Facebook Will Advertise Your Group For Free
The Million Dollar Group Name Formula, and how to build a room that grows itself.
The single biggest growth lever in my 980,000+ member group’s history wasn’t a viral post.
It was the name.
“Women Helping Women Entrepreneurs®” isn’t a clever brand.
It literally has the keywords women type into Facebook when they’re looking for help. And that changes everything, because when your group name matches what people search, Facebook’s own bots start recommending your group inside other groups (”groups you might like”).
Read that again. Facebook advertises your group. For free. I credit that recommendation engine for a massive part of our growth from 1,000 local women to 980,000+ members.
Want proof of how humans actually search?
When I got my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Teddy, I opened Facebook and typed the breed name. I found a 100,000-member group with that exact name. I didn’t search for anything clever. Neither does your future member.
THE MISTAKE ALMOST EVERYONE MAKES
Naming the group after yourself, your product, or a cute hook. Nobody searches for that. Your name is not a keyword. Your brand is not a keyword. Her problem is the keyword.
THE MILLION DOLLAR GROUP NAME FORMULA
1. Open Facebook search and type what your ideal client would actually type. Put yourself in her shoes and think about what words she would use..
2. Click Groups. Study the groups with the most members. Write down the keywords in their names.
3. Build your name from those keywords. Your own variation, never copy someone else’s name. Niching down pays. Here is an example: “Mom Entrepreneurs” has 93K members. “Mom Owned Businesses” has 77K.
4. Load your About section with the same keywords. It feeds the recommendation engine.
5. The location hack: in group settings, list every country and state your members come from. Facebook then shows the group to people in those places. I saw a member bump immediately after doing this.
THE DOOR IS A LEAD MACHINE
When you start a Facebook group, you get 3 questions to ask members when they join. This becomes the greatest free lead generation tool for growing your email list.
If your group is set to “private”, new members will see the questions before being accepted by you into the group.
If your group is “public”, anyone can join the group without answering these questions. If the choose to comment or post, then they must answer those 3 questions first.
This is why I prefer private groups vs public ones.
Ask 3 questions at the door: 1. Best email for exclusive trainings and gifts, 2. Biggest challenge with your niche, and 3. Optionally a lead magnet or call offer.
Not everyone gives an email but a tremendous number do. And the struggle answers are free market research, in her exact words.(Note: I do accept members who do not give their email addresses and suggest you do as well. You can always get them later)
That’s the double capture: you get a member AND an email from one join. Emails get ignored sometimes, but group members keep seeing you in their feed. Two channels, one join.
How well does this work at scale? In one single month, over 12,000 people requested to join my group. Our group moderators vetted every one: 10,598 approved, 2,187 declined. That’s 10,000+ free leads in a month, while people running ads in this niche pay anywhere from $5 to $100 per lead more.
The name did the advertising. The questions did the capturing.
THE CHECKLIST (SAVE THIS)
1. Search Facebook the way your client would. Write down 10 keyword phrases.
2. Name (or rename) your group from those keywords.
3. Rewrite your About section with the same words.
4. Do the location hack today. It takes five minutes.
5. Turn on all 3 membership questions, and never approve a member without capturing the email first. Add it to a google sheet or use a software like Group Collector (there is a lifetime AppSumo deal) Once she’s in without it, it’s gone forever.
Next week: the marketing ROI you can’t put in a spreadsheet, and why it’s made me more than almost anything I can track.
Subscribe for free so you don’t miss it.🩷
xoxo,
Christina
This is exactly how I grew Women Helping Women Entrepreneurs® to 980,000+ members, and members can promote their business to the group.
Read next: How 1,000 Local Women Became 980,000+ Members, No Ads
Want help getting seen by more of your ideal clients? Stand Out Online is an online marketing membership for women entrepreneurs who sell coaching, programs, digital products, and services on Facebook. It's created by Christina Rowe, founder of Women Helping Women Entrepreneurs®, the free Facebook group with 980,000+ members. See how Stand Out Online works →
Want more visibility right now? Promote your business to the Women Helping Women Entrepreneurs® community.
Originally published on Substack: https://christinarowe.substack.com/p/facebook-will-advertise-your-group
