This article is for you as a business owner, whether you’re a freelancer, consultant, or retailer, and whether you have your own Facebook group or you’re still growing it.
You’ve probably tried getting clients from Facebook groups but you’re not sure if your method works.
Or, you have implemented the strategy wrongly in groups you’re in, which has gotten you banned a couple of times on Facebook.
If this sounds familiar, worry not.
No matter your level in your service-providing business, you can benefit from this post.
We can almost guarantee that if you implement the strategy we’re about to show you, you’ll win a steady flow of clients.
So, let’s get to it.
Why Is Facebook a Great Place to Win Clients?
Most people have their focus on LinkedIn for its professional features.
However, few know that many more potential clients engage on Facebook daily compared to other social media platforms.
You can join relevant Facebook groups to locate, interact, and establish trust with your potential clients. Aside from that, you can use them to build your email list.
Let’s go over why we believe Facebook groups are excellent places to attract customers.
1. Facebook groups allow interaction with anyone
If you’re a business owner, you can interact with others like you on a Facebook group.
You can also find a group with other service providers if you’re a digital service provider.
And if others have faced the problem you’re facing in your business, you can easily connect with them.
You can ask them questions about what you’re currently facing and get value instantly.
2. Facebook is free to join
Unlike social media platforms where you’re offered premium membership before access to more potential clients, Facebook makes everything free for its community members.
For instance, you must buy a premium plan on LinkedIn to access Sales Navigator on their platform.
Also, you have to pay on LinkedIn to send InMail, which is the Facebook equivalent of Messenger.
On the other hand, Facebook only monetizes through ads.
This comparison of benefits will help put perspective on how beneficial and valuable Facebook has been.
Take advantage of that to find clients for your service-based business.
3. Facebook allows you to interact with and even DM potential clients
On Facebook, you’re free to interact closely with anyone. This is different in so many other social media platforms.
4. Facebook groups are a place to network
If you’re looking to network with other professionals in your niche, Facebook groups are the perfect place to do that. There, you can network with just about anyone.
If done correctly and professionally, you can make friends with a potential client today. By next week, they can become your paying client.
5. Facebook groups are a goldmine for clients.
Potential clients are everywhere on Facebook. And their businesses have needs.
Whether that’s data entry service, copywriting, content writing, or website development, there’s no service that you can’t find clients for on Facebook.
6. Having your own Facebook group allows you to build your email list
Facebook groups are also a great place to start building your list.
Smart business owners build their email lists using their Facebook groups with the help of Group Leads.
They attract users, extract their email addresses using this tool, and initiate follow-up sequences in their favorite email autoresponder.
They turn many Facebook group members into paying customers through email follow-ups.
Ben Heath, a Facebook ad expert, is an excellent example of someone who does this.
He not only has a YouTube channel but has also started growing a Facebook group for that purpose.
With close to 200k Facebook members, he can build an email list from his group, send us emails, and win many of us as clients.
I once replied to one of his emails asking him to run my ads. He replied instantly, quoting his service rate and the ad budget I needed.
Using the same strategy, think of the service you offer. Create a befitting Facebook group for it and grow your member list.
Retrieve their email addresses by connecting GroupLeads to your Facebook group.
Finally, nurture your list with value. With this inbound marketing strategy, clients will reach out to you without asking.
7. Facebook group badges add to your credibility
Any digital service provider can tell you how important credibility is.
It helps new potential clients decide whether to hire you or not.
We’ll talk more about this later in this post.
But for now, it suffices to say that when you’re a member of a Facebook group, and you add value often, you get honored in the form of a badge.
There are so many badges in a Facebook group. Most of them are displayed beside your name.
Imagine being in a group of copywriters or software developers, and you have an “Expert” badge next to your name.
It usually means you’ve given so much value to the group, signifying you know what you’re doing. This will let you easily acquire clients.
Common Challenges in Getting Clients on Facebook Groups
The preceding section might have made it look simple to land clients on Facebook.
Unfortunately, people who have tried it know it’s not a walk in the park.
We will mention some common challenges associated with finding clients on Facebook and in Facebook groups.
1. Coming off as salesy
Sometimes, we go after others on Facebook hard, hoping to win them as clients.
Sadly, finding clients on Facebook groups doesn’t work like this. Such methods usually end in rejection and tears.
While there’s nothing wrong with cold-pitching to find clients, this strategy is prone to failure.
Cold pitch is an outbound marketing strategy where you send unsolicited pitches to potential clients in the hopes that you work together.
