Grow a Community.... Not a Group

I'm sure everyone has seen the algorithm rumors on Facebook. "Don't do this or your posts won't be seen", "Don't use the angry emoji or your posts won't be seen", etc. But how much of that is factual vs fear?

Because of the role I play in my corporate job I am a member of a group with the Facebook Development Team where they talk about updates, algorithms, myths, etc. Now, I'm going to preface this with "it could be total bullshit & they are just telling us what they want us to hear while silently trying to take over the world" (I say that with a little sarcasm and a little seriousness lol), but I'm choosing to believe that 98% of what they share is truthful.

Facebook does prioritize posts in each persons newsfeed based on interaction. 95% of what you see in your newsfeed is based on YOUR engagement. If you like or comment on a lot of the posts I make, then my posts are going to come up in your newsfeed more often than not. If you stop liking or commenting on posts I make, then I will start disappearing from your newsfeed.

The more interaction a group post gets, the more likely it is to appear in other people's newsfeed who haven't engaged in awhile. Why? Because Facebook sees that posts is getting heavy engagement and others who are in the group may want to see the post as well.

This is why you hear people say, "you don't have to make a purchase to support a small business... you can like, comment, or share their posts!" And that is 100% true.

Increasing engagement within your group also increases how often your group comes up as a "recommended group to join" for others who are already members of similar groups.

If you look at your group as a community... a group of people with similar interests and find a way to connect with those people and grow a relationships, then you will have increased engagement which leads to organic growth. A few ideas to grow a community instead of an impersonal group:

• Start conversations that get people talking to each other
• Post when your audience is online
• Post often and consistently
• Post high quality images & videos (not the same as sharing images & videos)
• Explain to your group how they can make sure to see your content (turning on notifications, liking or commenting on posts, etc)

How is the engagement in your group right now?

If it's low, that may be because a lot of people slowed down their spending from mid-December to mid-January.

If you have a community, then you were consistently posting even during the slow period... and most importantly you are posting things OTHER than sales.

You are sharing your life, you are making engagement posts, etc.

Those are posts that will help keep your engagement up during slow sales times.