The question then is how do you go about finding new groups? One way to do this is with the simple search tool in Facebook. Just click on the search bar at the top (which says ‘Search for people, places and things’) and then start typing the name of a group you might want to take part in. Normally this can just mean typing in the name of your niche. Have a website/business in the fitness niche? Then just search ‘fitness’ and see 25
what comes up. Likewise, you can also pick topics that are within your niche, for instance if your topic is ‘fitness’ then you might pick ‘the gym’
or ‘running’. If your niche is writing, then you might pick ‘fantasy writing’.
Big groups have the advantage of having a wider reach and helping your content to get seen by more people but smaller ones have the advantage of keeping your content at the top longer. The best call is to try some of both.
And don’t be afraid to try out groups that are only distantly related to your topic – this is a great way to branch out and attract new audiences. For instance, if your topic is ‘parkour’ or ‘free running’ then you can also promote that in a group about martial arts as the two have similar roots.
You could even write an article specifically on ‘parkour as a martial art’ or
‘the influence of martial arts in parkour’. Melding two vaguely related topics together also happens to be a great way to come up with ideas for new, original content.
If you find yourself struggling for inspiration when picking Facebook groups though, then another method you can use is to try Facebook’s grid search.
This allows you to see groups that have friends as members and to see suggested groups. Just look along the left hand menu of your newsfeed and then scroll down to ‘New Groups’. Click this and you’ll be given several tabs.
New groups are groups you’ve been recently added to but you can also see local groups (useful for local businesses), you can see ‘suggested groups’
(useful for finding things within your niche) and you can find ‘friends’ groups’.
Friends’ groups is surprisingly useful because it lets you see groups your friends are in. As such, you’ll be able to find places where 26
you can likely post without getting deleted. If you’re University alumni for instance, you may be able to find clubs and societies you once belonged to
– and this gives you an excellent platform for promoting your stuff. Don’t be afraid to promote to your friends!
Finally, one more trick is to consider looking at the existing fans and members of your current page or group and then seeing which groups they are members of. This is a powerful strategy because it shows you where interests cross over. In other words, if you’re already seeing people migrate from those groups, chances are you may be able to find more recruits there.