Facebook Groups are great tools for marketing and building community. However, they don’t work unless you understand how to work them.
Let’s review four reasons why your Facebook Group died.
Your Facebook group died because…
You didn’t engage enough
You created the group thinking it would run itself.
You had no idea how much legwork you’d have to perform upfront.
You only interacted with group members twice per week.
You never shared the group with others and did very little to connect with members.
To be frank, you underestimated the amount of work it would take to generate and maintain engagement.
The groups you love, support and engage with are supported by moderators.
These online gatekeepers produce content, monitor engagement, and warn group rule breakers. I
n short, group moderators are responsible for the health of the online community.
Your online community needs similar support if you want it to survive.
If you’re looking to build a tribe, Facebook groups are great for niche communities.
They help you connect on a deeper level with your audience.
However, you must be committed to the time needed to foster this level of trust and engagement.
It won’t happen overnight, but the more consistent you are in posting content, prompting conversations, and interacting with group members, your Facebook group will grow.
In time, it will become a vibrant space for you and your tribe to learn and support each other.
Your Facebook group died because…
It needed focus
Your Facebook group needs direction.
Members join groups for specific interests.
For example, a Facebook group for farmers may focus on advances in agriculture, the best places to purchase equipment, and the inside humor of farming.
The farmers don’t want to see viral clips of cats or babies.
They probably are not keen on viewing the latest TikTok craze either.
They want content that caters to their needs as farmers, the reason they joined the group in the first place.
Random, funny posts are great here and there for laughs and engagement, but they shouldn’t be your bread and butter.
Hire an online community manager to oversee your group.
Their job will consist of content creation, engagement and policing rule breakers.
If you’re solo with social media, consider why your group members come to you and create content around those things.
Do your supporters provide positive feedback on your live streams?
Perhaps your network is beneficial to them in some way.
Focus your content on what serves your audience best, not what’s most convenient for you to post.
Your Facebook group died because…
It wasn’t safe
Monitoring group membership is huge in the online community space.
Online community managers and group moderators keep an eye out for offensive, toxic and unrelated content.
Facebook groups were created for communities.
We all want our communities to feel safe.
We want to feel protected.
We want to believe neighbors look out for each other.
However, this will only (sometimes) happen when the district follows the rules and rules are reinforced by those that created them.
Without group monitoring, your more boisterous members will have full reign.
Eventually, they’ll say something offensive, erupting a rabbit hole of rebuttals.
Comment tyrants can be disciplined through privately messaged warnings, temporary muting, and as a last resort, banned from the group.
Group members will stop engaging and leave your group if they discover you are not reinforcing group guidelines and safety measures.
Your audience wants space to connect with you, share their thoughts without judgment, and feel supported by people with similar views.
Your Facebook group died because…
A page would’ve been better
Facebook pages are for general content.
Unlike Facebook groups which are more like VIP rooms, Facebook pages are open to the public.
Anyone can get in.
Sensitive or controversial topics are published less frequently on Facebook pages.
In contrast to pages, groups offer privacy for intimate conversations within smaller populations.
Your ability to produce is another reason a Facebook page may have been better.
You can get away with posting to a Facebook page once or every other week but not so much in a Facebook group, especially if you have a large, engaged audience.
Vast group memberships require more content at higher rates.
Suppose your time is limited for content creation and social media management, and you’re not looking to build a community.
In that case, a Facebook page is the better option to establish your social media presence.
We’ve outlined four reasons your Facebook Group probably saw its untimely end. Think it died because of something else? Mention us on the corresponding posts and tell us why.
SHS