S1 Ep46: How to use Facebook Groups
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It\\u2019s no secret that posts to your Facebook page are reaching practically no one these days. Just about all social networks have grown to the point where you have to boost and pay for ads. So with this in mind, where do Groups fit in?
\\n\\n\\nThis is Clickstarter, I\\u2019m Dante St James. This is episode 47\\u2026 Making Facebook Groups work for you.
\\n\\n\\nIt\\u2019s only in the last 6 months that I\\u2019ve finally stopped hearing from marketers and small businesses complaining about the death of organic reach on Facebook - in English, that\\u2019s the death of simply posting to your Facebook page and seeing tonnes of people respond to you. The real fact is that organic reach on Facebook died it\\u2019s death way back in 2015. So, those days where you could start a brand new at-home business and simply grow it via your Facebook page without paying a cent are well and truly over.
\\n\\n\\nBut there is another part of Facebook that is getting remarkable levels of engagement and action - and that\\u2019s Groups. Last year, Facebook Groups membership grew by 40%. And by October 2018, more than half of Facebook\\u2019s 2 billion-strong community were part of Facebook Groups. And if you\\u2019re part of some particularly active groups, you\\u2019ll notice that a lot of your feed on Facebook is now taken up by posts in those groups, rather than posts from Business pages and news stories. And given that you tend only to join groups that are of similar interests to yourself, it means that you\\u2019ll see more from them, because you\\u2019re more interested in what they are saying than that random business page you happened to follow unwittingly 7 years ago.
\\n\\n\\nThe other reason why you\\u2019ll see a lot of posts showing up from the groups you\\u2019re active in, is because\\u2026 you\\u2019re active in them. If you were active on the Adidas sportswear business page, commenting and liking everything they did, you\\u2019d see a lot more Adidas on your feed. Likewise, you see a lot of your best friend\\u2019s stuff on your feed because you interact with their stuff a lot. The common key to what you see lots of when you\\u2019re on Facebook or Instagram or LinkedIn for that matter, is that you see more of what you like, comment and interact with the most. Facebook isn\\u2019t manipulating your feed, your choices are. Once you understand this, then you start to understand how to make this fact can work for your business on Facebook. And while it might be tempting to try and increase your influence via your page, you\\u2019re going to do it faster via Groups.
\\n\\n\\nFor example, if your business is a plant nursery and your Facebook page isn\\u2019t getting a lot of traction, it\\u2019s probably because everything you\\u2019re posting is promotional. Buy this. Save on that. We\\u2019re open then. We\\u2019re closed until. The kind of stuff that, to you seems informational and beneficial. But to your audience it\\u2019s just more spam about you, you, you. Not them, them, them. And if there\\u2019s one thing we\\u2019ve learned about social media, it\\u2019s that no one cares about you. They just care about what benefit you bring to them. And your opening hours and sales are not a benefit to them. They are just expected from you.
\\n\\n\\nWhere Groups come in for this nursery, is in the realm of expertise and advice. You don\\u2019t add value to your relationship with a nursery customer by sending more advertising at them. You add value by helping them with service, advice and expertise with the plants you\\u2019ve already sold them. But not every plant is the same. People are quite parochial about their plants. Rose people aren\\u2019t Azalea people, Azalea people aren\\u2019t palm people. Palm people aren\\u2019t perennial people. You get the idea. With a country as big as Australia with so many climatic zones, chances are that the usual plant forums online don\\u2019t really cover much info on how to grow things in the tropics. So places like Darwin, Broome, Cairns, Townsville and Mackay aren\\u2019t really served by Sydney and Melbourne-centric advice and forums. This is where a local nursery can kick in real advice and ideas for their local region. That local nursery can moderate and run a Group all about growing fruit trees in the area. People can be encouraged to join the group at the point of sale at the nursery where they\\u2019ll see there\\u2019s already conversations taking place on it as well as expert advice coming in from nursery staff. If there\\u2019s stuff already happening there, then the new member will feel much more welcome - and given that you are approving them joining right then and there, they can participate straight away. So you\\u2019re hitting that instant gratification target that every customer loves. Rinse and repeat the formula across your major plant groups, make sure it\\u2019s manageable by you and your staff, and when conversation and questions are light-on, start up some new ones.
\\n\\n\\nBut beware of the temptation to start using these groups as a channel for broadcasting your sales messages. Things like \\u201ca big pallet of bonsai just arrived!\\u201d or \\u201cbig reductions on chook poo fertiliser this weekend\\u201d aren\\u2019t for your groups. Respect the space as a place of expertise and friendly advice. Not sales. Offer help, deliver value in the form of advice, product reviews and even highlight your customers themselves, showing off how great your customers are doing with their plants - encourage them to share photos and videos of their plants. But don\\u2019t then turn it in to one big forum of ads for you and your products.
\\n\\n\\nThe question I am often asked at this point is along the lines of, \\u201cso if I am running these groups and I can\\u2019t promote my business in them, then what\\u2019s the point?\\u201d
\\n\\n\\nGood question. And here\\u2019s the answer. Advertising is a shortcut around a lack of momentum in your business, or when your business is new and no one knows about it. It\\u2019s something you do more of when things are bad or uncertain. Advertising is a way of letting people know who you are and what you do in a condensed amount of time so you don\\u2019t have to wait years for word of mouth and reputation to carry new customers in or previous customers back in. It\\u2019s an attempt to short-cut or even cheat your way in to faster growth of your business. And for over 100 years, it\\u2019s been really successful at doing that. But we\\u2019ve also had 100 years of advertising being full of lies, mistruths, manipulation and over-promising. Older listeners would remember ads on the back of comics promising X-ray glasses by mail order, only to find that the X-ray glasses couldn\\u2019t see through a girl\\u2019s dress anymore than Seas Monkeys were a race of aquatic people who worse suits and took suitcases to work in the city. This means that advertising is something that people inherently mistrust in 2019. We simply don\\u2019t believe anything said in ads anymore. Or we find that everything we see in an ad just won\\u2019t match up to our expectations in reality.
\\n\\n\\nWhen you create a space of safe advice and expertise that isn\\u2019t coming from a place of trying to sell something, you\\u2019re creating credibility. You\\u2019re creating authority. You\\u2019re creating a place where people trust you because you\\u2019re not trying to sell them something at every turn. Sure. your nursery can be branded as the sponsor of the group in it\\u2019s profile pic or cover photo. But if you start posting your specials and \\u201cnew arrivals\\u201d you go from being a credible source of information to being yet another damn business trying to rip someone off.
\\n\\n\\nWhile advertising might feel like it\\u2019s a faster way to generate sales, it\\u2019s short lived in it\\u2019s effectiveness. Expertise and sound advice from a professional lasts well beyond the day that advice is given. And can drive sale after sale after sale, when it\\u2019s known that the advice is being given freely from a business that is known for engaging with customers long after a sale is made - without constantly trying to sell them something else. But, this approach, while having a longer lasting effect on sales into the future, does take longer to work. You could be giving out advice for a year before you see any real return on your investment. But once that wheel turns the once, it\\u2019ll keep turning as long a you keep the advice and expertise coming.
\\n\\n\\nGot a topic you\\u2019d like me to cover Email darwin@clickstarter.com.au or drop a message via facebook.com/clickstarter
\\n\\n\\nI\\u2019ll catch you over the Easter weekend as we continue to help your small business to get known, get found and stay known.
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