Paul Dughi

Using Facebook Groups to Grow Your Business Many small businesses struggle to attract Facebook fans and likes. It’s tough competing against the big-name brands. Even if you have built up a loyal following on Facebook, they still might not see your content. Recent studies show posts can be seen be as little as 2% of your fans. There are, however, other ways to use Facebook to promote your business besides just buying ads or paying for traffic. In addition to posting good content, here are seven ways to use Facebook Groups to promote your business. 1. Find groups attached to your target customer. Search Facebook for “Small Business Group in (Your City).” There’s a group in nearly every town. It’s a great place to network, share your expertise, and get leads. 2. Find groups related to your customer and share your insight. A great way to do this is to take material you’ve already written on your blog or website and link to it. Not only does it demonstrate your skills, but it drives traffic to your website. Don’t cut-and-paste what you have, but share a link. That way when someone clicks, they’ll see your messaging on your site. 3. Comments on other people’s posts. It can be hard to get people to your Facebook page or website. However, it’s easy to get more people to see your posts by spreading them around. Every time you comment on someone’s post, a message goes out to everyone on the thread, thereby increasing the chance your message is seen. Plus, it’s a great way to interact with people you aren’t connected with already and expose them to your brand. 4. Check Facebook’s Suggested and Local Groups. If you’re on Facebook on a desktop or laptop, there’s a “Groups” category under the Explore section. When you click on it, it will display a list of groups you belong to already. Clicking on “Discover” will open up a list of Recommended and Local Groups. It’s a great way to tap into the local community and find places to share your content. 5. Sell your products. Facebook now allows you to sell products or services directly. Facebook’s Marketplace group allows you to create your own listing similar to Craigslist. 6. Create a VIP group for your customers. Another idea is to create a Facebook page for your customers. You might want it to be a private group and answer questions for your customers. If your customer has a question about how to do something, it’s a great place to post a short video clip showing exactly how to do it. You might want it to be a public group, posting articles and videos, which you can share elsewhere online and that others can share as well. 7. Build your own networking group. Find a commonly searched term and attach yourself to it. Think of the keywords people use on Google to search for you. For example, if you’re a plumber, you might want to start a group called “Plumbing Problems.” This can position you as an expert. It is a good place to put up videos or short articles about common problems your company encounters. Here’s another tip: search for your industry in your area on Facebook. You know people using search engines, but you would be surprised how many people search Facebook for phrases like “Plumbing Services Near Me.” Does your business show up when you search? You need your business to show up, but you can also use your networking group as a lead generator. Quality Content and Strong Promotions Once you have found your target Groups, the content you post is what will set you apart. Make sure it’s quality work worth sharing, or provides a solution for your customer. Then, use your Groups to promote that quality content. Start small and don’t overdo it. It can get easy to get caught up in all of this. There are plenty of groups and places to post. Limit yourself to 3-4 groups and gauge the impact. If it isn’t working, move on and add another one instead. After all, you’ve got a business to run!