The sad reality of Facebook is that organic reach is down and it is getting harder and harder to reach your audience. We know there are lots of great techniques when it comes to improving your organic reach but even with these, you will simply not get in front of your audience without paying.
Don’t get me wrong, I am happy to pay to promote and boost posts but there are other alternatives.
Facebook Groups
Most of you will belong to a Facebook for one reason or another. They are a great way to keep in touch if you belong to a school or sporting club. They are really handy for local communities to connect and of course, the buy and sell pages are fantastic.
But how could your business benefit from Facebook Groups.
My first piece of advice is to get comfortable with Facebook Groups and how they work. The fundamental concept you need to keep in mind is that you need to create and manage a group via your personal profile. You will need to be friends with people to allow them access to the group. Depending on the settings of the group, you will need to be friends with every member potentially so consider your personal profile and how you will manage this.
What is the benefit of a Facebook Group?
- Your posts get in front of your audience: As we know, newsfeeds are so cluttered and it can be incredibly hard to get our message in front of our audience. In a Facebook Group, posts are never hidden or deleted. The order of a post is determined by activity. This means that a member can see all posts simply by scrolling down the page.
- Your content is private: this means that you can share some great stuff with your audience that does not need to be widely available on Facebook.
- It is private or secret: depending on the settings of your group, you can make a group private or secret. This can be of great benefit to users. Making groups secret or private will allow all members to feel like it is a safe and private place to share information.
- It creates a community: most people on Facebook understand that groups are about sharing and being supportive and this means that you are not necessarily the one-stop shop for answering questions. Other members will often help out by jumping in and giving advice or sharing their knowledge.
You still need your page
Do not be fooled in to the thinking that a Facebook Group is the answer to all your problems. Yes, it will allow you to connect with your audience and get in front of them in a more private and connected fashion BUT you do not have the visibility or presence to get them there in the first place. Remember, people need to be your friend to join a group and you cannot reasonably expect all of your Facebook fans to willingly become your friend just to join your group. You will need to have established a relationship with them first.
Don’t rush in just yet!
Facebook groups can grow out of control and become a drain on your resources and time so think carefully about why you would like to start a group before you rush out and set one up just because it will allow you to get in front of your audience.