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How to Create and Increase Facebook Group Engagement

Published on 07.09.2024 by Tracey Chizoba Fletcher

A Facebook group is an excellent choice for bringing together a community of followers with a common interest and challenges. When well used, it can reach your target audience without worrying about the algorithm or reach. It can also be a great place to drive traffic to your site and get customer feedback.

However, growing a Facebook group is not easy. Like the individual accounts, the algorithm has dramatically curtailed the reach of Facebook groups. You can have thousands or even millions of members who hardly get to see the group posts. To overcome this challenge, you need to increase your Facebook group engagement, one of the most essential factors the algorithm considers. This article will look at how to increase your Facebook group engagement.

 

Benefits of Having a Facebook Group

If you are wondering if a Facebook group is worth it, here are some great reasons to consider.

A Community of People with a Common Interest

With a Facebook group, you will unite people with a common interest. That means you can leverage them to increase brand awareness, promote your products or sales, and make sales. For instance, if you are a mobile phone brand with a Facebook group, you can engage your community whenever you are about to launch a new product. This can help you build hype and excitement before, during, and after the launch.

Opportunity to Interact with Your Audience

When people join a Facebook group, it shows that they are interested in the group's subject. For instance, people who join hunting groups are interested in hunting gear. These people are best placed to provide feedback on your products. You can, therefore, engage them in polls and contests to get feedback. You can also share important tips with them and share urgent information on the groups.

Get Facebook Group Insights

Once you have at least 250 members, Facebook groups will enable you to track various engagement metrics, which are crucial for any Facebook marketing strategy. These metrics will provide insights into what your members are interested in and the kind of posts driving the most engagement.

More Organic Reach

Facebook has shifted most of its focus to Facebook groups in recent years. This means group activities receive more visibility than personal accounts or Facebook pages.

Opportunity to Interact with Fans

With Facebook groups, you can interact with your fans on a more personal level. You can see which fans engage most with your group to understand your most loyal fans. You can also use the platform to understand their concerns or answer their most important questions.

Are Facebook Groups the Same as a Page?

No. While Facebook pages are monologues for posting marketing messages and business updates, Facebook groups offer members the opportunity to post. The audience on a Facebook page can interact with the content through comments and sharing them on their profile. On the other hand, anyone can post on a Facebook group, even though those who haven't joined can interact with the posts.

It's advisable to have both a Facebook group and a page. That way, you can keep your audience updated and build an intimate community with followers. Running a Facebook page is also relatively easier than running a Facebook group. Finally, you can make the Facebook page look like a private profile.

Signs You Need a Facebook Group

It's not easy to manage a community, as running requires considerable time and energy. However, when it works, the benefits can pay off. There are several signs that your brand will benefit from a Facebook page. These include:

An Audience that Hangs Out on Facebook

Facebook's largest demographic consists of men aged between 25 and 34. This group is followed by those aged between 18 and 24. If these age groups are your target audiences, you can consider creating Facebook groups. However, as the biggest social media platform, Facebook has many users in other age groups. Therefore, don’t just assume they aren’t there. You may need to ask your audience if they usually spend time on Facebook or if they would be interested in joining a Facebook community.

Benefits to the Community

For a Facebook community to thrive, it needs to offer benefits to members. Therefore, consider what your audience will benefit when they join a community of members with a shared passion. However, that doesn’t mean you will be the provider of their solutions. The goal is to create a sense of belonging for them so that they can find people with a shared interest. Remember, the group members will provide solutions and share their unique experiences to help other members.

Aligns with Your Business Goals

The primary goal of a Facebook group is to serve its members. However, you will waste time and effort if it does not benefit your brand. For instance, if your goal is to generate more user-generated content, having a Facebook community can make it easier to achieve that goal. It can also be a good choice for providing you with instant feedback to help improve your product.

Steps in Creating a Facebook Group

There are several steps you need to follow when creating a Facebook group. These are:

Click Groups on Your Profile Picture

After logging into your Facebook group, you will see the group option in the top left corner. Remember that you need to have a profile to create a group. Therefore, if you don’t have one, create one. You can also create a Facebook page from a page. When you create from a page, it will be made the default admin of the group.

Tap the Create Group

After tapping on Groups, you will see the Group Feed page. You will be shown all the groups you have joined and can post in. On the left side, you will be shown the groups you are managing or a part of. On the left bar, you can tap on Create New Group.

Choose a Group Name and Add Privacy Settings

You must add a name for your group and adjust its privacy settings. Choose a name that can help you get recognized if you are a brand. If you are a Facebook creator, you can name it in the line of your shared interest.

