Hanging; Be Present
It’s pretty simple. To stimulate Facebook community growth, treat your group members like royalty.
Here are the four basic steps to do that:
- Attract
- Meet
- Engage
- Over-Deliver
Then repeat!
Attract the right type of people to your group.
Meet and greet new people; welcome them and nurture, spoil them even.
Engage all of your members in daily conversations you start or join them in their conversations by answering questions and offering your opinion.
Deliver great content but most of all, deliver a great group experience your members can not get anywhere else. Over-deliver and your group members will invite their friends to join.
The only way to build a group like this is to have a daily presence.
Whether that is the community manager, group owner, business owner, coach or other designated moderator; someone has to be the ‘constant’ in the group.
#5 Offer Exclusive Content to Group Members
It goes without saying that Facebook group members will expect you to regularly post; the frequency of your group posts is of course, up to you and should increase as the group’s activity grows.
If you regurgitate content already available on all your social networks, why would someone stay in your group? In order to stimulate Facebook community growth, you need to add value found only in your group.
To attract people but more importantly to keep people in your Facebook community, you will need to offer exclusive content.
Think about offering
- Webinars
- Affiliate promos
- Exclusive training
- Live Q & A
- Coupons
- Special offer purchases
- Early-bird pricing
- Product previews
- Swag
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I am a Certified Social Media Manager, Strategist, International Keynote Speaker, Organic Specialist and Agile marketer! Blogging is my creative outlet. Running, hiking and skiing are how I recharge. You'll recognize me on stage and online by my always present orange glasses, a nod to my Dutch heritage.
