Facebook has made organic reach virtually (pun intended) impossible in the quest to empty marketers pockets of advertising funds, at which they have been astonishingly successful. This is despite their appalling management of privacy and enabling some pretty dodgy, some would call it reprehensible, activity.
The only option left, and it is a good one, is to take advantage of the groups that Facebook has encouraged to flourish.
Marketers should be taking advantage of groups, but to do so requires a greater level of discipline and investment than many seem to be able to muster.
Following are the three main considerations.
Common interest.
Groups are by definition places where there is a common interest that draws members. However, common interest is not enough to generate the engagement that marketers need, there needs to be collaboration amongst the members, that creates its own two sided discussion. If the levels of two way discussion fall, so will the interest levels of participants, who will then wander off, digitally speaking. For marketers prepared to put in some leg work, selectively adding value to the groups specifically around your value proposition can be very useful.
Group control.
Anyone can create a group, for any reason, and manage the settings to your own agenda. I am a member of a local SME networking group that has three Facebook groups that serve different purposes. The first is a ‘public‘ group, where anyone can see and interact with posts, the second is a private group where only members of the network can post and view the activity of others in the group. The third is a ‘secret’ group that has the current committee as its only members, and only those few can see anything posted, and respond. The first is a group that can attract potential members and contributors to the activities of the group, the second is a collaboration of members where we can help each other in a myriad of ways, and the third is a very convenient communication channel for the committee to consider the manner in which the group is managed. The combination works well, and is very simple to set up.
For a purpose.
Given it is easy to set up a group, when there is a specific purpose, you can set it up and leverage the potential reach amongst those who have an interest in your purpose. This can be anything from a product launch, technical forum to a personal interest, and everything in between. The challenge of course is to market the group to those who may buy into the purpose, and have something to contribute. Without a flow of quality content, such groups will have a very short life, but they have the potential to deliver considerable value to the group owner and members.
Groups are not the answer to most marketing challenges, at best they are a partial answer to some common questions, and can be a valuable part of a wider strategy. At least they can deliver a pathway to your own digital asset, your website that should remain a cornerstone of every marketing activity. It is inevitable that Facebook will change the rules again, squeezing the algorithms that make groups useful, in order to keep the revenue flowing. However, you may as well use it while you can.
Almost exactly the same set of observations can be made about the group functions in other platforms. While the details differ, and none are anywhere near as sophisticated or provide the same sort of potential reach, they are all on the same path, monetising their access to your eyeballs in order to sell your details to advertisers.
