Episode #85: Create a community around your brand through a Facebook group
Hey Mama! Welcome to episode #85 of the Life by Design Podcast with Allison Hardy!
Today’s episode is going to be filled with actionable to-do items, I have an amazing download for you, and I know that when you implement these strategies that I’m going to be covering in today’s episode you will see a change in the quality and the amount of community-building within your own Facebook!
Today I want to help you to create a culture of community around your brand. Where I’m going with this is you need to have the “know, like, and trust factor” so strong when it comes to your brand that when you do pitch your services or products, your group members buy without objection. In short, community equals more sales, more sales equals business growth, and business growth equals more impact.
Your Facebook group can, and will, change the face of your business, you just need to throw a little strategy behind it.
You need to think about your Facebook group like a party.
As the host of a party you walk around, greeting your friends and meeting new people. You introduce yourself, thank your guests for coming, ask them something about their life to show interest in them, and then conversation ensues. You might talk about your business, your kids, your latest creation in the kitchen, how you and your spouse met, and so on. You talk about the things you and your guest have in common. You develop relationships in hopes of creating more friends, colleagues, acquaintances, and connections.
Facebook groups are the exact same way.
The function of a Facebook group is to serve your group members. Your Facebook group should be the thing that develops the know, like, and trust factor, and quickly. If you’re not showing up in an authentic way, facilitating conversation, and supporting your group members, then what’s the point of your group?
The to running and creating a successful Facebook group is creating a culture of engagement. Your group members need to know that as a part of your group, it is expected that they engage. Again, to go back to the analogy of a party, no wallflowers.
Ok so now that you know my philosophy behind your Facebook group, let’s dive into getting engagement.
Engagement is crucial in your group for a couple of reasons.
- Facebook likes engagement. It is a social platform after all, so they want you engaging. When you get engagement in your group, they help you to get boosted in the Suggested Groups area on Facebook, which will help your group to grow more organically.
It makes you look more like an authority. When your group members are excited to show up and create connections in your group, you’re obviously a big deal and it elevates your authority in your own group.
So how do we get engagement in our Facebook groups?
It’s actually pretty simple:
You ask for it.
Your group members have no idea how they are supposed to act in your group. Each Facebook is different and the rules are not the same from one group to the next. Some groups you’re only allowed to comment in threads, and you’re not allowed to make new posts. Some groups you can promo, some you can’t. Some have certain things you do on certain days. We all run our groups differently and that’s totally fine, what you need to do to tell and show your group members how to act.
So back to my initial question:
How do we get engagement in our Facebook groups?
There are a couple of things that you need to do, so let’s go through those ideas:
Ask your group members questions about themselves. Not only is this great market research, but it also breaks down the wall between you and them. You may think you’re just a normal person who is completely approachable, but odds are your group members hold you on a bit of a pedestal since it’s your group. This makes you approachable, which is paramount to building the know, like, and trust factor.
Do this consistently. It’s just like anything in your business, consistency is key. And consistency is what will create a culture of engagement in your group. Consistency looks different for everyone, so it’s important to figure out what that looks like for you. For me, it's posting once a day at 8:00 am Monday - Friday. For others it's posting once per week at 7:00 pm. Figure out what that looks like for you and then stick to it! If you have trouble with consistency use Facebook’s built-in scheduler tool to plan your posts out in advance. There’s really no excuse as to why you’re not consistently sharing value and engaging in your own group.
Lead by example. If you want your group members to comment on your posts and build community, you need to do the same. You don’t have to respond and have deep intellectual conversations every time a group member posts something, but make sure to go through a couple of times a week and comment and engage real, thoughtful comments one other people’s posts. Tag them when you respond and they are more likely to do the same. Also, this is a fantastic way to serve your group members and to potentially get clients from these interactions. It develops the know, like, and trust factor really quickly!
Our Facebook groups can be major catalysts in growing our businesses and creating a community around your brand. But, without a sound strategy of engagement your group can and will be a thorn in your side, drain your emotionally, become a huge time suck, and will be more annoying than ridiculously fun and heart-centered.
If you're struggling with creating a sense of community in your Facebook group, try increasing the engagement.
And if you want to encourage and facilitate engagement but need some help getting started, then I want to invite you to download my list of 101 Facebook Group Engagement Posts. I’ve tested these posts in my own Facebook group, they’ve been wildly engaging, and have facilitated some pretty epic conversation threads. Click here to download your copy.
RESOURCES:
- Join the From Wallflowers to Groupies: the Ultimate Facebook Group Challenge by clicking here.
- To download your copy of 101 Facebook Group Engagement Posts, click here.
- Get 30 days of ConvertKit (my go-to email CRM) by clicking here.
- Join The Mompreneur Community by clicking here.
Thank you so much for listening to today's episode all about creating community around your brand! I'd love to hear your thoughts on today's episode, comment below with your biggest takeaway.
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Email: allison@allisonhardy.com
Download a copy of 101 Facebook Group Engagement Posts by clicking here.
To apply to be a guest on the Life by Design Podcast with Allison Hardy, click here.