How To Build Your Brand in FB Groups
I get this question a lot, so decided to add it into our marketing modules. I'm going to go over the basics of building your brand in Facebook groups. We'll talk about building your presence in other local groups created by others, without stepping on their toes, and then building your brand presence in your own group. It's really simple to do and the key is in your consistency.
OTHER LOCAL GROUPS:
Most groups aren't happy with people coming in and advertising their businesses every single day. Let's be honest, it devalues a group, makes current members want to leave, and makes the whole group just turn into a spam spot for businesses. And because of this, there is the misunderstanding that you can't grow through other Facebook groups. Which is completely untrue. Growing your business on social media doesn't mean you have to spam people to earn their business. In fact, that stuff isn't only frowned upon, but people genuinely get annoyed and frustrated. Growing your brand is super super easy in Facebook groups that have already been made (Because let's be honest, the hard part is creating a group and filling it up with members. If one has already been made, they took the hard part out for you), all it comes down to is the engagement and the value you share.
To grow your brand in Facebook groups that are local, share content in that group on a daily basis that is relevant to that group. Create a social media calendar in advance, and stick to that Calendar. Decide if you can do Monday through Friday, or if you can only do 3 times per week. On all of those days, create a theme for the content you're going to post. Make Monday be about a local event that is up and coming, or a throw back to a past event. Make Tuesdays about a great local restaurant/store to visit, tell them what you tried on/bought/ate, share a photo of it and let them know it's recommended, Wednesdays about any community focused charities, etc. Make the days about anything you want and turn it into a theme. Doing it consistently. If you're thinking this is a lot of work, well of course! It's going to take a lot of hard work and consistently to get results. We're sharing the direction with methods that work, and this method is by far one of the best. Facebook groups have always been my bread and butter for my business, and although I love having a Facebook business page, I'd choose groups over a page any day.
So how do the leads start to come in from this method? When you do this consistently and people start recognizing your name, 1 of 4 things are going to happen. 1. They are going to add you as a friend. When they are ready to buy/sell they will reach out to you. 2. They are going to visit your page, and although they may not add you, they'll see from your bio that you are an agent and if they are interested in buying/selling, they'll send you a private message. (Don't forget to check your "other" inbox) 3. The small amount of times you do place an ad that won't get you in trouble with the admin, you'll get a much better conversion because people will start to recognize who you are and feel more comfortable sharing their personal information with you. 4. If your groups are known for people requesting recommendations for agents, others are going to start recommending you, even if they haven't used you, because you've built a reputable presence on the page as a local expert.
YOUR PERSONAL GROUP:
The same rules apply for your group as they do when you're posting in other people's groups. But it's even more so important for yours. Why? Well, you're probably already competing against other local groups that are much bigger and more established then yours. The only way to get continuous growth against larger groups is to provide consistent value. When adding members to your group, make sure they are ONLY local and can benefit to the theme of your page. Make sure your page does have a theme, whether it's about a local community, or it's a demographic within that community, i.e. moms, military, etc. Make sure all topics circulate around your theme. Even from other members. Do NOT allow other members to spam your group. Don't let them start catty fights and remove any and all negativity. It will only deter new members from wanting to join.
When you grow your group, don't forget to engage with the members. Make sure you're posting about local content every week, and engage on a daily basis. Even if you can only get in a couple of comments/likes in for that day, do it! It doesn't matter if you're doing it while you're sitting on the toilet, just make some engagement. It's your daily engagement and sticking true to the content that you deliver that is going to make a huge difference in your success on social media. If start harassing your own members with spam, if you make the group about you, or you let others spam the group, it will hold no value and growth will be minimal, and in most cases, no growth at all. Growing your brand is all about growing your presence. And you can do this by engaging with community members on a daily basis, and contributing with value.
Once you do this, and start doing it, you will be pleasantly surprised by how much it will grow your business. Facebook groups are absolute bread and butter. The only ones that don't have success with it are those who are spamming people with their business info. You'll get blocked before picking up a client if you try the "hard sales" method on social media. Because people aren't there for that. They are there to get entertained/educated, make sure your value is given in an entertaining way or you'll just end up annoy a lot of people and make people lose interest in following you. Just look at the group you probably came from: Ladies of Real Estate. Is that group about me? Absolutely not. Do I spam my group every day trying to get business? I wouldn't dare! Because it's a group to give YOU value. So what value are you giving the people you want to buy and sell a home with you?