There are 1.038 billion daily active users on Facebook. It’s a massive opportunity for bloggers to get more traffic to their website and find their ideal customers.
One of the best ways to use Facebook for marketing right now is to use Facebook groups.
Facebook pages, Twitter, and Google+ all have their strengths. But the main problem with them: your posts are pushed down to the bottom of the feed so quickly, most of your followers don’t see them.
On Facebook group, on the other hand, posts don’t get pushed down as quickly. So there’s is a massive opportunity for you to get traffic from facebook groups.
How do you start a group to drive traffic back to your site? Here’s how:
1. Create Your Facebook Group
Creating a Facebook group is easier than setting up a Facebook page. First, log in to your personal Facebook account. Then, press the down arrow icon in the top right corner. You’ll see a “Create Group” button. Select it. You’ll see this pop-up:
Here, you’ll need to provide some basic information.
Name your group: Name it according to its focus. Include keywords and search terms. Don’t try to be clever by choosing a witty name.
Members: You have to add one friend to start. You can always remove them later.
Privacy: Choose a “closed” group. This is important. Public groups attract spams. It also diminishes the need for people to join because everyone can see all the discussions that are taking place in the group.
Nobody can find secret groups. Closed groups have neither of these problems. It also creates an air of exclusivity. As a result, members feel like they are part of something special.
Once you’ve pressed the “Create” button, your group will be ready. Now you will have to customize and add more detail to your group.
Set An Interesting Description
First, let’s give the group a description.
Your description needs to be as interesting and detailed as possible. Include clearly what the group is about, who it’s for and why it exists. Make sure people get excited enough to join the group when they read your description.
You can include your website URL in the description as well. It can drive some traffic to your site (The description will be visible to everyone. People don’t have to be a member to see it).
Set Your Group Tags
Your group is searchable on Facebook through tags. Tags will make it easier for people to find your Group. You’ll find the option to set your tags below your description. Set tags to be what your blog and group is about.
Set A Cover Photo For Your Group
A good cover photo will make your group visually more appealing. Don’t just use a stock photo or a logo. If you don’t have a great Cover Photo at hand, create a compelling cover image with a tool like Canva. Include your URL or a call to action on it.
Here is an example of a fantastic cover photo:
Set A Pinned Welcome Post
Facebook let you “pin” one of your posts to the top of your group. It’ll be the first thing members see when they open your group page.
Keep it short and to the point. Give a sense of what your group is about. Include a call to action and a link to your website. If getting traffic is your main goal, the call to action could be asking your members to visit your website or a specific piece of content.
Now it’s time to get the first 100 members.
2. Getting Your First Group Members
If you’ve run a blog for some time, you’ve probably noticed that it is easier to land more followers on social media than to get email subscribers. Facebook group is the same.
Getting group members is easier but don’t think it will be a cakewalk. There are a couple of methods you can follow to get members:
Include a Link to the Group in Your Website Menu
When you have a new blog, most people land on your website, leave, and then forget about you forever. But if you can get them to join your Facebook group, your content will regularly show up in their news feed.
So add the group link on your website menu. Some will join if they find your website and group compelling.
Get Members Through Your Emails
Include a link to your Facebook group in your email signature. It has been a great strategy for the Unsettle Facebook group.
Broadcast on Social Media
If you already have some followers on other social media platform, tell them about your Facebook group. Even if the following is small, do it. Post about your group periodically, so that everyone sees it.
You can also tweet influential people in your industry. Let them know you have a Group that might be of interest to their followers. Most will ignore you. But if one or two shares your group, you’ll get a lot of followers.
If you are struggling to get people to join your group using these techniques, try using a gated content approach.
How this works: Instead of posting about your group on social media, host some great content (could be an ebook or a checklist) within your Group. You can upload a content to your facebook group by clicking on the ‘Files’ Tab. Then click on ‘Upload File,’ and upload the file.
Then write a post mentioning exactly where the content can be found and pin the post.
Now let everyone know that there is some awesome content available – provided they join the Group.
Promote Your Group with a Call to Action
Every good blogger adds a call to action at the end of each blog post they write. Some ask readers to leave a comment, some ask to join their mailing list. You can ask your reader to join your facebook group instead.
Do Cross Promotion
There are over a billion facebook groups. So unless you’re in a tiny niche, you’re going to find some Groups related to your own. Find a few groups that are around the same size as yours. Join the group & provide some value for those inside the Group.
Then ask the owners if they are willing to do cross promotion. Everyone wants to grow their group. So most will be willing to do it.
3. Ignite The Sparks of Conversation
If you have followed the above-mentioned steps, you’ll have readers joining. Now you’ll have to get the conversation cracking. As a host, it’s your duty. By encouraging discussion, you’ll increase the odds of the Group becoming self-sustaining as people begin to know each other better.
Here are few things you can do to ignite conversation:
Post questions: When your group is new, most members will be too shy to post anything. You have to take the initiative. Post a few questions related to your niche in your group. This will get the first few people responding.
Ask a group member to get the ball rolling: If you have a friend interested in your niche, ask them to start conversations and post any questions they have in your group. This will get the ball rolling.
If you don’t have any friend like that, you can create a couple of fake accounts and post regularly on your group. This will create the impression of an active group and other people will join the conversation.
4. Drive Traffic to Your Website
If you’ve followed the above-mentioned steps, you’ll have couple hundreds member and an active group. Now the easy part – driving traffic to your website. Here are a couple of things you can do:
Post Content to Your Group
The easiest way to drive traffic is to post your blog content on the blog. But you have to be careful with this. If you post your blog content too much, it will look too promotional. As a result, members won’t stick around. So aim for your content posts to be less than 10%.
Also, groups are for discussion. So when you are sharing your content, try to start a discussion around it. Make sure the discussion is more personal than the one on your Facebook page.
Answer Questions with Your Content
Encourage questions and discussion within your group. When you get a relevant question, answer it with a brief answer and a link to your content that discusses the question in more details.
You can also use the questions as an insight into what contents to create. Simply pay attention to the questions people are asking and write posts about those. If you want to write better content, read this post.
Conclusion
In this post, we’ve covered how you can get people to join your Group and drive traffic to your site. But the most important thing is getting people to stay in your group.
One of the first things you should do to keep your group afloat is to decide what you are going to do about spam. Spam can quickly kill a Group. Set some spam rules before you get your first member. If you see someone post something that resembles spam, let them know that they’re violating Group rule. If they continue to do it, kick them out.
If your group gets big, you can hire a moderator to help you run the group. If you get lucky, you will find someone within the Group who will be happy to do this for you.
Now you know everything you need to create a popular Facebook Group. Take these tips and see how well they work for you.
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