It has been proven to work by consulting agencies that have generated a couple of million dollars per year using nothing but cold pitching.
But when on Facebook, you want to slow things a bit down and give it some time.
The idea here is to give value to the groups you belong to and get their attention. As a result, you can create connections and finally win clients.
Some groups don’t even allow self-promotion at all. Hence, you come off as salesy when you give little or no value and bombard them with a “hire me” call.
Bear in mind that no one hires desperate service providers.
They will hire you if they are convinced you can deliver the desired results.
2. Getting banned from groups
One of the aftermaths of being seen as salesy is that the admins might remove or ban you from the group.
When you send direct sales messages to fellow members asking them to hire you, they might report you to the group admin.
When you get reported once, you may receive a warning from the admin team.
Others may kick you out of the group. It’s their way of being reasonable, too.
After all, they worked so much to build the group with the caliber of members you hope can hire you.
The group might be a forum or a support group for a product where most members might be actual customers.
They might have allowed non-customers to join the group to allow them to experience what it’s like to purchase that product.
I belong to one such Facebook group for a landing page builder.
Some of the customers complained that some members of the groups were sending them pitches.
In the end, many people who might have been able to win clients got kicked out of the group in dozens.
To avoid that, make sure to demonstrate your skill first. You can do this by giving value and answering questions. Doing this increases the chances of clients reaching out to you.
3. Affordability
If you’re looking for clients who can afford your offer, you might want to go after groups where well-to-do clients hang out.
This can include Facebook groups in countries like the USA, Canada, Australia, the UK, New Zealand, and many more.
Of course, you can also find clients in local groups who can afford your rate.
The important thing here is that you can deliver the results they want.
They’ll be happy to hire you and pay you at your ideal rate if you can do that.
A potential client from the Middle East once reached out to me on Facebook.
She wanted me to write content and copy for her.
But, when I informed her of my rate, she ran.
It’s one of the setbacks to finding clients on Facebook.
Many of them are looking for cheap service rates.
4. Competition from other freelancers
Competition is one of the significant challenges that freelancers and service providers face in finding clients on Facebook.
Too many people today have seen the potential that freelance work can offer, so you may be pitching to the same clients.
In many cases, they even take rates that you might find ridiculous. This makes the market more saturated.
Imagine saying no to gigs on some Facebook groups because the pay sounds cheap. Yet, you find other people rushing the same project at the same price you find cheap.
Some might even offer to do the projects for a lower price.
All these contribute to your challenges in getting clients on Facebook.
5. Lack of engagement on your part
Communication in any relationship is a two-way street. Your clients’ opinions are equally as significant as your brand’s.
One crucial engagement goal is to create a sense of importance and value for your consumers and let them know that you care about them.
Likes, shares, and comments are three ways that Facebook users engage with content.
All three are unique strategies to encourage your Facebook fans to engage with your business.
If you want clients to hire you on Facebook groups, but you are not engaging as often as you should, there’s no way they will know, like, or trust you.
Each day people wake up. They don’t go to Facebook hoping to find someone to hire.
They wake up hoping to get their problems solved.
When you provide solutions to their problems, they start to notice you.
When you offer actionable advice related to your service, they see you as an expert.
More often than not, they reach out to you and ask you to do it for them.
Voila! You tell them your rate, and they’re happy to pay.
6. Challenge of approval from admins
Let’s say you’ve decided to do your best to post useful content in the groups you belong to.
But what if no admin approves it, no matter how valuable your post or content is?
Post-disapproval happens a lot, too. And it’s a challenge.
The solution might be to connect with the admin. If they know you or work with you, they might be more likely to approve your posts, especially if they are helpful.
Seeing you as a friend, colleague, or associate might persuade them to approve your posts, especially if these posts are valuable.
But that’s not all.
In some groups, the admins may request members to pay money before their posts are approved.
How to Get Clients From Facebook Groups
Let’s go over the tips you can use to get clients on Facebook groups.
1. Choose a specific market
The first step to getting clients is to know what you offer.
What do you bring to the table?
You won’t just throw yourself out there hoping that someone hires you.
It sounds like throwing mud into a wall and hoping some of them stick.
So, you need to pick a market or a niche instead. Position yourself as an authority.
Are you a website designer? Who do you design websites for the most?
See, it doesn’t cut it if you say, “I can design any kind of website.”
No one wants to hire a generalist.
Instead, say:
- “I design websites for schools.”
- “I design websites for travel agencies.”
- “I design websites for online coaches and course creators.”
