Leveraging Facebook Groups To Grow Your Business

I was recently asked by someone how real estate agents can use Facebook Groups as part of their digital marketing strategy. Their question was about how to use other more established groups as a member and contributor, rather than how to go about building their own. 

I love to talk about this topic because Facebook group marketing can be a great, organic source of new business and can really help establish you or your business as an expert in the field. At PowerISA, partnering with different Facebook Groups has been huge for the growth of our business. In this article, we are going to go over the different ways in which you can become a Verified Vendor in other peoples’ groups and establish Joint Ventures with them that are win-win. We’ll cover the following:

• The two primary tactics I’ve used to establish Facebook group joint venture agreements
• How to identify groups that you want to join and contribute to
• The different structures and types of joint venture agreements 

Two Ways to Start a Facebook Group Joint Ventures

There are two primary routes that I have used to partner with established Facebook groups and become a Verified Vendor. Both require some effort and that you provide value to the group members and group owners. 

• Tactic #1: I call this tactic the organic “guerilla” way. I’ve done this a bunch of times for different groups and it basically just entails becoming a Top Contributor. This is the slower, long game method. To go this route, you have to consistently post in the group, answer peoples’ questions, and just generally provide value to and engage with other group members on a continuous basis. You can talk about and promote your business, but only in a way that is offering other members value, you can’t be pushy or salesy because you will most likely get blocked or banned by the admins. 
• Tactic #2: Instead of building up your reputation in the Facebook Group organically through posting often, the other way to establish a joint venture is to reach out directly to the owners or admins. Find a group you think will be beneficial to your real estate business (or any business), join it, check it out to see if it has high levels of engagement, and then send a direct message to the admin(s). I like to use a simple message along the lines of, “Hey, I’m Gus and I own PowerISA. We’re an ISA company that people hire to set appointments and make live transfers of inbound leads. I think I can add a lot of value to the members of your group.” You can even create a win-win situation by offering your product or service to the admins for free or at a special discount. That way, they can use it, and if they love it, they can promote it in their group. 

Purchase the Product the Group Is Offering 

If you’re going to try the first tactic for Facebook group joint ventures, you should understand that it takes time. For example, I once got accepted to a large, 70,000 person, highly engaged group only after about a year and a half of being a consistent Top Contributor. But I knew the group would be highly valuable to my business, so it was 100% more than worth the time and effort. 

One way to help you on the organic route is to check and see if the group you’re trying to partner with has any type of product or course they offer. If they do, then I would recommend buying it and using it. Doing so does two things:

1. It makes you more knowledgeable about the admin’s business and helps you answer questions in the group directly related to what their company does, the products they offer, or what people can hope to learn from them.
2. Buying the course or product will also make you a client of the group owners. Being a client will make your eventual pitch or ask to be a Verified Vendor much much easier. Because, trust me, the admins will be more receptive and willing to listen to a client than just a member of their group. 

Buying a product helps you get your foot in the door and will make it easier for you to work out a partnership agreement. You should always take into account the cost of the course or product, however, and weigh it against how valuable you feel the group will eventually be to your business. Whether you purchase it or not is completely up to you and dependent on the specific situation.

How to Find Valuable Facebook Groups for Real Estate Agents

Before you decide to sink a lot of time and effort into becoming a Top Contributor in a Facebook group, or offering the group owners free or discounted products or services, you need to determine whether the group is valuable to you. The only way to do this is to join it and see for yourself what is going on in there.

When it comes to real estate Facebook group marketing or any other industry, size is not everything. A large group that has tens or hundreds of thousands of members who never engage or interact in the group does nothing for you. A smaller group of five thousand highly engaged and active members, on the other hand, can be a huge asset for your business. Check the Discussion tab in the group and see how often people post. If there aren’t any posts from members for days at a time, then it’s probably not worth your time.

For me, personally, I try to partner with smaller, highly engaged groups rather than going for the huge, big players. With a few exceptions I only devote time and effort to groups of 10,000 members or fewer, and that have some structure but not too much. These groups tend to interact a lot, have high trust levels, and their owners have a lot of credibility with members. I find it easier to reach people, build relationships, and promote my business in these types of atmospheres. 

Facebook Group Joint Venture Strategies 

Once you determine a group is worth your time and choose a strategy for partnering with it, there are several different types of joint ventures that most groups will utilize. It’s important to keep in mind that some groups (mostly newer and smaller ones) may not have any structure at all. They might just have an informal way of adding vendors or maybe have never even added any before. 

For those that do have a structure, it usually takes one of three forms:

• Fixed Fees – this is the simplest structure and just involves you paying the group X amount of money in order to be a Verified Vendor and promote your business in their group.
• Affiliate Strategy – some groups will have an affiliate structure instead of a flat fee. Basically, this means that whenever someone purchases a product of yours through a group, that group gets a piece of it. 
• Sponsorship Agreement – other groups will use a sponsorship agreement. This means that you can either pay to be featured as a partner OR can support an event financially that the group hosts, either directly or by paying to have a speaker attend, for example. 

No matter what type of partnership agreement you establish, it’s important to always get the terms in writing. That way, you both know exactly what the agreement is, it’s clear whether you are an exclusive vendor to the group, and you or the owner cannot unilaterally change the terms at some point down the road. 

Conclusion: Facebook Group Marketing Is Doable and Valuable 

Facebook group marketing is one of those methods that every business should take advantage of. In certain situations, it only costs your time, and in others it may be a low cost way to get your product in front of a highly receptive, engaged audience. Even if you can just set up one, two, or three Facebook group joint ventures a year, your business will benefit greatly.