The primary purpose of making a group is to provide people with a platform to discuss and promote products as well as receive feedback.
Facebook groups sometimes even become a healthy debate platform over specific social issues.
Creating a Facebook group is not difficult. There are thousands of Facebook groups out there and many fall under the same category. For example, there are groups related to food, organizations, discussion forums, e.t.c.
If you have a Facebook profile, making a group is a piece of cake. However, the real difficulty is gaining group members.
Let’s just say, you’ve just made a Facebook group with a catchy name, a beautiful cover photo, well-crafted rules, and everything else.
Once everything is in order, you would expect like-minded people to pool into your group.
Right?
Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen, and you are left wondering if all your efforts went in vain.
You needn’t worry, there are certain strategies that’ll help you increase your Facebook group members.
Let’s have a look at them one after the other.
How to increase your Facebook group members
1. Facebook Search Optimized Group Name
The first step when starting a Facebook group is to come up with a distinct name that makes your group unique to others. This is where the optimization starts.
For instance, if your group is about updates and news on cars, instead of naming it as ‘car news’ go with something like ‘News about cars: the latest automobile updates.’
In this way, you will have more than just one keyword for the group, and it is more likely to appear in the search results.
Once you are over with the Facebook group name, the second step is to come up with a Facebook search optimized group description. For this, you would have to do some research on what people actually look for when searching.
Moreover, it is advisable to use the maximum limit of words available for description. Also, Facebook allows you to use up to five tags. So, make sure you use all of them correctly.
Having an SEO friendly group name and description will definitely increase Facebook group members.
2. Linking your Facebook page to your Facebook group
If you are running a business, then it is likely that you already have a Facebook page for promotion. If you do, then there is good news for you.
Facebook now offers the option to link your Facebook page to your group. Many business owners are unaware of this feature.
Once you do the linking, it will automatically drive traffic from your page to the group and increase Facebook group members.
3. Using Calls to Action (CTAs)
Another effective way to drive the audience to your Facebook group is to use Calls to Action on various platforms.
If you have a blog, twitter account, podcasts or webinars, make sure you promote your group. And only promoting it won’t make a difference.
You need to describe it in detail about what it is and convince your audience to join the community.
They deserve to know what they are getting into and why it is beneficial for them.
4. Custom URL
The URL that Facebook assigns to any group looks something likewww.facebook.com/groups/5238523879 but you have an option to customize it and make it shorter so that it is easily memorable for you and members.
Also, add something relevant to the group in the URL, so potential members have an idea about what it is all about.
Add something that makes them curious to click on the URL, and in this way, you increase Facebook group members.
5. Send an invitation to your email list
Once you have finalized and published your group on Facebook, send an email to your list about the launch and purpose of the group.
The email shouldn’t be very long and complicated because people usually don’t like reading long pieces of text.
Make it precise and to the point and welcome them by inculcating a sense of belonging in them.
6. Making the most of your Facebook friends
Inviting your Facebook friends will also help increase Facebook group members.
What you need to remember is that you need an engaging audience and not just anyone.
So, you shouldn’t go on a spam spree and invite every possible friend that you come across.
Spend some time going through your list and make sure you only invite those whom you think will be interested in the kind of group you will be running.
7. Promotion on similar platforms
By far, the best and fastest way to increase Facebook group members is to promote your group in similar Facebook groups.
For example, if you’ve launched a group related to food recipes and restaurants, then dig into all the food-related groups on Facebook.
Once you have access to them, start promoting your own group, and you will see the numbers rising.
Moreover, you can get in contact with different group admins on Facebook and make a deal about cross-promotion once you have enough members to bargain.
8. Increase Facebook group members by being active
No one would want to engage in a group where the admin himself isn’t active. Engage with your audience, little or not.
Up your game and make sure you reply to the posts and comments that you are tagged in.
People feel a sense of belonging if the owner is engaging with them.
9. Avoid scams
A scam is one of those things that people run away from in different groups.
Make sure you are constantly monitoring your group and keeping all the stuff within the guided boundaries.
People really appreciate if the admin is treating everyone equally and not letting others cross limits by taking strict actions against those who do.
Final Thoughts
Social media has become an everlasting platform for promotion, discussions, and whatnots.
With millions of Facebook groups out there, it sometimes seems impossible to gain group members but following these basic, yet effective tips will definitely increase Facebook group members.
Follow these, one after the other, and you’ll see a commendable response.
Also, a lot depends on how you study your audience and understand their perspective. Once you know what they want, it will become easier for you to keep it going.
But this doesn’t stop here, every increasing Facebook group member can become a lead for your business.
Feel free to check out Group Leads, a google chrome extension that can turn all of your new Facebook group members into leads for your business’ email marketing campaigns without spending even a single penny. Now, this is a win-win situation.