Shelly Fagin on How To Be Awesome at Facebook Groups

This weekend, I received a grant from the Chris Silver Smith Institute for Exotic Travel and hit Richardson for Rocks Digital, an annual conference discussing all things marketing-y. While there were several clever speakers scheduled for both days, I was particularly interested in hearing from all-around digital genius Shelly Fagin on building community with Facebook groups.

Ms. Fagin’s graphs rocked Rocks Digital

Now, if you follow my Twitter account, you might find this surprising. I’ve made no secret of my feelings about Facebook. Phrases like “bait and switch” and “marketing slog” and “blasted hellscape devoid of hope or mercy” have appeared in my tweets. So why would I attend that session? For the very reason that Fagin lead with: organic reach.

Remember organic reach? When you could post something on your organization’s page and be fairly certain people were going to be able to, y’know, see it? Yeah. Good times.

Those times are gone, y’all.

We’re now in firmly in the realm of pay-to-play if you want to make any headway in Zuckerberg’s fiefdom. Which is why Facebook groups make so much sense.

• Group members see your stuff.
• Group members receive notifications when you post your stuff.
• Group members feel a sense of ownership of and connection to your stuff.

That’s a lot of good stuff for your stuff. But you can’t just create a group and start raking in the engagement and driving people to your sales funnel. Like most other marketing endeavors, you only get a good result if you go in with a plan.

Fagin suggests you outline your strategy with four key questions.

What is your core focus? What is the purpose behind your group? Are you hoping to get feedback, increase your userbase, etc? Go in knowing what you want to do.

How is your group unique? There are lots of demands on peoples’ time. What will your group offer that is worth their attention? (Tip: The answer to this question is not “relentless sales pitches.”)

Who will manage your group? Growing and maintaining a functional group is not something you can lowball or hand off to an intern. This is a place where people will intimately interact with your brand.

What are your metrics for success? Engagement is great. Brand humanization is great. But you know what’s really great? Converting all of the above into something measurable that leads to results. What will that look like for your organization?

One great selling point for a Facebook group is exclusivity. People in a group, especially those invited in small batches, feel valued. So don’t be afraid to go niche and have a very specific topic or concept in mind. Of course, none of this will work without providing amazing accessibility and customer support — you have to have resources to answer questions and solve problems, even if the group isn’t designed for that purpose.

Facebook groups can be public, which obviously requires the highest level of moderation, private but findable in search, or totally hidden by virtue of being secret. And you can even run paid ads to target your chosen demographic.

A few more tips that she thought were particularly important:

• Establish and post rules! That way the moderators and members have clear expectations.
• Stop selling! Provide education and value instead of high-pressure sales pitches.
• Test for response! Different types of content and different times might be more successful.
• Don’t spam! Remember people are notified when you post. Don’t abuse them with constant chatter.
• Go live! Facebook Live videos, like behind the scenes peeks or AMAs, are watched an average of eight times longer.

Sounds like a bit of work? Yep. But Facebook does have a lot of built-in analytics to keep you informed. And remember, a Facebook group was one of the tools that made Instapot the huge success it is today.