- “I design websites for NGOs.”
Do you get the gist?
Pick a niche, then a sub-niche.
Avoid saying, “I can write content in any niche.”
Instead, say, “I am a content writer specializing in SaaS blog posts.”
What if you’re a Copywriter?
The same way.
Don’t present yourself as someone who writes all web copies. Be specific and detailed.
You can find your clients when you know the service you provide, your industry, your niche, and your sub-niche.
You know where your ideal clients hang out, which Facebook groups they likely belong to and how to find them.
2. Find Facebook groups in that specific market
The next step is to find Facebook groups where your ideal clients hang out.
If you write or edit content for realtors, you can’t join Facebook groups meant for car dealers and vice versa.
You can know which groups to join if you answer the following questions:
- What service do I provide best?
- What kind of problems do I solve with my services?
- Which businesses possess those specific problems?
- Who are the top people in my field rendering that service?
- Where do they hang out?
- What software, tool, or app is related to my service? For example, an editor can find freelance clients in a Facebook group for book publishing software.
- Who uses those tools? For instance, email marketers use autoresponder tools. So, if you specialize in writing email copies, you might find clients in Facebook groups for autoresponders.
- What tools do people use to solve the same problems as my service? Editors and proofreaders who edit and proofread for a living can land clients in Grammarly groups on Facebook.
- Are there Facebook groups for those tools? Grammarly, for example, is a tool for editing and proofreading. And even if brands use Grammarly, it doesn’t mean they won’t hire humans who render the service.
- What are the top five services above and below my service? Not superior or inferior to it, but sequential services related to it. Once you discover such services, find relevant groups on Facebook about those services and join.
Each service is interconnected.
A Google ad expert in a Facebook group might be looking for a copywriter, voice-over actor, or video editor.
So, don’t limit yourself.
3. Join a maximum of three groups a day
Join Facebook groups relevant to the service you provide. No matter what you do, ensure you join at most three groups per day.
It would help if you found groups where quality discussion is ongoing that you can join in.
Sadly, most groups lack moderation and have been flooded by spam and promotional content.
No one takes such a group seriously. They are also unlikely to take your contribution seriously.
Find top influencers in your chosen niche and see if they have their own Facebook groups. If they do, you can join in.
One way you can do this is to search YouTube for content related to your services.
The top-ranked YouTube channel related to your search query probably has Facebook groups you can join.
One such channel is Ben Heath of Lead Guru.
His channel is dedicated to Facebook advertising. Yet he has a Facebook group as well.
When you join his group, you’ll find business owners looking to run profitable Facebook ads.
4. Join Facebook groups with your profile
It would be best if you did this because people like to connect with real human beings and not a faceless business page.
Focus on engaging in 3- 5 groups every single day. You may dedicate one or half an hour per day to this purpose.
It would help to find the most active time of the day when the group members are most engaged.
Be mindful of the group rules as you engage with others in the group.
You should know that if you break a rule, you can be sanctioned by the admin or Facebook.
5. Be active
If you join a Facebook group, you have become a part of that community. So, participate in it regularly, add value, and give advice.
Moreover, show your experience, ask thought-provoking questions, be a resource, and praise others when they do well.
Communicate with individuals the way you would if you met them face-to-face.
Make yourself known for your field of knowledge and as a person who contributes.
Only by staying active on Facebook can you win any new clients.
When they see value in you, they will only buy or consider your offer if it resonates with them.
6. Your profile must be screaming value if you’re using content marketing to get clients on Facebook
When creating a Facebook profile, optimizing it for the things you offer is essential. Here are a few tips to help you get started:
- Profile image: Your profile is the first thing people see on your Facebook page. Make sure it’s an image that represents your business well and fits with your branding. Your profile picture can help you get clients if it’s professional.
- Profile title: Use profile titles that accurately reflect your business. Your profile title is what people see when they search for you on Facebook. Make sure it accurately reflects the business you’re running.
- Cover photo: your cover photo must look promising and professional. It should ultimately reflect what you do. Are you a copywriter? Say it there! Have you been featured in XYZ as a result of being a badass website designer? Show it. Show everything that adds to your credibility in your cover photo. They all come together to help you land clients.
Also, don’t forget to use keywords in your profile description.
Your profile description is the longest text you can use on your Facebook page. Add keywords that people might be searching for when they need your service.
I know someone who runs Facebook ads.
Anytime I write a Facebook post and type “med,” Facebook autocompletes it to “media buyer,” which is his title.
