TOP TIPS: 3 Steps to Grow your Facebook Group

3 Steps to Grow your Facebook Group

So lots of you lovely beings in the Affinity community have your own facebook groups and I want to start by giving you a massive hug and saying well done because it’s not an easy thing to start and keep going. 

It takes commitment in the beginning when the group is small. It takes resilience as it grows because you’re often the only one showing up and it takes perseverance once it’s established because communities take time and energy.

But, and it’s a great big but…it can be so worth it. This community fills my heart every day and never ever does it feel like work to show up for you guys.

However it didn’t always feel that way. There have been moments when I wanted to give it up, moments when I even felt some resentment. “I’m putting in so much effort, why aren’t you giving me anything back”

Sound familiar? This was all very early on for me and for the last year it has been an absolute joy and I wanted to share a few things I’ve learned along the way that might help you get there quicker than I did.

So here’s my three steps to growing your Facebook group (there are loads more tid bits of advice I could give you but I don’t want to overwhelm you, so let’s start here.

#1 Know what you’re in it for

Why do you want to start a Facebook Group? Ultimately it’s totally fine if it’s a business decision to help you grow your business and make more money but don’t make it about that.

Channel your deeper reason why, the inspiring motivation behind it. Because humans are canny creatures and whether they can consciously pinpoint what it is or not, they know when something is off. They’ll feel your motivation because no matter how well you try to mask it, you will show up with whatever energy is motivating you.

My initial motivation was to grow my brand visibility coaching business so I showed up to help people with their branding in the hope that they would become clients. It was a drudge. It felt hard every day coming up with content. I wasn’t really connecting with people. I gave and gave and gave and got very little from it. The group grew very VERY slowly and it wasn’t an engaged community.

When I introduced the networking session in Feb last year, I discovered that what I actually wanted to do was to grow the community because of what the community provided for each and every one of its members, not to benefit my business. I got in touch with my deeper purpose of helping women to discover their voice, to build their confidence, accept themselves and reclaim their lives. The group EXPLODED! 

So I encourage you to get in touch with the deeper reason why you’d like to run a facebook Group

#2 Make the Group Name Ronsil!

Remember the old 90’s Ronsil adverts for fence paint? The tagline was ‘does exactly what it says on the tin’ don’t fussy up your group names in an effort to be inspiring! Facebook Group names are searchable so you need to SEO them and people don’t search for what inspires, uploftes or empowers them. We are much more basic than that. 

I would always recommend choosing a Group name that has the keywords in it that your ideal client would actually type into a Facebook search bar.

If I’m looking for a community built around the benefits of and love for Kundalini Yoga, I’m not going to type in ‘The femine energy collective’, I’m going to type in kundalini yoga right?

So don’t over things it, simplicity is key.

That said, if you have a flair for words you can create a name that is both inspiring AND practical. It has been done.

#3 Create a space where people actually want to be

I’ve lost count of the number of ladies who have told me that our group is the ONLY one they leave the notifications on for. And this makes me so proud.

They do this because they know that when they click the notification they’ll be met with one of the following;

• An honest and vulnerable conversation which offers two outcomes for them. They will either relate to the story or they’ll be able to offer advice and get all those good feels of helping someone who’s struggling
• They learn something new about running their business
• They’ll feel uplifted by the light and energy that this group emanates.

Either way, they will have something that fills their cup and helps them feel connected.

So what kind of space could you create that encourages your members to want to hang out there?

Do you want to create a hilariously funny space where you share memes, GIFs and stories that lift their hearts?

Do you want to cultivate a space where people can talk about sensitive subjects without judgement?

Do you want to create a space for learning and support?

What are your members going to get out of being in your community because it’s so important that you get great things from hosting a group but for you to get that, it needs to be successful so the golden rule is that you put your members first because that then leads to you having a full cup and it becomes a win win scenario.

Be careful with this rule that you don’t put your members first to the detriment of yourself. If it starts to feel like a drain then step out for a moment and think through what you’re receiving in return for the energy you’re inputting.

It’s so important to protect your own energy when running a facebook group, if you struggle with this at all then please do feel free to reach out to me, you know I have an open door policy.

I really hope you’ve found this helpful and I’d love to know your thoughts on Facebook groups, if you have any tips of your own do feel free to share them in the facebook group.