What are Facebook Groups?

Facebook Groups are spaces on the social media network for friends, acquaintances, or people with similar interests to discuss or share about broad and narrow topics. Groups provide an arena for organic discussion about your products or services and present the opportunity to cultivate brand awareness with an interested audience.

Why should you use them?

Using Facebook Groups, you can connect with people by joining these small communities where members share the same goals and topics. You can post questions you may have that pertain to your group, and they can answer, or you can answer someone else’s questions. If your group allows it, you can even sell items in your group. I belong to a PRSSA private group, and we talk about all things PR – which means we ask questions, have conversations and we can give tips on PR. We also sometimes post about internships or places that are hiring as well. It is an invaluable resource for PR students across the nation!

How can I create a Facebook group?

First, open the menu in the right-hand corner; you can also view your activity log or log out. There you’ll see Create Group:

Invite people by searching their names, or by using their email address.

For business reasons, it is easiest to use the email address from your email list.

Finally, select the type of group you want to create. Choose from the following:

Public Group

Closed Group

Secret Group

You also have the option to select an icon for your group. This icon will be next to the group’s name in the shortcut area:

How to set up your Facebook Group:

Once you’ve created the group, you need to finish setting it up. Most of this can be done by editing sections on the right-hand side of the screen under the members’ names.

First, add a group description.

This should state what the purpose of your group is, and, if relevant, who can join or invite others. Any group policies should be put here as well:

Underneath this is the option to add tags, which are keywords; these keywords help important users find you. Then choose if your group is public or private.

You can add up to five tags:

At the bottom of this section, you have the option to add locations for the group.

Then, add a cover photo. This should be something that sufficiently represents your group’s interests, not just a random picture.

If it’s a group centered around your business, you should integrate your brand’s logo somewhere on it.

When creating Facebook Groups, you should set rules and standards for followers to abide by so your community can run smoothly without any trouble. Another feature you can have in your group is setting up an admin who can review posts before they go up so you can accept or deny it if it doesn’t follow the rules of the group.

Facebook Groups also have tabs and offer different tools, such as “units” where people can learn about different things in one easy to find tab vs using the search tool. You can also collaborate with other groups and do a partnership. In your group, you can start a video chat in the group, share files, events, and go live within your group!

Another fun features Facebook Groups have is the ability to run ads. If you’re an admin, you can run ads in the group’s feed. Facebook is introducing a new option for group admins – they can now partner with brands and sell them in their group’s feed. But there is a catch, the groups must be public, have over 1,000 members and the groups must follow the Partner Monetization Policies (platform rules). You can check if your group meets the standards here.

I hope this helps you on your journey to creating a Facebook Group and grow your horizons within the social media realm of PR.  These steps will help you get a head start on creating an effective group that will connect with a good number of people. Good luck!