Facebook groups for social media marketing

One of the biggest ways that marketing on Facebook has changed, over the past year, is the building of brand related communities. From Facebook groups to Whats App messaging groups, social media marketing is becoming more community based than ever before. But why is this? And what are the potential advantages of using Facebook groups for social media marketing? Well, here at Pumpkin Web Design, we are Preston’s leading web design and web marketing professionals. We provide valuable web design, SEO, and marketing solutions to a range of clients, across the North West, including Southport and Wigan, as well as Manchester. As a result, we have produced this guide to everything small businesses need to know about the use of Facebook groups for marketing purposes.

The rise of Facebook groups for social media marketing

Facebook groups were once dedicated to hobby or interest groups, where people could meet other like minded individuals and share knowledge and expertise, replacing the older internet forums. But over the past year, companies and businesses have instead been forming groups, connected to the business Facebook page, for the purposes of marketing and advertising. This has emerged because of a number of reasons, including:

• Changes to Facebook’s news feed algorithm- Companies and businesses are reporting that posts that are not paid to advertise are only reaching 1 to 5% of their followers. This is a dramatic reduction in views, that also translates into a lack of post engagement and click throughs. Company posts with fewer engagements, are then seen even less frequently.
• Sense of community- Since the data scandal in 2018, Facebook have been focusing on the community aspect of the platform, hence the algorithm change discussed above. This means that posts from family and friends are more likely to be seen, instead of brand advertising or company posts. It also means that groups that you are a regular contributor too, will feature prominently on your news feed too. So setting up groups, connected to your business, products or industry, can help companies develop a sense of community, and stay relevant on social media.

Using Facebook groups for social media marketing effectively

Simply setting up a Facebook group, inviting people to join, and posting your daily social media post there will not help you achieve a lot online though. In fact, its likely that the few people you do attract, will simply un-follow or leave your group. So how can you use your group to actually develop a community? Well, you could consider:

• Generating discussion topics
• Being sure to reply to each comment or post from your followers
• Using polls and friendly competitions
• Sharing informal videos and images

In essence, the idea is to get your audience talking to each other, while you facilitate these wider conversations relevant to your products, services or industry.

Digital marketing across all platforms is changing and developing over time. This includes Facebook. Why not get in touch with leading digital marketing experts, here at Pumpkin Web Design, for professional, results driven digital marketing support?