7 tips for stirring conversation and growing your community
Facebook Groups are perhaps one of Facebook’s most popular features, allowing likeminded people to come together and share in a common interest. While some Facebook Groups are very much “just for fun,” others are owned by brands or influencers in the hopes of raising brand awareness, creating a close-knit community for feedback or advice, relationship building, or promoting new content. Some creators even monetize membership to their group, as a way to make members pay for the exclusive content and community access found within the space.
If you’ve been keeping up with the ever-changing social media landscape, you may have noticed a shift towards more community-building platforms, such as Reddit, particularly among younger social media users. With 1.8 billion people connecting across tens of millions of said groups each month, Facebook Groups have proven themselves to be a solid way to capitalize on a growing desire for online communities and exclusive spaces to share thoughts and opinions.
A thriving Facebook Group will have — at the very minimum — daily conversation prompts with which the group can interact. If you're looking to host a successful Facebook Group, you need to treat your Facebook Group page as if it is a social media feed of its own. Would you look at a social media feed that only had one post per day and not a lot going on otherwise? We’re betting the answer is no.
Share news, ask questions, create conversations, and engage, engage, engage. A fire needs to be stoked consistently until it’s able to burn on its own.
Stuck on what to say? Here are a few ideas for Facebook Group content:
Welcome any new members and give them a chance to introduce themselves
Ask the group for opinions on a professional or personal decision
Ask the group about their life and experiences
Ask the group to share their own ventures or projects
Create polls regarding relevant issues and topics
Share news and updates from your industry or company
Share tips and tricks about your products or interests
Create challenges and games
One of the most enticing things about Facebook Groups is that they often provide a very unique and exclusive experience. Joining a Facebook Group will likely not only give you access to exclusive content, but you’ll also get to interact with a very specific community and network with individuals who may be hard to connect with outside of the confines of the group. To create an air of exclusivity within your Facebook Group, make sure to fuel interesting discussions within the group, but also keep at least 50% of your content exclusive to this group. You may consider hosting weekly live streams that only group members can attend, or making your Facebook Group into a space where you share more private and secretive updates about the industry or your business. Remember to set your Facebook Group to private to avoid outsiders from being able to see your content without membership.
If you want your Facebook Group to grow, then be sure to share a link to join your Facebook Group not only on your Facebook Page, but on any other social media channels you own. You can also branch outside of social media by adding a link to your website, your blog, or even your email signature — don’t be afraid to get creative. If you’re willing to spend some money in return for new members, there’s always the option to create Facebook Ads to spread awareness about your group.
If you want your group to grow, then you have to make membership look as appealing as possible. This means putting time and effort into your Facebook Group presentation by giving it a memorable name that makes the niche of the group clear, a visually interesting profile picture and cover image, a detailed description of the group, and clearly constructed and carefully considered rules of membership. Rules of membership are especially important as they reassure group members that any violations (such as disrespect, catfishing, or hate speech) from other members will not be tolerated and help to create a safe space for members of your group.
If you want to give even more value to your Facebook Group members then offering entry to exclusive giveaways and contests can be a wonderful way to give back to your loyal community, especially if your group is monetized and includes membership fees. Regular contests and giveaways will motivate members to stay within the group, entice new members to join, and make your community feel appreciated, valued, and seen.
Word of mouth is when members of your group mention and recommend your group to friends, family, and colleagues offline. If you’re posting intriguing content to the group on a regular basis, as well as offering a variety of membership benefits — such as exclusive content, live streams, or giveaways — then word of mouth is likely to happen naturally. However, if you wish to give your members a little extra encouragement, there’s no harm in explicitly asking your members to invite any people they feel will benefit from the group.
Any brands or influencers who have a similar audience to your own can provide a wonderful opportunity for collaboration. To spread word of your Facebook Group, consider inviting an influencer to participate in your Group — perhaps for a special Q&A session or live stream — and ask them to promote the session on their own channels. This will ideally expose your Facebook Group to this influencer’s audience as well as give your group members something exciting to enjoy. Alternatively, you may choose to collaborate with a brand or influencer by offering to write them a guest blog or create another form of content for their social channels where you are able to include a CTA to join your group.
Facebook Groups can not only be a secret hidden weapon for brands and influencers looking to form a more intimate and engaging community, but also a great way to monetize your content. Use our tips above to create a valuable and thriving Facebook Group that will continue to grow over time.