Facebook is one of the few social networks that has a profound impact on our lives. It has quite literally changed our lives. Billions of people use Facebook every single day to stay in touch with their friends and family. They also use it to catch up on news, see what their favorite brands are posting, participate in groups that interest them and more.
Facebook Groups are an incredibly powerful tool that’s available to all users. Anyone can create or participate in an existing group. As the name suggests, the groups are meant to bring people who have a shared interest together. You can find a Facebook Group on just about any topic, be it crocheting or cryptocurrency.
With Facebook Groups for business, brands also have a great opportunity to build fan communities around their products unlike ever before. The social network also updated its algorithm back in 2018 to prioritize posts that spark meaningful interactions in the News Feed. This change also prioritized posts from Facebook Groups for business, meaning that brands now had a shot at winning a more prominent position in your News Feed.
Facebook Groups vs Facebook Pages: Don’t get confused
It’s imperative to understand the difference between Facebook Groups and Facebook Pages. Think of Pages like your own personal profile. It’s basically a platform that the brand can use to share its point of view. It’s also a way to create an authentic public presence on Facebook.
Think of the Page as your identity on Facebook. This is where you’ll post important information about your business. This may include contact information, opening hours, product updates and more. Only official brand representatives can create and manage your Page.
Groups operate differently. These are essentially communities for your fans and customers to get together and share the mutual appreciation that they have for your brand. These communities can be quite powerful.
For example, they can help new users understand your product better. They can discuss various aspects of the product and provide valuable feedback. This platform can also be used to voice any question and concerns.
Brands can start their own Facebook Groups or any of their fans can create their own. It’s common for multiple groups to exist for a particular brand or product. The fact remains that they provide access to a highly targeted audience that’s already familiar with the brand and likely has a purchase history.
The many benefits of Facebook Groups for business
- Have a direct line to your customers
Chances are that some of your most loyal customers are participating in a Facebook Group. Think about all of the engagement they’re generating for your brand. They’re spending their own time talking about your products and services.
This is essentially a direct line to your most loyal customers and you can make them feel special by listening to what they have to say. Simply by listening to their feedback, you can give them the impression that the brand cares and values their input. This is a great way to increase brand loyalty.
- Increase your organic reach on Facebook
Organic reach is becoming harder to come by on Facebook. The world’s largest social network much rather prefers that brands use its ad tools to amplify their reach. With Groups, there’s an incredible opportunity to increase your organic reach without having to spend a single dollar.
Remember the fact that Facebook’s News Feed algorithm prioritizes content from Groups that have high engagement. If you participate in discussions regularly or give your customers enough of a reason to keep talking in the group, the greater the organic reach and thus more visibility in the News Feed.
- Strengthen the brand-customer relationship
Groups can be used as a tool to strengthen the brand-customer relationships. This can be done simply through providing customer care service, responding to their feedback, answering any questions or concerns they might have and even providing after sales service for products.
Chances are that most of your customers are using Facebook consistently every single day. They’re there for you to interact with. Utilize the opportunity by showing customers that the brand they’re supporting is present and listening. Identify what pain points they have with the products or the challenges they’re facing that can be addressed by one of your products.
How using Facebook Groups can be great for campaigns
Facebook marketing can be expensive. It requires efficient targeting and a lot of testing. Get any of the core elements wrong and you end up burning a lot of money showing ads to people who may not even care about your product.
That’s not to say that Facebook marketing isn’t effective. Running ads on Facebook is still one of the best ways to generate leads online but it’s time consuming and resource intensive. That’s why Groups hold an edge.
Facebook Groups about your business provide you with access to highly qualified prospects. These groups are made up of people who have either bought your products or are actively thinking about doing so. They’re already familiar with the brand and are open to engage.
These qualified leads require only a bit of nurturing before they can be converted into sales. It’s a far less risky process compared to running a broadly targeted campaign that may or may not return the results required to achieve a positive return on ad spend.
The best way to approach marketing through Facebook Groups is to keep members in the spotlight. The group is about them and they’re the ones that should be leading the conversation. Nudge them gently to interact more with other members. The more they do that, the more Facebook’s algorithm will enhance the organic reach of the group.
Don’t forget to promote your Facebook Group across all platforms
No Facebook Group for business will be buzzing with activity from the very first day. You’ve got to take time to really grow it into a meaningful community. This will require promoting the group through a variety of sources such as social media accounts, newsletters, websites and more.
Give people an incentive to join the group and participate in the conversation. Keep them hooked with special offers on products or simply just by maintaining an active presence. Customers that get a sense of being heard by the brands tend to remain loyal in the long run.
It requires a bit of strategizing but when executed well, Facebook group marketing can be a powerful tool that can deliver exceptional returns without requiring nearly as much investment as Facebook ads.
