Learn the Benefits of Facebook Groups
How do you feel when someone adds you to a Facebook group? Do you just automatically leave or is there some criteria you look for in making the decision to stay? Hopefully you have some criteria that you look for when you are added to a group as well as when you search for one. There are several things you should look for depending on what you want from these groups.
Look for groups that include one or more of these:
- Your target audience
- Potential clients
- A group of your peers
- Your industry
- A topic that interests you
Why Join Facebook Groups
If you already have an active and long list of followers and contacts on your Facebook page, groups may seem like it is redundant or maybe just added work to your already busy social media plan. However, groups can add invaluable information and contacts in certain niches that you can focus your attention on instead of spreading information across all your followers who may or may not be interested in all the information.
Some specific benefits of Facebook groups are:
- A great place to find a mentor or tech skills group
- Sharpen your leadership skills
- Meet new collaboration partners
- Get ideas for blog posts
- Get ideas for new products
- Great place to get to know other attendees before during and after an event, workshop, webinar or radio show
Create Your Own Group
A great way to build leadership in an area of expertise is to create your own Facebook group. When it is a group you moderate you can control the content allowed as well as who can join. Your group can help you build a tribe of loyal and like-minded people in your niche and drive them to you instead of you having to find them in other groups. It is best to create your Facebook group around a very specific demographic ex: speakers, Mompreneurs, bloggers etc. Pick the topic that is your focus and your area of expertise.
If you already have an event, a meet up group or mastermind started, you can create a Facebook group specifically for the people involved. This helps keep the conversations going between meetings and before or after your event. This gives people more of a connection to each other and your group or event and creates that tribe feeling.
Use Groups for Promotion
Whether it is a group you created or one that you joined, using Facebook groups can be a powerful platform for promoting your blogs, programs, videos, events and products when you use promo threads. Make sure you follow the group rules for promoting within the group as some have restrictions or only allow the group participants to promote on certain days. Groups can also be a great platform to spotlight your area of expertise by sharing relevant content with the group as well as answering questions that come up from other group members.
Joining groups and creating groups of your own is an excellent way to tap into the power of the largest and most popular social media network on the Internet. It is also where a large population of your audience spends most of their time when on social media. The benefits of Facebook groups are clear as long as you develop a plan with specific criteria that you look for before joining a group or even creating your own.
What benefits do you get from your Facebook groups?
[Tweet “How to reap the benefits of a #Facebook Group by @PattyFarmer #Marketing #SocialMedia”]