Facebook Groups are one of the most underutilized marketing channels today. But, like any brand, the name is KEY to success and community growth.
Here’s why it’s important, and how to pick the right Group name for your business:
How to Name Your Facebook Group
Today’s Facebook is not 2007’s Facebook. For many companies, the Facebook Business Page and ad platform opened the conversation to a larger community, and Facebook Groups have completely changed the game.
A Quick Look Back at Facebook Group’s Beginnings
Instead of pushing messages out, we became part of the conversation. Over the years, the social media platform evolved – Facebook Connect, the ‘like’ button, the rise of mobile and other features.
Early on, there was a consensus that Facebook would be more useful if people could connect with smaller friend groups or groups about specialized interests. The Group feature was the answer to this need – a space for members to connect with others who had similar interests.
People are people – we crave connection and community, no matter if it’s in person or digitally.
Companies quickly caught onto the value of these ongoing breakout discussions.
At Facebook’s first Community Summit in 2017, the mission publicly shifted to empower users to build a community. Reports showed 100 million people felt they belonged to a beneficial group. However, there were many others who simply ‘just belonged’. To create a better experience, Group administrators were provided new tools like membership questions and insights about the activity data of the Group.
Fast forward two years later, Facebook reported that more than 400 million people believed themselves to be in meaningful groups.
A win-win: quality communities were established, and Facebook and its advertisers got increased time spent on the platform. But what about businesses?
Beyond The Newsfeed
Facebook’s organic algorithm started to turn against businesses, as they struggled to create engagement on their pages. Thankfully, the benefit of a Facebook group is that you can build your customer community to keep them engaged with your business… and bring new, curious, prospective people into the fold.
Prospects can ask active customers questions, which helps build your authenticity via word-of-mouth. It allows for a window as to what life is like after they have your product or service.
Bonus for you and your team: You can spend less on customer service as your own customers answer questions and help troubleshoot. Group guests in the Consideration phase would much rather hear from an ‘outsider’ like themselves than one of your employees.
However, it’s not to say that you can’t and shouldn’t bring value to the group as well.
But before we get ahead of ourselves, you have to find the right name.
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Why a Facebook Group Name is Important
Facebook knows that Groups are great at getting people to ‘stick around’ on their platform, which means more great connection and discussion. This means that Groups are surfaced and suggested to people as they’re scrolling around Facebook, which is a great opportunity for your business to get in front of new people.
If someone is unfamiliar with your company’s name, they won’t be as enticed to join your Group if it’s simply your brand name versus something relating to a particular topic.
The goal is to get as many participants as possible – so having a name that draws people in is key!
Selecting the right name ensures that your group will be found in a sea of millions. That’s a lot of competition!
By having the right keywords, Facebook’s algorithm will prompt you as a recommended group for like-minded members. Most importantly, you are much more likely to attract the right people to join.
After all, in the end it’s the genuine engagement that makes a group ‘good’.
How to Pick a Facebook Group Name
When deciding, it is important to establish if this will be an insular community (targeted only at your current customers) or open to the general public (with similar interests/needs). For broader appeal, think about how the name will look to newcomers. If it’s just your “Company Name Group”, that doesn’t tell them a lot about your product or service.
Things to consider:
- What is the topic you’re focused on?
- What is the problem you solve?
- What is the outcome they get?
- Why would they want to join?
A great group name tells people: who it’s for, what it’s all about, and the benefits of joining. As with any branding, it is best not to change your name repeatedly.
Some companies use keyword research for a better understanding of how people are doing research on their favorite products and topics.
For example, consider Exercise for The Rest of Us rather than Primal 7 Customers. Or instead of Best Buy Fans, have it be Best Buy Deals, Discussion, and Rants/Raves.
With the above examples, people scrolling around Facebook will be more likely to join those groups.
Pro Tip: If you want to include your company name, you can add it at the end.
Ex.) Small Business Owners Support Group | Arnold Marketing
Our recommendation? Reference the company name only within the group itself, and keep your brand out of the Group name to facilitate better growth.
You can add your logo to the header image, regularly post ‘as’ the business, etc. If you had an instant pot recipe blog, a great group name would be: Instant Pot Healthy Recipes. In the group, create relevant posts as your page and promote in the header.
The 2020 Communities Summit revealed that there are 1.8 billion Facebook Group members. And half were in five or more groups. With 70 million Group administrators, it is safe to assume there are around 50-100 million active groups. Recently, Facebook introduced tools to further analyze and monetize these groups, like the ability to tag brand partnerships. For a safer community experience, administrators were also provided additional tools to keep hate and other negative speech away.
Like your business, Facebook is always looking for ways to improve and keep members engaged (and returning). And like Facebook, you can use the data from the voices in your Group to have a better understanding of both your active and your prospective customers.
Arnold Marketing Consultants is here to answer your questions regarding social media, brand strategy, & more. For more helpful tips, take a look at some of our Case Studies and earlier blogs. Ready to speak to someone? Schedule a friendly chat today.
