Leveraging Facebook Groups for Social Media Promotion

From Path To Publishing...

Recently, we shared a newsletter about how our CEO, Joylynn M. Ross, has chosen to move away from personal social media this year so she can focus on more in-person connections for Path To Publishing and our division serving business owners, corporations, non-profits and government agencies, Path To Connections. We received this added tip from longtime Path To Publishing Literary Companion, Ned Barnett:

Social media platforms only have as much value as the connections you have through them, which usually isn’t as much actually as the numbers say.

If you have 2,500 followers on Facebook but know only 50 of them on any substantive level, then the number of people you’re truly reaching out to—for, say, “please buy my book”—will only be 50. Even if all 50 respond favorably, that’s only 2% of your overall “reach” and number of total followers.

There is an alternative.

Conducting a Direct Experience Study

I recently did a direct experience study. I searched Facebook Groups for those interested in murder mysteries. There were 110 such groups, and I randomly selected ten of them. For all ten groups, there was a total of 38,800 members. I made an educated guess that approximately only half of the members were active, which left about 20,000.

Step 1: Studying the Rules and the Culture

Then, I used basic social media contact procedures. I reviewed the content and the "corporate culture" of each group to see what energizes its members. I also carefully studied each group’s rules for posting, which was most commonly to not include hot-linked URLs, since no one wants their group to be spammed.

Step 2: Responding to Posts

After that, I began participating in these groups and responding to others’ posts. Sometimes, it was to affirm a post, such as “I really liked your post.” Or if I disagreed, I would respectfully respond that the post was fascinating but then offer one or two considerations for another point of view.

Step 3: Posting Provocative Messages and Replying Courteously

Next, I began to post provocative messages of my own and reply courteously to anyone who responded to me.

Step 4: Seeking Direct Connections

After you’ve done these things in each group several times a week for about two months, you will have name recognition among active members. That’s when you are ready to seek contacts—always without acting against the rule-based, off-platform content.

Instead of creating a group discussion on a group-related page topic, I write a blog of under 1,250 words and tell readers they can read the post for free at my website, using a style of BarnettWriting (dot) com, to avoid potentially creating a link that’s against the rules.

Goal: Turning Book Promotions into Book Sales

Using an industry standard for e-sales, you can expect perhaps 100 favorable responses from across these ten groups. That’s 100 sales. If you do this weekly, that’s 400 to 500 sales per month outside of any other sales efforts. If you’re making $1.00 to $2.00 per sale, then that’s $400 to $1,000 a month.

If you keep working the same list with the same technique, you can routinely achieve successful book promotion to sales. Just write compelling copy, follow the rules, and respond respectfully.

About the Author

Ned Barnett is the Marketing Director at Path To Publishing and one of our most sought-after Marketing Companions. 

Need help creating a social media system/strategy for either your personal social media or business/brand platforms? We can help. Simply email info@pathtopublishing.com with [SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY] in the subject line, and we’ll schedule a no-cost discovery call to help identify your needs.