When it comes to selecting the privacy settings of the Facebook group, you need to choose from these options:

  • Public. This option allows anyone to discover the group, see members' posts, and interact with them.
  • Private & Visible. This is a good option for people who want their Facebook group to be discovered but require members to join before they can see posts.
  • Private & Hidden. This setting hides the group and members' posts from people who aren't members. Even when they search for the group, people cannot see it.

Before you select a particular setting, remember that once you have chosen the private setting, you cannot make the group public. Therefore, if you are unsure which settings to go with, you can start by making it public, which allows you to change to private if necessary.

If you are convinced that a private group is better, it's advisable to keep the group private and visible. Keeping your group hidden will limit its growth, as outsiders can view or search for it. All in all, private and hidden can be a good choice for groups that discuss sensitive topics where there is a need to create a safe space for members. A private group is also an excellent choice for avoiding spam, as you can easily set group rules and vet members before they can join.

How to Encourage Engagement in a Facebook Group

After creating the Facebook group, the next steps are to invite members and foster engagement. You can begin by inviting your family and friends to the group. You also want the members to feel part of a strong community, so you must foster engagement. Here are ways of encouraging engagement in your Facebook group.

New Members Onboarding

When new members join your Facebook group, don’t let them get into the heat of things before they are properly onboarded. Instead, create a post to welcome and introduce them to other members. You can do that easily by setting an automated welcome message using these steps:

  1. Go to Group Settings>New Member Intro.
  2. Tap get started to create your welcome message.
  3. Tap Admin Assist>Add>Publish welcome post. You can add a welcome message,  image, and choose the frequency of sending the automated message.

Once you have created a welcome message, it will be sent to every member who has been approved to join. If you want the new member to know who the admin is, you can tag them in the first comment. 

A welcome message can make new members feel welcome and introduce them to old members. Once you onboard your members, you start a good relationship with them on the right foot.

Enable Anonymous Posting

This is particularly important for groups discussing sensitive topics. Allow members to post anonymously. This will ensure members feel comfortable discussing sensitive issues, as their name is hidden. For instance, if your page is on human resources management, an anonymous post will enable a member to vent over a manager mistreating them at the workplace.

Similarly, anonymous posts can help protect members from their accounts getting spammed. For instance, if your group is running job ads, posting anonymously can protect members from getting bombarded with messages in their DMs. When members post anonymously, only the admin can see their names. Therefore, go to Group Settings to turn on anonymous posting. You can review and approve the anonymous posts before they are published.

Leverage Facebook Interactive Features

In the recent past, Meta has added a lot of features to enhance interaction on Facebook groups. These include:

  • Polls. This feature allows you to ask your members questions. It is an excellent tool for gathering the opinions of your community and running quizzes.
  • Live broadcasts. Facebook groups allow members to go live. This feature can help create an intimate connection with members.
  • Live rooms are a form of video group chat. All members are allowed to create a live room.
  • Community chats. Members can discuss a specific topic in real time using the community chat.
  • Files and guides. You can use these features to organize group files in neatly arranged subtopics. 
  • Badges. You can use badges to enable members to know the moderators and admins. Other badges can be for conversation starters, visual storytellers, and highly rated ones.

Incentivize Members with Exclusive Content

While individuals join a Facebook group to connect with like-minded people, they also expect creators and brands to provide them with exclusive content. Therefore, publishing exclusive content is crucial to your group's Facebook marketing strategy. To drive engagement in your Facebook group, you can make it the first point for posting your exclusive content.

Remember that you also need to post regularly to increase Facebook group engagement. If people join your brand's Facebook group, they want to hear more from you. Therefore, you should provide them with content they will not find elsewhere.

Leverage Facebook Insights

Meta provides many metrics to give you a clear picture of your account's growth and engagement. You can also see audience demographics, admin performance, and guide data. These metrics can be invaluable resources for guiding your Facebook marketing for the group.

For instance, you can find the location where most members are joining from. Then, you can increase your social media marketing in the area. Similarly, you can find a specific type of post that is performing well and therefore, double on such kind of post.

Final Thoughts

Building a Facebook group can be a good strategy for bringing your target audience together in one space. This can make it easier for you to market to them, get their feedback, and increase brand recognition. However, for the best results, you need to focus on increasing community engagement. By following our guide, you can create a highly engaged Facebook community. We recommend you also read our guide on setting a Facebook ad strategy.

 

 

 

 

 

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