Join a Facebook Group

Online groups provide an easy to access and simple way for businesses to mix with people who may be interested in their product or service and Facebook Groups are no exception. Many businesses take a rather one dimensional approach to this well-known platform – get a page, collect fans and likes and push a little product information every so often.
But for businesses who want to engage at a deeper level, Facebook can offer more opportunities for getting to know consumers and cultivate new leads. Joining an open group in your geographical area or a related focus group can put you in direct contact with people who are more likely to want your product or service and that’s the whole point isn’t it?

Create Your Own Facebook Group

Creating your own Facebook group for people who like your products or services is a great way to cultivate ambassadors of your brand and use them to spread the good word. The good thing about having a Facebook group is that you can target people with brand updates and be sure that they will get to see your messages.
Recent changes to Facebook’s news feed algorithm means that not all your normal messages will get to be seen by your business page fans – the algorithm filters how much its users see based on a number of factors including the amount of likes you have received.
Creating your own group is also a great way to offer customer support.

Join a Related Facebook Group

Joining an open Facebook group that has a relation to your service or product can often be a good idea. As long as you use the softly-softly approach and don’t try to plug your business to openly it can be a way to find and engage with potential new customers. The downside is that larger groups have less reliable interactions and can involve a lot of work without much to show for it.
Finding the right Facebook group can often be a case of trial and error but can reap enormous benefits if done properly. Be an active member but don’t be too active. There is a certain amount of etiquette to adhere to in most groups and getting on the wrong side of it can be disastrous. Interact with others and post informative and non-sales type content.

Join a Secret or Closed Facebook Group

There are over 15 million business pages on Facebook and a large number run secret or closed groups. These are essentially open to accepted members who see the page posts and can comment on them and is an ideal world to explore especially if you are looking to network. Again, finding the right Facebook group for your business is half the work but, once you have, it can provide a wide range of benefits.
Across the board, Facebook groups can help many businesses reach out to their potential consumers and communicate with peers on a number of levels. They can be used for networking, making existing customers feel valued by giving exclusive group member offers, mentoring, special projects and getting people to share your views on social media.

They are also a great place to:
• Brainstorm new ideas.
• A/B product testing.
• Come up with new blog posts to address concerns and needs.
• Let the world know about marketing events and promotions.
• Develop your customer service.
• Involve your employees in promoting your business.