Facebook Groups can be an important resource for businesses that are looking to get a foothold in their communities and engage with a new audience. However, they are often overlooked, and they don’t get the attention they deserve.
An important thing to understand is that self-promotion is often frowned-upon or outright forbidden in most reputable Facebook Groups. Some groups allow self-promotion with some restrictions, and they might only allow one weekly post. Other groups, however, have no restrictions when it comes to self-promotion. However, this often means that the content on the platform will be of low quality, with many people posting self-promotion every minute, and not a real audience interested in the content at all. Why would you be a part of a group that only features people putting links to their products, content, and services? There is no real incentive for “real” people to actually sign up, and the only individuals who really keep these groups alive are those who are seeking to promote their content. It makes no sense to be in such groups, as a business, because you won’t find any receptive people. Others in the group just want to promote their own stuff, and they won’t care much about what you can bring to the table.
If you truly want to make the most out of Facebook Groups, you need to target what people are interested in and try to keep a foothold in the group without directly advertising what you offer. Let’s visualize this with an example.
Imagine you run a fishing equipment online store, and you are planning on using Facebook Groups to reach out to a new audience. The first step is to look for fishing-related groups. These online communities are home to people who are genuinely passionate about fishing, and they might be interested in what you offer. Instead of outright posting about your product on the group (which might even get you banned in some cases), take the opportunity to engage with people. Answer questions or ask them in order to spark conversation. Like posts, comments on images – Get your brand name out there in such a way that you can genuinely relate to people in the audience.
You could also opt to go the extra mile and create your own Facebook Group related to your niche or industry. You might find that the vast majority of Facebook Groups out there have been created by business owners or marketers. It’s a great way to build a community of people who share similar values and ideals, and if you value the power of engagement within these groups, you could accomplish much. Facebook Groups can even be handy as “test pools” to get opinions, feedback, and suggestions from people. Many companies send their content to a small pool of Facebook Group users, so they can see how they react to their content before unleashing it to a larger audience.