Social Media Groups / Communities on Facebook and Google +

Today’s radio show was all about Social Media groups and communities. We were joined by a wonderful guest Carol Dodsley from Kevare Business Solutions who is one of Google Plus Top Content Contributor.

We started the show off by explaining what social media groups are and how you can use them in your social media experience for your business. We looked at the difference between private and open groups which all exist on LinkedIn, Facebook and Google Plus.

Me and Gareth discussed how building a community on social media should be considered as one of your social media goals. As without a community no one will share, comment and like your content. When you build a community it’s like building a sales force. People get to know like and trust you and eventually will then use your products and services. They will also share your knowledge and content with their communities which will increase your business news, knowledge and offers to a wider audience.

Building a community will take a good three to six months just like offline networking. When we go to a networking event it takes us a god three to six months before we start to receive referrals and recommendations. People need to build that know like and trust with you and see your credibility. This is exactly the same online.

Our guest Carol Dodsley shared some great tips on building your communities on social media. Carol suggests we join relevant groups first and contribute good valuable content. If you then feel you have the time and resources then create your own group or community.

Groups and communities do need time to be moderated and also need to be engaging. They are not easy to maintain and need to be looked after. Remember that when building your community and inviting people to your group, people notice that you are the group owner and they rely on you not to be spammed, and to be kept up to date with knowledgeable valuable information.

You will find many groups and communities are full of promotion and spam. If you get a member that is constantly spamming your group then consider removing them or applying rules. You could apply a rule that they can only post promotion material on a certain day of the week to keep it minimal but also get the members to network with each other.

You need to make sure that your group is moderated so your members are not being put off by the group and leaving, as this can reflect on you.

Take Action : Start discussions, post relevant content, and think about your group’s purpose.

Listen to the show here: