If you’re a member of your town’s Facebook group, you’re likely always seeing members posting in there to ask for recommendations for the best landscaper to hire, the most delicious pizza shop to try, and the trusted pet sitter for their furry friends.
Maybe you’ve hired someone you’ve seen in a Facebook group–and maybe you’ve even received new clients or customers from people recommending you in these Facebook groups. Whether you have or not, chances are you’re underutilizing these free communities to get seen in front of your ideal customer base.
Want to get started but not sure where to begin? Follow this six-step process.
Join As Many Groups As Possible
Before you can begin finding ways to build awareness in these groups, you need to first find the groups where you should engage. How do you find the right ones? Start by researching the towns, cities, or counties where your customers typically live or come from in the Facebook search bar, and make sure the queries are filtered by “group.”
As you see the endless amount of groups that appear in front of your eyes, you’ll want to find a way to keep track of them and organize them. The best way to do that is by creating a spreadsheet with the following information:
- Group Name
- Group URL
- Number of Members
- Notes (where you can track if they accepted your request, what their advertising rules are, etc.)
Add as many groups as you can to the list, and don’t worry if you feel as though your list is too long. The chances of you wanting to stay in and engage in all of those groups is slim, so it’s okay to narrow things down as you go. Putting as many under your belt as possible will help you get things started.
SEE MORE: 7 Steps for Growing Your Massachusetts Business Through Facebook Groups
Introduce Yourself
When you join a Facebook group, the very first thing you should do is publish a post that introduces yourself. You want people to know what you’re good at and why you’re good at it so that when they need to hire someone like you, you’re the first person in mind!
Pro Tips: Include a high-res headshot, or a photo of your business, in the post and tag your business page when mentioning the name of your company.
Get the Lay of the Land for the First Few Months
If you immediately promote your business upon joining, you’re not going to get your desired results, as people won’t know who you are and feel as though they need to know you, like you, and trust you before giving you their money.
It’s all about building awareness.
One of the best, and easiest, ways to do this is by commenting on any posts within the group that you deem to be relevant. The keyword here is relevant. Don’t comment on a post just to be able to say that you commented, but rather, find something productive and valuable to say.
Commenting can include answering a question someone asks, sharing a referral when possible, promoting another local business you enjoy, and more. This will show that you are someone who is always wanting to help and support others.
Pro Tip: If someone asks a question relating to what they do, but they don’t outright ask for a recommendation of who to hire, don’t pitch your business! Wait until someone asks before jumping the gun.
Share Valuable Content
If you have tips, advice, or a lesson you’ve learned that you think others could benefit from hearing, share it! As a business owner, it’s our job to identify problems our target market is facing and find ways to solve those problems. Posting in Facebook groups easily helps you to do that.
If you are an accountant, you can share quarterly tax estimate reminders, tips for paying yourself, advice on how to price your services, and more. This content will position you as an expert because you are giving people valuable advice for free–advice that they can easily consume and implement on their own moving forward.
This falls under the idea of “give before expecting to get.” You need to give give give before you can expect to get anything in return–but you will get something in return.
Pro Tip: Sharing thiscontent works. You don’t always need to be salesy to get the sale–sometimes you just need to be a helpful human!
SEE MORE: 7 Steps for Growing Your Massachusetts Business Through Facebook Groups
Build Relationships Outside of the Groups
Do you see a member in a group that you would like to know better? Ask them to meet for coffee or lunch!
These meetings aren’t to pitch yourself but rather to get to know another business owner better and learn how you can each support one another. You’ll find yourself getting a new referral partner who will share your company’s name with their friends, and they may even end up hiring you themselves.
Outside of meeting for coffee or lunch, meet people in person through various networking groups. Whether that’s a BNI group, chamber of commerce, or something else, find ways to see people face-to-face, as that helps to build the rapport a lot more quickly.
Pro Tip: Always make the conversation about the other person–never about you. You want to know how you can support them, not vice versa. Doing so, however, will benefit you more than you know!
Stay Consistent
The most important thing to remember is to be consistent. You won’t get clients or customers immediately from a group, especially if you’re new! It’ll take some time, and that’s OK. Showing up daily, being helpful, and supporting others is how you will get clients and customers to come flocking to you.
It’s also important to remember that Facebook groups shouldn’t be your only marketing tool. Diversify your efforts to get the best results, instead of relying on just one platform!
Pro Tip: Test out different groups, too. You may find that one group just isn’t working for you, but it doesn’t mean that others won’t! Don’t be afraid to join a bunch at once and narrow your options from there.
Facebook groups are a trial and error game, but the more you interact in them, the more you’ll see what they can do for you! How do you use Massachusetts-based Facebook groups for your business?
2 Comments
Great tips
Thanks, Kathie!