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Jan
02

Remove Facebook Groups

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For those who have been following me for a while realize that I know quite a bit about Facebook.  You may or may not have noticed that I do not have any Facebook Groups.  This was a conscious choice for two reasons.

  • I had a coach who had MANY Facebook business groups and was severely challenged responding, posting and monitoring within each group.  He’s very attentive and likes to make sure he does a great job in each group.
  • I had a full time job when I first started and my time was very limited. Like my coach I wanted to do a good job with my group and support them as much as I could.  A full time job hampered me!

I did a number of different things to attempt to make up the difference,

  • Use posting tools to ensure I was posting effectively on my business page
  • Hired a VA to respond where possible and alert me when I needed to respond personally

Granted, these did work but not as well as I wanted them to.  I was still challenged to keep up with just a Facebook business page without adding a Facebook business group. I still didn’t see how I could add a group to my list of tasks.

My “Aha Moment” was when a friend of mine added me to one of her Facebook business groups.  The groups were small to start but the interaction and participation was awesome.

What I discovered about Facebook business groups;

More Personal – Everyone who participates gets to know one another.  In many cases other group members can encourage and assist others with learning the new skills.  In more than one group I belong to people also share resources, tips and tricks. What really makes it personal for me is the support from others AND the great questions other people ask.  Isn’t it wonderful how someone asks the questions that you were just thinking about, as a result you’re answer is right there!

Build trust with your audience, build a team with Facebook GroupsBuild Trust – there’s nothing like “being there” for your group members!  You build trust when you provide feedback, answer questions, solve problems and interact with your group.  In the beginning group members may be a little reluctant to participate.  However as they see you in there answering questions and helping others their participation will increase. The group space on Facebook can be a safe and secure place for all your members, depending upon how it is set up and managed. You can build a great team who love to learn together.

You can be more focused with your FB groups

 

More Focused – The focus allows you and your members to dig deep on a specific topic. When a group is created for a specific purpose it is best to stick to that purpose.  Group members have expectations definite reasons as to why they joined a group.  We all have different interests and joining a Facebook Business Group is a great way to really expand your knowledge in a specific area.  We can learn more effectively by being part of a group. Personally I would not want to see lots of information on baking in a group I joined to learn the intricacies of  Facebook ads.

Get more exposure with a Facebook Business Group

More Exposure – With your Facebook Business Group you can request people share with their friends and associates who would benefit from your group. One of the recent Facebook changes is they now favour posts that encourage interaction between people.  When new members ask about your products or services, wanting to know if they are better than another companies the current members can and do respond.  They jump in and talk about how good your specific product has been for them.  Their success stories are wonderful social proof which goes a long way to converting people into new customers.

Immediate Feedback – Within your group you can post questions, surveys or anything you like to obtain feedback Lots of different ways to get immediate feedback from your Facebook Business Groupfrom your members. The use of the Facebook built in surveys, check out the app store and find one you like. With a active Facebook group people will comment, suggest and perhaps even share other resources.  You can ask;

  • What’s your biggest challenge?
  • Do you have a problem for which you are actively looking for a solution?
  • What is currently frustrating you?

You may not have the answers to all of the responses, but you will for some.  Being able to find solutions for your group definitely makes you a hero.  If you don’t have a suggested answer you can always ask the group what they have done when they ran across this problem/challenge/frustration.  We all love to help each other and a Facebook Business Group that supports this behaviour will be lucrative.

Notify the Group Members – This is the most amazing benefit of a Facebook Group, you are able to notify your group members when you post within your group. Just like you would use the @ sign to tag a friend you can also use it to tag your group.  You simply type in the group name instead of the persons name.

To mention all group members, simply enter @ followed by the group name or just type @group:”groupname” into any comment area, or a discussion.

 

 

 Make Offers Many people feel they should not be making offers to their groups.  Personally I believe the opposite is true. Be sure to make special offers to your Facebook Business Group. People come to your Facebook Business group to learn.  If you have a product that will make the learning curve easier and shorter it is a dis-service to your group not to let them know about it.  I belong to a couple of Amazon Seller groups and I love it when different products are showcased, especially when they can make the operating of an Amazon business much easier and more profitable.  Please make offers!  The products don’t have to be yours, you can become an affiliate for all the different products and services you use.  Then you can just let your members know how much you love them!

Stay tuned next week – we’re going to get into the nitty gritty of setting up a Facebook Business Group.

Categories : Facebook
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People like to be able to navigate to the Facebook pages and groups they like with minimal clicks.  Connecting the two (or more) is a great way to make it super easy for fans and members to move between all your Facebook properties.

Post – Like – Comment as your Facebook Page within the Facebook Group

I have seen so many people underestimate the value of interacting with people in a group as your Facebook Page rather than using your personal profile. When you comment as your page you are making it super easy for fans and members to move, with minimal clicks, between your page and group(s). At this point the only way you can post to a group as your Facebook Page is when they are linked together.

Facebook tells us…

To link a group that you admin to your Page:
  1. Go to your Page.
  2. Click the Groups tab in the left column, if it’s visible. If it’s not visible, manage your Page’s tab and sections and then go back to your Page and click the Groups tab.
  3. Click Link Your Group.
  4. Click Link next to the group you want to link your Page to.
To unlink a group from your Page, click Unlink Group next to the group name.
 
In the example above Mari Smith has linked her Facebook page and groups.

