In order to create a community of diehard fans Facebook group engagement posts with a specific strategy designed by Dana Malstaff of Boss Moms can make it happen.
IE 151: Facebook Group Engagement Posts with Dana Malstaff
Have you fallen for the hype that Facebook is dead? We hear it everywhere these days. “You can’t build a brand on Facebook unless you want to pay to play.”
But is it true? Heck, I haven’t had much success with Facebook in the last few years myself, so I have moved a ton of my focus over to Instagram.
But then, I started using a new strategy. A strategy developed by my guest today.
And since I began using Dana Malstaff’s strategy, my Facebook community engagement has grown by 706%. That’s right, folks. Percent. Not 706 people.
706 percent.
Have I got your attention? Awesome, let’s jump into all the wonderful information that Dana shared with me!
Creating a Brand that Solves a Problem
Dana’s brand, Boss-Mom, came about when Dana had quit her job and almost immediately found out she was pregnant with her first child.
She had quit her job to start a business but here she was feeling guilty, alone, and scared. She didn’t feel built to be a stay-at-home mom and didn’t know how to meet the cultural standard of being with her kids all the time.
Dana created Boss Mom to fill the 2 needs she was dealing with-
- A place where women agreed that starting a business and having children didn’t make you a horrible parent.
- A group of women to think things through with; a think tank.
Dana saw a problem that needed to be solved, and so she solved it for herself and so many others.
There are too many really smart and awesome women out there who aren’t doing things they feel called to do because they are afraid it will make them look like or be a bad parent.
Creating a No-Judgment Zone
Whether you want to be with your kids and homeschool them, or stay at home and send them to school, or have an au pair, or have multiple jobs or no jobs, any and all of those are decisions are right if they are right for you.
One of the things so important to Dana is that we don’t all have to agree on everything. But for those of us who do agree on a certain topic, that’s what Facebook groups are for. You can join a group based on that one thing you agree on and then join other groups or communities to dive into other things you believe.
Whoever you are is okay. Dana’s motto is “no judgment, just dance parties.” Don’t let anyone judge you for who you are. Life is hard and we already have a lot of responsibilities.
We need places where no matter what we are going through people will come up to you and say, “You are okay, you’re not broken, we’ll get through this.”
Creating a Community vs. Building a Facebook Page
A Facebook page is more of a billboard of who you are. Everyone can be engaged with your post, but it is not a community space.
Dana wanted to build a space, a community, that didn’t require her presence. A true community meant that she could be replaced and it could still run.
Dana wanted to make sure the members could have a place for safe conversations.
She created the Boss-Mom group after her book, Boss-Mom, and her Boss Mom podcast released. (Funny side note – Dana thought she was going to write her book on content strategy.)
Dana had used other Facebook groups she was in to ask questions that were helping her become well-known in those groups. Those same women helped choose the cover of the book and were all too ready to buy the book when it came out.
The Boss Mom Facebook group was created in 2015. A bunch of people who had been commenting on her posts in other groups came to join hers. Getting known in other groups is so helpful because then you’re not opening a door and no one knows you exist.
Setting Rules for Facebook Groups
Dana’s foundation of keeping people in line with a large-size group is to have parameters.
Everyone knows what is expected of them and what they can and can’t do.
In the online space, there are a few things we have to do.
- Set good rules.
- Assume everyone has good intentions.
- If someone obviously doesn’t have good intentions, remove them from the group.
- Protect the people in your group.
Dana removes people from her group every month. She removes about 50 of the 100 people that join every day.
Her team monitors the members because they want to make sure that they are doing a good job of protecting the people who genuinely want to be using the group to grow themselves and their businesses.
The Facebook Eco-System
Human beings want to be heard and valued.
If they are in a group, you want to create a sense of community. In a community, everyone has a role and a part to play. The parts are equally important.
Women often assume they have to take care of everything. We put a lot of pressure and burden on ourselves. This can cause burnout in Facebook groups as well.
In a group, when talking about engagement, if you’re the only one ever doing anything, things will start to fall apart the minute you have to step away.
In Dana’s group there are different roles that that her members take on:
- Natural policers – they flag content
- Natural connectors – they are tagging other people
- Natural mentors – they reach out to those having bad days
- Natural teachers – these members cover all different types of teaching
You want your Facebook group to be an eco-system that runs smoothly regardless of how present you are.
So, before you worry about what posts you can get engagement on, you need to have a community ladder in mind.
Think about the reward system in your community. The more connected and engaged your members are, the further they should be moving up the community ladder. That could mean becoming a facilitator of events, an admin, or a team member.
Dana has women in her group who have grown 6-figure businesses from the Boss-Mom group.
Creating Good Posts for Engagement
When you recognize that people want to be valued and heard, gaining engagement just comes down to giving them those two things.
Ask more questions. Instagram is great for your stories. If the only thing in your group is your stories and motivational quotes, your group is back to being you-focused.
Use decision-making posts. Ask your members to help you make decisions for your business. Ask for their opinions on different things. This gets a conversation going and allows you to shift the conversation onto what you want to be talking about.
“Can’t help yourself” posts, where the members just have to share, are an easy win for everyone. If you’re going to ask your members to do something action-oriented, you want to prime the algorithm to think you’re super engaged.
In the Boss-Mom group, Dana has asked for everyone to share their favorite pick-me-up song or to share gifs for specific emails.
This also primes the algorithm to share more of your content with your ideal audience.
The “call to arms” posts are really good as live videos. Telling your members that they are not broken and are okay. They get the members riled up and excited. This will make them want to engage more in the community.
The Buzz Plan
You can go to Dana’s website and get her 4-week plan to help you with your Facebook group engagement.
Once you get the hang of it, it’s so easy. There will be a post for each day and the first half will help you brainstorm about the questions you’ll be asking.
The Buzz Plan is not sneaky or sales-y. Everyone is waking up in the morning and talking about how social media makes us more lonely and that doesn’t have to be our experience.
Facebook groups give you the chance to connect and create community. Create a space where people, even for a minute, feel like they are enough and that their voice matters.
This doesn’t just matter for us as individuals, but for our kids to see that in us. We all need to know that we are loved and valued.
If you want to grow a genuine Facebook group where women feel welcome and important, be sure to grab Dana’s Buzz Plan. I know that if you use it, you’ll see the same success I’m seeing!
Action Steps:
- If you liked this episode of Influencer Entrepreneurs, please subscribe and leave a fabulous review!
- Join the conversation on Instagram by tagging Jenny when you’re listening to the podcast. She’ll send you a personal message whenever you tag her.
