I have just began a new Facebook Group titled “Faithful Videographers” a place for church based videographers to come together and share their work. It has been live for 48 hours, and has 2 posts on it (both from myself) but there will be improvement over the coming weeks.
A three step method is not the complete and total way to run and build a Facebook Community, but the three steps encompass much more technical bits. Here are the three:
PLAN
Planning is an essential tool for building a Facebook Community. You must plan out your posts at least a few days in advance. Even planning your posts out 3–4 days in advanced will allow you to be more creative about your posts. Giving yourself adequate time to plan means you spend more time thinking about your posts, thus making them more creative. More creativity equals more engagement. There are many tools available to help you make your posts more creative and trendy. One of my favorites is Canva. It is a simple watered down photoshop that is full of useful resources for social media posts.
There are also a multitude of post scheduling websites available. One of my favorites is Hootsuite. Hootsuite allows you to make and schedule posts for anytime. If you schedule your posts all at once it give you more time to be creative, and less time to worry about stopping to make your posts. It also has useful tools for making sure you post during the most active times during the day.
POST
Post. Post. Post. You may find it unhelpful or disheartening to be the only one to post while your group is growing. But it is necessary. Even if you are the only one who posts, people will start to build recognition of your name. They will associate you as the resident expert of your group and feel encouraged to interact with you. If a member of your group sees your name appear often, they may feel compelled to speak with you personally about the topic of your group, or recognize you as the admin if need be.
Also, consider using hashtags in your posts. Make a brand, pick a color scheme, and use 1–2 hashtags that are consistent with every post or every type of post. This creates brand recognition for your group and if people recognize your group, people will be more likely to engage. If you use a color scheme in your posts, it become more thematic and memorable for people, ESPECIALLY if you post often. I mentioned using Canva earlier in this article, and it allows you to pick a color scheme and use the same colors for everything you create.
PARTAKE
If you get to a point where posts occur naturally, then you should partake in the comments. I mentioned about how posting often at first makes you become known as the resident expert, people would enjoy it more and post more often if you interact with them. If you have a member posting for the first time, or the 40th time, thank them for their post and interact in the comment section. Many people will recognize you as the admin and will enjoy your interaction.
If someone comments on one of your postings, then make sure to respond back with an adequate response, or at the least a thank you. Make your members feel appreciated and loved for being apart of your group. If someone asks a question in your group, try to help them out or point them to the right person if you do not have an answer. The more interaction you give, the more interaction you will receive.
CONCLUSION
Make your members feel loved and appreciated. Facebook Groups can be hard work to manage and to build. But given the proper care and remembering “Plan, Post, Partake” will help you build a community stronger than you thought you were capable.
