If you manage a Facebook Business Page, you’ve probably noticed a significant drop in the organic reach of your posts. This is due to the changes Facebook made to its algorithm making it more difficult to hit the same reach numbers without resorting to paid advertising. 

However, this doesn’t mean that Facebook organic reach is totally dead. The platform has some fantastic additional features that can help you recoup some of that organic exposure, and FB groups is one of them. 

When used strategically, Facebook Groups can help businesses to significantly boost their traffic, increase sales and grow their fan base without having to spend money on ads.  

In this post, we will be sharing our tops tips and tactics to help you maximize your organic reach with Facebook group marketing.

1. Post regularly

Posting on a regular basis is definitely a commitment, especially when it comes to consistently coming up with fresh content ideas. That’s why we recommend you come up with a regular theme thread that will repeat on a weekly, fortnightly, or monthly basis. 

For example, you could run a Motivation Monday where members share motivational content such as quotes, inspiring stories, memes, etc. 

Or you could start your own themed discussion thread that is specific to your group. For instance, ‘Straight Up Entrepreneurs’ have a ‘Team Up Tuesday’ where members share who they are looking to collaborate with to develop their business initiative.

To maximize engagement with your themed discussions (or any discussion, for that matter), figure out the times when your group members are the most active (see #7) and make sure you have someone on hand to reply to comments and moderate the group at those prime times.

2. Keep your group closed

There is some disagreement about this one – some believe that keeping your group open for everyone to join and view is likely to result in higher reach and engagement. While this may be true, keeping a group open will inevitably attract more ‘junk’ (think spam, bots, trolling and shit-posting) making it a nightmare to moderate. Therefore, it is best to keep your Facebook group closed so that people can only join once they accept the rules and are approved by the admins.

Apart from safeguarding your group from bots, spam and shit-posting, closed groups also give your members a sense of exclusivity which helps to keep the attitude within the group respectful and courteous, and ensures that everyone abides by the rules.

3. Steer clear of direct selling or promotion

People join Facebook groups to participate in discussions about their hobbies or interests, NOT to be spammed to death with sales pitches or affiliate links. Beyond deterring your group members from commercial posting, make sure to be sparing with the sales content you post yourself.

Ideally, you would want to send your offerings exclusively to members who have explicitly agreed to receive that type of content. One way you could set it up is to ask your group members whether they’d like to receive your promo content (discount codes, sales announcements and the like) through direct messaging every now and then.

4. Optimize your Facebook group for discoverability

Much like you would optimize your web pages for search engine visibility, the same principle applies to Facebook group discoverability. 

To ensure your group is discoverable by as many interested users as possible, make sure to optimize it by including the relevant keywords your potential audience is likely to be looking for in your group title as well as group description (the ‘About’ section).

5. Don’t be afraid to experiment

For the sake of figuring out what type of content resonates most with your audience, you need to tap into your creativity and get experimental. To spice up your FB group’s feed, consider experimenting with different content formats such as:

• User-generated content (e.g. asking your group members to share tips, stories, photos, etc).
• Polls and surveys (e.g. asking your group members to vote on an industry-relevant issue).
• Visual posts such as funny memes, gifs, infographics
• Inspirational quotes
• Quizzes
• Fill-in-the-blanks (e.g. The first word that pops into my head when I think of [YOUR BRAND] is __________.

6. Identify your members’ pain points

If you are stuck for ideas for your FB content calendar, look no further than your group members’ discussion history. What problems are they facing? What do they need help with?

Keeping an eye on the pain points and concerns that frequently pop up in your group discussions can serve as a much-needed inspiration when your creative juices run dry. Another great way to get ideas for upcoming posts is to ask your members directly by polling them:

7. Figure out the best times to post

Finding your best time to post on Facebook is one of the best ways to boost your engagement, drive traffic, and attract new audiences. But how do you know which times are best for your business? 

Forget about the recommended times to post on social media. The truth is that there is no one-size-fits-all with regards to the best FB post timing. It all depends on your industry, your followers’ behavior, and their preferences.

To find out which days and times are optimal for your FB group content strategy, look no further than the engagement data in your Facebook Group Insights. To access this information, click the ‘More Engagement Details’ tab. Then go to ‘Popular Times’ drop-down menu to see engagement times for different days of the week.

Facebook groups provide an avenue for brands to recoup some of the organic reach and engagement that has been lost following changes to the Facebook algorithm. As private online communities pick up their momentum, following these Facebook Group marketing tips will help you make the most of this overlooked FB feature.