Facebook Groups is another area of Facebook which may be a valuable tool for branding yourself and your company. In this article I will talk about how Facebook Groups and how you can use it to attract customers, new friends, and people with similar interests.
What is a Facebook Group?
First of all, a facebook group is an area in Facebook where you can allow people to join who like yor topic. Topics can be around a place you live or want to visit, a college, a politician, your business, a hobby or any other idea you can think about.
How Much Does it Cost?
Setting up a facebook group is free.
How Do I set up my Facebook Group?
Simply click on the word "group" in the left hand bar of your profile and then find the tab or button to "create a new group". You will be asked to create a name for your group, choose a category that your group is in, and an overview of your group. There is also an area for contact information including e-mail address and website. In addition, you may add a photo or image so that your group has a distinctive look or feel on the home page.
What Types of Groups are there?
There are three types of Groups, Open, Closed and Private. An open group means anyone can join, a closed group means that the administrator (You) need to approve members after they apply, and private means that the group is not listed and only those who you will invite will know the group exists.
How Can an Administrator Communicate with Group members?
The group area allows for you to send out an e-mail to its members. This is a powerful feature because you can reach a large group of people by sending out a simple message from the group.
How Can Members Communicate with the Group?
In each group, an area exists to upload photos, post links and to write on the "Wall". These are powerful ways in which users can express themselves and communicate with others. In certain, instances, such as a group where you feel you want 1-way conversation, you can allow or restrict your members from posting. It just depends on the situation. In the case of a group around a politician or actor, they may want to control the photos that are posted.
What are Group Officers?
The best way to think about this will be any organization you belong to. It may need people to take on roles such as the President, VP, Treasurer. You may have a group for a trade show, so the officers might be the Host, Membership Chair, Sponsorship Chair, and Speaker Chair. If you set up a group for your family, it might just be something like Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, etc...For some groups, you can make up silly titles to make it more fun. A title for an entrepreneur might be "Chief Cook and Bottle Washer" or for an actor it might be "2009 Academy Award Winner".
How Do You Find the Groups?
If you are interested in a certain topic, simply type in the words into the Facebook Search box and select search. In the general search a "tabbed" window will appear with profiles, applications and groups containing some or all of those key words. Click on the Group tab and find groups. Also once you join a group, on the right hand side of the group, it will show other groups which members are interested in which may be associated. So if you join a group about your college or interest, other groups around that will also appear that other members have joined.
I realize there are many more tips and tricks around groups and I will be covering more of this in another article. Please feel free to list or post your favorite groups and some of your tips and tricks.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)