Facebook Groups Strategies for Business Growth
Are you using groups on Facebook to grow your business this year and you're hoping to generate more leads, prospects and sales out of those Facebook groups specifically? If so, then you're in the perfect place.
I'll walk you through some of the key differences between a traditional Facebook group and a challenge Facebook group. These differences are really important because they can make a huge difference in how many prospects and sales you get because you do need to treat them differently.
I’ll include five tips that can help you to maximize what you're able to accomplish through using Facebook groups. And at the end I'm going to give you a summary comparison of how traditional and challenge groups stack up versus each other to make it that much easier for you to get into action!
If you watch the YouTube Video below, I'll also direct you to another video that digs even deeper into social media talking about the posts that you make inside of these groups so that you can really make the most of every single post and not be spinning your wheels or wasting time or getting frustrated.
In both the blog and the YouTube video, I’ll give you a link to a free PDF guide that walks through every part of using social media to grow your business and it will show you how, when and where to sell and not sell. That's important too. So be sure to stick through to the end for that.
TIP #5: USE traditional GROUPS TO attract LEADS
Traditional Facebook groups don't really require a high level of interest or commitment to get in - a simple invitation is all that’s needed. So although these people are more committed and more interested in whatever it is that you're offering than the people on your regular news feed or your regular friends list, they're not highly committed.
They really didn't have to give up anything to get into the group. They didn't pay, they didn't have to provide any information, such as an email address. They just found their way in there through a simple invitation.
And so for these people, they may or may not pay attention. They're just not super invested in what you have going on. They're curious, but they're not serious yet.
But you can get them more serious about what you’re offering by sharing really great value inside this group, educating them, inspiring them, entertaining them, and capturing their interest.
People in traditional groups might be curious, but they’re not necessarily serious about what you are offering - YET.
Traditional groups are a great place to screen some initial leads. Chances are anyone coming into a traditional Facebook group is a lead. They're at least minimally invested in what you have, but they're not yet a prospect. They haven't necessarily raised their hand to say, "Hey, I really, really want what you have, or I'm a buyer or I'm ready." They're just curious. They're kind of like looky-loos.
And yes, it's great to have potential leads! Leads are fantastic, but they're not yet prospects or buyers and you really have no way to tell how serious they are aside from watching how much they engage with you in the group. The people who are engaging a lot, they probably are ready to take the next step, which brings us to tip number four.
TIP #4: USE CHALLENGE GROUPS TO QUALIFY LEADS AS PROSPECTS
When you see super involved people in a traditional group, it is the perfect time to invite them to a challenge group. The difference here is that in order to get into a challenge group, people have either minimally given you their email address, or have even paid a small amount of money to be in there.
Now, you're not going to be able to charge high amounts for someone to join a challenge group, maybe just a couple of dollars, but it helps to screen out the curious from the serious. If they're willing to at least give their email or at least pay a couple of bucks, they have now raised their hand to let you know that they're not just a lead- they're a prospect. They're an actual sales prospect.
They're getting that much closer to the point of sale. So not only are they more engaged than people on your regular feed and your regular friends list, they're also more engaged than people who are just in your regular group because they've offered more information or even paid money to be there.
This is a great way to qualify people! The people on your regular feed are not qualified at all. In fact, they may not even be interested at all. But once they go into a traditional group, they're showing they're at least curious. And once they jump into a challenge group, they're showing that they're serious. Which brings us to tip number three.
Once people join a traditional group, they're showing they're a potential lead. And once they jump into a challenge group, they're showing that they're a qualified sales prospect!
tip #3: PROGRESS PEOPLE FROM CONNECTION TO LEAD TO SALES PROSPECT AS EFFICIENTLY AS POSSIBLE
The idea here is that you want to move people from your social feed to a regular group, to a challenge group, and ultimately to a sale. You want to move them on from your regular feed, whether that's your personal page or your business page, to a private group as efficiently as possible. Ideally, if you can move them from your regular feed directly into a challenge group and skip the regular group in between, that's the best case scenario, but that's not always easy to do.
Some people might need to take more of that natural progression in order to get there, which is totally fine, but in theory, you should never ever be trying to sell directly from your main page, whether it's your personal page or your business page because that just doesn't go over well.
You haven't qualified those people. You haven't warmed them up to what you have to offer. So when you try to sell to unqualified people - that’s what makes you come across as “salesy”. The great thing about challenge groups is that the whole point is to warm them up, to educate them, to give them some value and to screen out the people who are curious and those who are serious about moving forward with your offer. So you want to move them along this progression. And that brings us to tip number two.
When you try to sell to unqualified people - that’s what makes you come across as “salesy”
tip #2: INVITE THEM TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP
The main benefit of having a Facebook group and specifically a challenge group is that these people have shown you that they're not just curious, they're serious. They're very interested in what you have to offer, and chances are they're ready to buy. And you know this because by moving them through this process, you’ve qualified them as potential buyers.
And in a Facebook challenge group specifically, at the end, you should make an offer where people can make a purchase if they liked the value that you gave them.
But that's an important part of the equation. You have to give lots of value throughout the challenge for them to feel like they got a little taste of something they want more of and then they'll pay to get more of it. So whatever your offer is it has to align to the content that you've been sharing all along throughout the challenge.
It all has to be congruent or to match. Whatever drew them in, whatever captured their interest, whatever got them more serious, needs to be related to what you offer to them at the end.
Your sales offer at the end must align to the value and education you gave them throughout the challenge
tip #1: set a strategy using groups & execute against your plan consistently
Get locked and loaded on the difference between how you use these groups and how you can use them to qualify people. Both of these types of groups can be used to build your personal brand, and build yourself up as an authority figure in whatever it is that you're educating people on.
But you can also get to know your prospects a little bit, attract them, figure out their pain points. You can start some conversations in the group or even in messages offline. There's a lot of connection happening, there's a lot of learning and listening and everyone is more engaged. Because they're there for a specific purpose, they all know what the specific purpose is and they all want to be there which is not the case for everyone on your friends list. Only the right people will make their way into these groups.
The main difference is that in a challenge group, you specifically should be selling something at the end or offering people a chance to buy, or an opportunity, by offering them a webinar or a sales page that they can go to if they want more of what they just got or they wanted more detail related to what you just gave them.
If you're trying to sell in a regular Facebook group, you're probably not going to have that much success because remember - they're just looky-loos. They're curious, but they're not serious. By the time they've put some skin in the game, whether it's their email address or a couple bucks, they're that much more serious and they're probably going to pay better attention too. So that's the key difference and you want to make sure that you're leveraging that in your business.
NEED GUIDED HELP SETTING UP YOUR FIRST CHALLENGE GROUP?
For those of you who are crystal clear on the group strategy shared here but need more detailed guidance on the exact HOW of each step….
From choosing your strategy name, to creating branded images to promote it, to how to break your challenge down into educational content from day to day, to how to structure the sales offer at the end, below is a resource that can help:
