Started up a Facebook Group but struggling to actually grow it? Here are 3 of the best strategies you haven’t tried yet
Now when it comes to growing a Facebook Group in 2021, there hundreds (if not thousands) of ways to do it! Podcasts, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Paid Traffic, Blogs, Clubhouse, Tik Tok, Snapchat… you name it!
BUT…
Most of the above the strategies take time and effort!
And don’t get me wrong… There’s nothing wrong with a bit of hard work… Especially when starting off…
But our ultimate goal when it comes to growing a Facebook Group is to let Facebook do all the heavy lifting for us!
We want Facebook to use their algorithm and have OUR group show up in the feed of our perfect Group members!
That way, you can spend less of your time actually growing the group and more of your time on engaging the group and converting your Group members to leads and clients!
The easiest way to do this – is using the 3 strategies below!
Strategy 1: The Group Name
Name your Facebook Group correctly! I’ve written a full blog on naming your Facebook Group and the specific formula to use (you can find that here)! But let me give you the overview here!
You want to name your Facebook Group something that your ideal group member is searching!
For example: Our Facebook Group is called the Course Creator Community. Every day we will get 4-5 new members in the Group saying they heard about us from simply typing in “Course Creator” in the Facebook search bar!
There’s no better group member than this! They have actively searched for what we do on Facebook, found our group, clicked join, answered a few personal questions and maybe even given us their email! All from the Group name!
We also get a similar number of group member requests who say ‘Our group popped up in their feed / suggested groups’ and they joined because they are Course Creators / want to be course creators!
Now the Group popping up in their feed is one thing… that’s got more to do with how engaged our Group is… But the members are joining our Group because the name makes it super clear / obvious what we do!
The common mistakes Group Admin’s make when naming their group
A: They make the group name too cute / clever… For example I have a friend who runs a mortgage broker company called ‘Python Wealth’ and he’s Facebook Group is called ‘The Snake Pit’… Now that’s pretty clever and cute… But the only people that are going to find / join that group organically are snake enthusiasts… not his ideal client!
B: They name their group after their business… Now this makes sense in theory… Because your Facebook Group is essentially an extension of your business… but similar to above… no one is searching on Facebook for your business (unless you’re already a heavy hitter)… If you really want to add your business name to the group – add it to the end. For example “Course Creator Community by Jono Petrohilos”
Strategy 2: Engagement
Simplified version – the more engaging your Facebook Group is – the more Facebook will show it your ideal members in their own feed and in the suggested groups section!
There are two main things you want to focus on in terms of engagement
A: You want YOUR posts to be engaging – every time you post you want a whole heap of people to like and comment!
B: You want OTHER people posting in your group – and you want members liking and commenting on their posts.
In terms of YOUR posts being engaging… Here are my top tips
1: Study your audience – know the type of content that they WANT to engage in… and then post that! If you’re posting and NOT getting engagement – most of the time it’s simply because your posts aren’t engaging :p! And no one can tell EXACTLY what to post… because that’s going to depend on your audience!
2: Don’t post any external links (e.g. to your Website, Podcast, YouTube etc)… Facebook hates this… as they want their users to stay on Facebook! So if you want to share these types of links instead of including them in your post – ask people to comment below if they want the links… and then reply to their comment with the link – this way won’t effect your algorithm!
3: Always include some sort of ‘call to action’ or engaging finish to your post! Something as simple as ‘Agree or Disagree? Comment below and let me know’… ‘Thoughts? Comment below and let me know’
4: Warm your algorithm up. Facebook isn’t going to show your post to everyone in your group… They just show it to a small percentage of people in the group who have engaged with your last few posts… So you may be posting good stuff.. But you’re stuck in a black hole… Facebook isn’t showing your post to many people because not many people have engaged in your previous posts… The way around this is to make some ‘engagement’ posts that you KNOW are going to generate traction! Every industry have these types of questions…
For example in the Course Creator Space it may be something like “Curious, what platform does everyone use to host their course on?” or “What do you prefer in a course? Powerpoint slides or Talking Heads?”… These types of posts may not get you any clients… But they warm your algorithm up and the members that like / comment are more likely to see your next post.
In terms of getting other people to post… That’s a whole nother beast :p
I’ve written a specific blog on that topic – which you can check out here!
Strategy 3: Your First 500-1,000 members
Now here’s the thing with Facebook… Strategies #1 and #2 work a treat… but only once you’ve got a few people in your Facebook Group…
If your group only has a handful of members in there… it’s probably not going to be that engaging… so Facebook isn’t going to suggest it other users…
And if your group only has a hand full of members in there… It’s probably not going to be the first group that pops up when users are searching on Facebook…
Now the good news is that you don’t need thousands and thousands and members in there to get Facebook to start showing it… Providing you’ve got engagement and you’ve named your Group correctly – a few hundred people should do the trick (i’ve found the sweet spot is usually around 500-1,000).
And if you’re thinking “damn, Jono I’ve got one… maybe two hundred people in my Group and it’s not really growing… what do I do?”
And my suggestion is simple…
Pick ONE social media platform (it doesn’t matter what platform you chose, they all work)… Go all in that one platform… Study how to use it (by completing a course) and the whole goal of using that platform is to grow your Facebook Group!
Now there’s no such thing as ‘the best platform’… It’s more about what’s the best platform FOR YOU. And that’s a whole another discussion that is too deep for this blog. But I was to simplify it:
1: Pick ONE social media platform that you want to focus on
2: Complete a course in that platform (a highly reviewed course)
3: Spend time on that platform to grow your Facebook Group
4: Spend time in your Facebook Group making it fun and engaging. Eventually it will get to a point where it grows itself (around that 500-1,000 mark). And you can spend less time growing it and more time engaging it!
Blog Author
Jono Petrohilos
Director at Course Creator Community
Click here to join the Course Creator Community Facebook Group