Picture it. You’ve got something exciting to share with your community today.
A new webinar, online program, a shiny new offer and you want to get more eyes on it to get more leads and boost sales.
I mean, that’s why you created your "community" in the first place right...your FREE Facebook group. {More on that in a mo}.
So you type out an "engaging" post, add an eye catching image and post yo-shit.
While you wait for the sales to cascade in, you go make yourself a coffee and as you’re stirring in the su-gA you smile to yourself as you imagine 20, no 50...OR 100 people signing up and tossing their moo-lah in your digital wallet.
It’s good to be in business - right?!
So you skip back to your home office, sit down, wiggle your mouse and have a lookie-loo.
ZERO likes
ZERO shares
ZERO fucks
Not to mention, only 4 people have even SEEN your post (out of 9000!)
What the fuck is going on?
- If you had posted this yesterday 300 people would have seen it by now.
- There would be reactions out the wazoo.
- Your peeps would be getting jiggy with your post and your phone would be lighting up with purchase notifications ding. ding. ding.
But today, nothing.
You start to sweat a little and wrinkle your brow. Why isn’t anyone seeing the post?
You set up your free Facebook group to bring people together and promote your offers, but Facebook has gone and changed their algorithm {or something} to punish you.
Actually, news flash honey-bunches...Facebook isn’t hurting you...you're hurting yourself.
Facebook cares about their users enjoying the fuck out of their time on Facebook, so they will STAY THERE. Facebook wants members to come in, pull up a chair and get comfy AF for the long haul.
How does that happen? By them showing their members content that they actually want to see.
But wait...how does FB KNOW if people want to see something?
Well...people engage with it. They like, love, comment or share it and Facebook takes notice and serves up MORE of that shiz-naz to repeat the cycle.
That way users see content that they enjoy all the time and keep coming back for more and more.
Now back to YOU.
What does this algorithm stuff have to do with your group?
Well...chances are...you’ve set up your Free group for the wrong reasons and it’s not a space where people actually want to be.
Members aren't posting new content there, they don’t react or share your content either.
The only real activity in there is YOU posting updates, asking "engaging questions" and trying to drive engagement. Despite your efforts...
It’s a dead-zone and all you hear is crickets.
Not only is it frustrating for YOU as the host (you’ve probably started engaging more to compensate...second mistake dude), but Facebook ain’t happy either.
They see what's going on and notice that their members aren't really enjoying your shiz-naz.
So what does Facebook do?
Well...Facebook (like you) is thinking about their audience, and if their members are saying loud and clear (well in this case silently and clearly) that your group isn’t interesting, cool, entertaining, education or anything worth clicking on or engaging with...Facebook isn’t going to want it’s members going there to hang out.
So Facebook invites them to go there less and elsewhere.
What? Facebook is inviting your people to go to your group?
You bet your ass it is.
Facebook controls how frequently your group content shows up in your member’s news feeds. How many notifications they get from new content in your group. Everything is controlled and curated by big brother FB.
So what’s an entrepreneur to do?
Well first off...don’t fucking build a free Facebook group.
There...I said it!
Obviously if you are reading this, that doesn't really help you, but for anyone who happens to be reading this before "putting a ring on it"...for the love of doughnuts don’t do it.
It blows my mind that people are willing to throw away their time and energy into something that:
- They do NOT control
- Isn’t even a fucking community.
Say what now?
That’s right dude; a free Facebook group does NOT a community make.
There is this unspoken rule about them that prevents them from being anything but a self-promotional tool or lead generator.
You see, when you set up a Free Facebook group for your business...everyone knows (even your Aunt Becky who isn’t tech savvy) that your group exists for you to promote something.
Sure, you might not say that, and you might try to spin the group as a supportive place for people to gather around a subject, but people aren’t stupid. That group is like a pampered chef party...or tupperware. SURE...you can come to the party and just "have fun" but at the end of the night we're gonna encourage peeps to BUY SOMETHING.
They KNOW that you’ve got something you want to sell and they will always think about that fact when they are in your group.
Now, here is the other truth that no one really acknowledges and is much more important.
YOU aren't the only one using your Free Facebook group to promote themselves. 9 times out of 10 your members are there for exactly the same reason...but for THEIR SHIT.
If we focus on the Entrepreneur space this is even more true.
Wantra-preneurs join your group to do customer research and hop on calls with people.
They join, “engage” and “add value” but behind the scenes they have a spreadsheet of all your members and are slowly and methodically private messaging everyone to "help" them.
Or they share a post in the group and when someone replies or engages, they shoot them a PM to connect...and a pitch will soon follow.
Then of course there are some special peaches who will come in and just go to town promoting themselves. They don't care what it looks like, they will wait for an opportunity to drop a link and drop it.
And that my friend is why I hate free Facebook groups.
There is no barrier to entry and the majority of people who join aren't the kind of people who will invest in themselves, let alone respect your "community".
So...what should you do if you put a ring on a free Facebook group and it's a dead-zone?
- First of all I would ask myself if I REALLY want to keep having a free FB group?
- Is it the best way to reach your ideal customer and grow a relationship with the?
- Or is it just opening up a can of worms that sucks up your time and energy managing "self promotional" A-holes?
If you answered 2 NOs and a YES...then I invite you to close your group and move on.
Seriously. Let your members know you'll be closing the group in a week, give them a landing page to sign up to your email list (where they really should be) and archive that bad boy and be done with it.
If you DO enjoy your "community" and it offers value to your members while supporting your business...
How can you get people to actually see and engage with your content?
Well...lean in for this...be a fucking human.
Stop peddling your shit 24/7 and share something interesting. As Ben Perry says...your posts need to educate, entertain or empower your members...so get E'ing it.
Diversify your content so that it isn’t just “buy now” CTAs and "daily" engagement posts that are auto scheduled and the same each week.
- Share behind the scenes posts,
- tell stories,
- hop on FB live,
- create funny word art and quotes,
- start GIF wars,
- caption this MEME contests,
- and focus on your members as HUMANS...beyond the subject you're gathering around.
Honestly, there are loads of strategies and tactics to engage an online community...I just prefer to save them for paid memberships and I encourage you to do the same.
Rant over. 😉
-Big D.