CREATING A FACEBOOK GROUP
Let's jump back onto Facebook! So to catch up on where we need to be, you'll need to make sure your brand is in order, you've already created your Facebook business page, and you've set up your Instagram account. Now we are going to have you create a Facebook group. If you're screaming, "Ahhhh, another thing to do!" I promise, it's worth it! What was my bread and butter for buyers and sellers? Facebook, business page and groups, and Instagram. So I'm having you set those up because they are the biggest source of income for your real estate business when using social media to grow.
If you're wondering what the difference is between a business page and a group page, well - it's a pretty big difference. Group pages allow a platform for members to communicate directly on the feed with one another. Ask questions, make recommendations, etc. It's where your followers can engage with one another and build a strong knit community. Your Facebook business page is your source to be able to communicate with your followers, but your followers are limited to writing on your posts. There is no open source of communication between members. For me, Facebook business pages are a must to help me advertise, Facebook groups are a must to help me grow my brand and communicate with my followers so I bridge the gap to building a relationship, and turning them into a client. I also use my Facebook business page to grow my group through ads.
Picking your group page name is important. It's even more important to showcase your niche for the group than it is for other accounts. This is the platform to really cultivate a group of people that, not only have the same interests as you, but also become the type of clientele you want to work with. You want it to be consistent with your brand, but it also needs to make sense for your page. My old brand was The Duchess Homes, and although my business page and Instagram went by The Duchess Homes, the group page would need to be something a little more personal. Like "Explore Nashville with The Duchess," or "Luxury Living Nashville."
So if your brand is your name, say it's Sara Martin, you don't want your group to be Sara Martin. You want it to be The Denver Life, or Denver Living with Sara. You want to let the name let people know what to expect when requesting to join your group. If they don't know you, they won't connect with Sara Martin. But they'll connect with Denver Living. Now when I had my brand go to Explore Nashville with Linda, Explore Nashville was the brand, but I put with Linda on everything so it tied me into it. Explore Nashville with Linda for the group page gave that connection to know it's about Nashville.
So if your brand name can be pulled off for your group page, then name it that. If there is no real audience connection with your brand name, make sure your group page has that connection. If your brand focus is on your city, make sure you add your city to the name. If your brand focus is for moms, or first responders, etc, add that in. Do your city and the niche. For example, "Nashville's First Responders." But do your research and find something that stands out. Don't make your group page Denver Real Estate, I'm sure there are already pages like that and it's not unique. Instead make it Denver Home Decor & Life. Make it all about homes but the fun side of it, DIY, decor, etc.
Make your group page fun, and something you would want to join if you were looking at it from a consumer stand point. Don't make it scream this is a group I'm going to spam you in. And make sure you DON'T spam your members! Make available your profession, but give them value! Then on the occasion you remind people you can help them buy or sell, they'll trust to reach out to you. Because you already took the time to build that relationship with them. Make it an overall fun community, grow close to the people who join, build a relationship, and by making it niche related, you start off on the right foot with similar interests.
GROUP NAMES FOR INSPIRATION
1. Nashville's Millennials
2. DIY Your Life - Nashville
3. Nashville's Rustic Charm
4. The Ladies of Nashville
5. Home Sweet Nashville
6. Nashville's Luxury Touch
7. Nashville's Momma Bears
8. First Responders of Nashville
Do you get the trend? Add your city, add the niche you want to work.
One of the biggest questions I get is if agents should add other agents into their group. No, absolutely not! This is YOUR marketing platform you are working hard to build. Your investing time, and maybe even money to do so. Never add competition who can ride on the coat tail of your hard work. And yes, this includes your broker and agents from your office. This is your business, you work to make it successful, don't give away your hard work to others.
We'll get into methods of growing your group with members in the upcoming marketing modules. Just remember, make it fun and relatable. Don't spam your group, give them value in regards to the topic. If it's a moms group, you'd want to talk about mom stuff and give pointers to make their day to day lives better. If it's for ladies, you want to talk about any women-only events happening in your area, and other topics ladies can draw value from, based on the culture of your group. Don't build it with the purpose to spam people, but instead with the purpose to grow a page of like minded individuals that you will enjoy getting to know, then turn them into clients when they are READY to buy or sell.
A business based on relationships like this will get you well on your way to working off of referrals. You've made a bond with people based on interests that connect you, this starts you off on a much stronger relationship then if they had found you on Zillow or a bus bench. Which will make them be more inclined to refer friends and family to you.