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 – 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.

 

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.

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 from 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.  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.