How to Use Facebook Groups to Retain Your Customers

Do you constantly fret over where your next sale will come from? Advertising to new audiences is necessary for every business but it can cost time and money. What if you could increase your revenue without having to attract a single new customer?

Generally, customers spend more money every year when they patronize a company. In fact, 65% of a company’s revenue comes from returning customers. One of the best ways to create and nurture loyal customers is through Facebook groups.

Facebook groups are an extremely effective way of fostering a community of customers that regularly engage with your business. They are also one of the only places where you can still get organic reach on Facebook. Their focus on community means that Facebook groups are a great place to connect with your prospects and customers. That way, you can get the message out about new products and services and generate more revenue. 

Is making sales through social media a foreign concept to you? In this article we’ll look at how to create, build, and engage your Facebook group to create a community of loyal customers!

Create Your Facebook Group

To create the right environment for your core audience, it’s crucial to set-up your group in the right way. There are three types of group you can choose between:

1. Public: This type of group is visible to anybody. They can see posts, and the group can appear on search engines. Being so accessible to potential members and customers could be seen as an advantage as it allows the group to grow more quickly. However, it can be counterintuitive. The group may become less relevant and less well-targeted to your core audience. Your repeat customers, then, would become less engaged.
2. Private and Visible: Potential members are still able to search for this group but aren’t able to read or post inside the group without access. Its exclusivity means content can be controlled more easily and discussions can be kept on-topic for your core audience.
3. Secret: These groups don’t appear in searches at all. This type of group is an invite-only club which means it is harder to build and maintain an active community. This option is generally not suited for fostering a community with your customers.

After deciding what type of group yours will be, consider the purpose of your group. How is it helping your business? You want to have a strategy when it comes to your group so that you’re not just spinning your wheels for nothing. 

Think about where your ideal group members are in your sales funnel. Are they at the top of your funnel where you are just trying to build awareness? Perhaps they are in the middle of your funnel, in which case you want to segment down your community into their likes, needs and desires. Or maybe they are at the end of your funnel and have already purchased from you. 

Knowing which part of the funnel most members are in will help you understand your strategy in terms of your group’s content, culture, and community.

Build Your Facebook Group

Here are a few ways to grow your community:

Make joining your group part of a step-by-step process

When someone visits your website, a link to your Facebook group could pop-up or appear at the top of the page. Perhaps after someone subscribes to your email list, their next step is a link to join your group.

A link to your Facebook group can also be embedded into your email signature. Whenever you compose or reply to an email, the recipient will see the link, alongside a call to action to join your group. Remember to always use the right email etiquette as you market your group. 

Run promotions

Promotions and giveaways are a great way to get other people to spread the word about your group. In order to enter the promotion, people must join the Facebook group and also share the link on their other social media platforms. If you sell a product, you can give it away to the lucky winners. 

Link your groups

If you own multiple Facebook groups you can link them together. This is effective if you own a group with a sizable following and wish to attract members to your newly created group. It also lends authority from your established group to your new group. 

Click the More button at the top of your group’s page and then click Link Existing Group. Type in the name of your new group and click Link. The new group will be visible as Recommended by Admins when someone visits the established group.

Engage Your Facebook Group

People use social media platforms to be entertained, consume information, and to network with other people. You must keep this at the forefront of your mind every time you post and engage with your community on Facebook. 

You are there to serve your audience and provide value. When you do this, you create loyal followers who are happy to buy from you again and again.

Here are some tips to create effective social media content:

Be consistent 

This applies to both the time and type of your posts. Posting content regularly is key to generate continuous engagement within your Facebook Group. The best time to post on Facebook is between 10am to 1pm in the US, which is the highest activity during a weekday. 

Give them a quick win

Facebook group members will keep coming back if they can follow your content to do something quickly, easily, and see a benefit from it immediately. It sparks their desire to continue engaging and learning with you to get more quick wins. You can create a short video or a step-by-step post; it builds your authority and your community will adore you!

Make them feel special  

For example, give them a behind-the-scenes on what you’re doing or a pre-launch promotion just for the group. Make them feel exclusive; they’re getting access to things that other people aren’t. Make them excited to be part of the in-group with special content that’s just for them. 

Go Live in your group 

This could be just once per week or a few times per month, but it can be very impactful. If you can see what your community’s desires or pain points are in their group discussions, go onto a Facebook Live video and talk about them.

Socialbakers data has consistently shown that Facebook Live creates some of the highest interactions on the platform. In Q4 2020, Facebook Live generated three times more interactions than regular video.

You can even screen-share over the internet to provide tutorials or feature a community member. This will build a strong trust factor with your audience and get them ready to take the next step with your business.

Start a debate

Give them a couple of options and watch as they engage in conversation with one another. If there are any hot-button topics specific to your niche, it will keep people coming back to the group to continue the debate. 

Additionally, the higher rate of engagement takes advantage of the Facebook algorithm. This identifies the post as a hot topic and places the post higher up on the news feeds of other group members.

Ask for their opinion

Whether it’s for a new logo for your business or what sort of product to make next, ask your group for their opinion. First, you’ll get some free, useful insights into what you should do and what speaks to your target audience. More importantly, though, the more you focus on the voice of customer, the more engagement you’ll gain.

People love giving their opinions and it makes them feel like they are a part of the business. It’s a great way to generate sales through social listening. If they feel a sense of involvement and belonging, it’s highly likely that you will retain them as a customer.

Use your group as a channel for customer service

Think about this, 59% of users use Facebook to communicate with brands, so it’s important to meet that demand. You can use your group to update customers on new stock arrivals, discuss failures with them, and respond to their questions. Providing fast, responsive customer care on social media will boost your customer experience greatly.