Fans and Members have a Specific Place to Interact and Build Relationships

With both Facebook pages and groups you want to involve your fans and members. That two way conversation is “gravy”! Not only are you providing either private or public space you are creating a safe place to discuss your topic.  This will happen with you AND between group members as well.

To get this interaction started you will have to

  • ask questions,
  • run contests
  • use competitions
  • create Facebook Lives
  • ask for input
  • and many more

You must be there to respond, add direction and answer questions. 

No one likes to be ignored. It is one of the best ways to create a ghost town on in your Facebook Group.  You don’t have to be there 24/7 but people must know that you will respond or they will just stop visiting. Scheduling posts is definitely acceptable, in fact it actually provides more time to interact and respond.

According to Social Bakers, 70% of questions that fans post on Fan Pages are ignored — and worse, 25% of global companies completely close their wall to fan posts.

Easier for Your Facebook Page Fans to Find & Join your Group

When fans become interested in you and your business they often go poking around your social media profiles.  When you have everything connected you make it even easier for them to find all the good stuff you have created, posted and shared.

Super Easy to Cross Promote Between Groups

One of the quickest and easiest ways to cross promote is to add a comment to your header graphic.

You can see in this example my friend Nilofer Safdar has added the link for people to quickly and easily see where they can find the free “5 Days of Clearing Clutter Challenge”.  She has this placed in another group!

Build a Funnel to Sell Your Products & Services

Not only can you insert a comment on any of your header graphics you can also promote your offers within your groups.

The free group can lead to a paid group for which you charge a nominal fee.  From there you can have another group for which you charge an even greater fee.  In each of the groups you can talk about your other paid groups and the benefits of joining.

With a paid Facebook group you can easily host all of your content specific to the service and/or program you provide. It’s easy to add videos, files and photos to your group.  Facebook provides the built in discussion area for all of your members.  The beautiful piece is you control who has access to the information.  People don’t get in unless they have paid.

Keep in mind a Facebook Group cannot be used for everything but when it works it works well!

Need help getting your Facebook Page set up, check out our best selling product Facebook Set Up Like a Pro

Categories : Facebook
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Do you know the difference between Facebook Pages or Groups?  AND why you would use either?

Online businesses today have a wide range of resources available to them for purposes of getting their brand image out there, including Facebook groups and/or pages.  These two options offer multiple advantages and benefits.  Though both resources are valuable there are obvious differences between the two.  The most important and obvious difference being the fact that Facebook Pages are intended to allow you to set the stage, and ‘likers’ to join in – a sort of one person to many announcement.   Your Facebook page is home to all your posts, shared content, videos, and conversations.  However,  remember that whenever users post on your Facebook Page, it is only you, as the page owner, and those individuals that visit your Page who will actually see your content. Posts will not be seen in newsfeed of others.  This can have its advantages, but certainly can present disadvantages as well.

Important Advantage of Facebook Groups

On the other side of the Facebook groups or pages coin, Facebook Groups are focused primarily on “group to group”. These are discussions that involve many people not just you as owner and visitors to your page.  The use of this type of business strategy ensures you that any and all posts made by group members will actually go into the newsfeed of all the members.  These activities require no action or involvement on your part.  However, you will still have the capability of deleting or removing any posts or comments you decide are inappropriate.  With Facebook Groups all members of your group share the same level of importance when it comes to creating informative content to be shared.

One of my favourite features is the privacy options, see the graphic below. This allows you to set up groups for many different reasons. EG: Public open to everyone (aka lead generation) all the way to a secret group where people pay you to belong.

BN_-_FB_Groups_-_Create_Group

Even More Advantages;

  1. Marketing to people who have already identified they like what you have to offer
  2. Get feedback on existing products and even the ones you have in the drawing board
  3. Friends can give access to their friends (depending on the type of group you have)
  4. Ideas for new products and or services will come from the conversations within the group
  5. You are the leader – the expert 🙂
  6. Group chats – Many to Many
  7. A free way to build a membership

How to Chose Between Facebook Pages or Groups

The basic structure of Facebook groups or pages is the primary difference between the two and is important to you when choosing your Facebook online presence.  There are indeed several enhanced features that you will have access to when choosing the Facebook Page option.  If you decide you need these options then the Page is the route for you.

These features are not accessible to you with Facebook Groups and include;

  • promotion
  • analytics
  • visibility
  • Newsfeed

Facebook Groups have a major advantage in that they allow Group posts which have a higher chance of showing up in member news feeds vs. the single Facebook Page post. Further, with Facebook Groups you have the privacy options available with your group posts that allow you to make the group closed so as to protect disclosure of any sensitive topics if need be.

Benefits of Facebook Pages

  1. Increased exposure to all the possible people on Facebook
  2. Quickly and easily attract more leads for your business
  3. Ability to “super target” your advertising dollars
  4. Wealth of information provided by Facebook Insights
  5. Put a real “human” face to your business
  6. Send traffic to your website
  7. Get your Facebook Business Page indexed on Google (this means Google actually found you!)

Overall all the use of Facebook pages or groups is critical to the success of your online presence and the success of your business as well.  Determining which of the two options is best suited to your individual needs is by far the greatest task of all to most business owners. Start with the one you believe will be the most beneficial for you and your business, however you may decide to implement the other later.  It’s absolutely OK to have both Facebook pages and groups!

However now that you have both adding content can be an issue.  Check out this new tool I discovered, I believe you’ll like it.  It’s called Bleu Page Pro and makes it super quick and easy for you to post content to all your social media profiles.  Check it out here http://clickherenow.co/BluePagePro

 

Categories : Facebook
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