Thus, he automatically gets tagged as a media buyer. And it’s all because he’s optimized his presence and used keywords that his ideal clients are searching for.
Imagine if someone was looking for a media buyer. They’ll likely easily find him.
That’s the trick to finding a client on Facebook.
7. Use a consistent profile image
We have discussed profile images to help you get clients on Facebook.
But what makes this tip different is the emphasis on making your profile image consistent everywhere on Facebook.
Potential clients will know you’re the same person they’ve seen elsewhere on Facebook, giving value.
When there are a dozen pictures of you alone on Facebook, it might get them confused.
Your profile should have the same picture. Take a professional shot if you have to.
Ensure that the banner or cover photo agrees with the look you present in your image.
Your bio must be clear, direct, and straight to the point. Your bio should show what you do and how you can help potential clients solve their specific problems.
What about your posts?
Suppose you have a conflicting worldview about politics or religion. In that case, your Facebook group or profile is not where you share it.
Unless, of course, you’re not using that profile to find clients.
Keep your worldview to yourself. The next client who might hire you might be on the opposite side of your view.
If you’ve been dropping valuable content in a group, you might have attracted potential clients who would like to check out your profile.
Imagine if what they find goes against everything you are in the group.
So, do yourself a favor, and let your profile image and the rest of your presence on Facebook show the value you bring.
That’s how you attract clients.
8. Introduce yourself
When you join a Facebook group, you must introduce yourself.
Break the ice.
Tell them how excited you are about the group.
Share an experience relevant to the kind of problems they might have been facing.
Go through the group to find out what content is popular on the platform.
Find out what kinds of questions people are asking in the group.
Talk about those.
9. Engage once you are welcomed
People might respond and engage with your welcome post.
When they do, engage back with them. Tell them it’s nice to hear from them.
Be nice. Be generous.
They share resources they might need.
You can also introduce yourself in the introduction threads.
Most groups worth their name have a thread pinned in the group.
The thread is usually about the introduction.
Find that thread and introduce yourself there as well.
That’s how you find clients on Facebook groups.
10. Engage with posts
When other people post on a group, make sure to engage.
Thank them for sharing those helpful posts. Point out your key takeaway from it. Then freely share couple more ideas to consolidate their post.
It’s one of the actions you must engage in for clients to start noticing you.
11. Scroll through the group feed and see which posts align with your service
You can skim through the group and read important posts when you join.
Do this to know which posts already on the platform agree with your profession.
How did people react to those posts?
What new angle can you present related to the post that can spark another engagement?
These are what you should be dedicating your time to on Facebook or Facebook groups you belong to. In time, you’ll be getting a steady stream of income.
One of the things you can do if you’re looking for clients in a Facebook group you recently joined is to search.
Search for posts related to your service. Use keywords people use for your industry. Search that group.
Sometimes, you might join a group whose values don’t align with yours.
You might think there are clients in there for you, but no.
The only way to know is to search the group for posts related to the specific problems you solve with your digital service.
For instance, let’s say some members are talking about their landing page design not being attractive or converting.
You might want to jump into the conversation and share your experience about what you think makes a landing page converting.
Don’t be afraid to share a specific time in your career when a little tweak in landing page design increased the conversion rate of your client’s business by 25%.
Do all that and see how they approach you to help them solve the problem.
That’s how you attract clients by adding value and solving problems.
12. Engage with people inside Facebook groups
When you belong to a Facebook group, try engaging with others.
Reply to their thread and take things further.
This is one way to consolidate your presence.
Once you have established rapport and made a few exchanges, you can send a DM.
It’s easier to send a DM to someone you have connected with in a group. You can even ask if it’s okay to send a DM. If you have connected with them properly, their answer would likely be yes.’
The DM could be about how you appreciate their post, how you relate to the issue they asked about in their post, etc.
The key here is to connect and not sell. Don’t promote, or else the member could report you and block you from the group.
Eventually, when someone asks for help, your clients will be recommending you left and right due to the values you give.
Final Thoughts on How to Get Clients from Facebook Groups
The key to finding clients on Facebook is to give value.
Desist from hard selling. Hard selling is pitching them front, back, middle, and center.
You might feel unsure if you are the right person to help solve a client’s problems. But when you engage with them and give value, your ideal clients will find you.
Connect with them and understand what they are going through. You’ll win more clients on Facebook groups than you can handle.
Eventually, lead them to your group, where you can collect their email addresses with Group Leads.
This way, you can nurture them with an automated email sequence even when they are not yet ready to purchase from you. Get your free trial here.