Using a Private Community Group to Enhance Client Experience

We were meant to live our lives in community, and even more than that.. we were created for community. It’s a huge part of who we are and has a lot of influence over our lives and how we live them. As human beings we all crave to be in community with others.

 

God himself was in community. The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit. 


The work that we do with our clients allows us a lot of room for building a true connection and relationship through their pregnancy and birth journey. Being trusted and invited into someone’s birth space naturally creates a special bond. 


Creating and fostering a private community for your clients means…


  • Being able to continue to spark conversations and get to know them. 
  • Influence - having a space to motivate, inspire and educate your clients around the topics they may be interested in. 
  • Getting validation and potential feedback on any new ideas or plans, from people who believe in you.
  • Giving your clients a safe space to establish new relationships and be able lean on each other through the different seasons of motherhood and life. 
  • Providing a VIP experience. Everyone likes to feel like they are apart of something exclusive and being able to connect with them, and add value to their lives after their birth is a pretty awesome bonus!


How often should you post in your community group?


Consistency and sustainability are the ultimate priorities so set a goal for yourself that allows you to be the most successful, but I recommend 3-5 posts per week! I know what you’re thinking… that’s a lot of time to spend on Facebook! It doesn’t have to be though!


You can accomplish a thriving and fully engaged community group in under 2 hours a week! 


First, pick one day a week to batch & schedule all of your posts for the upcoming week! This shouldn’t take more than an hour and if you find it is taking longer, set a timer limiting yourself to only producing whatever amount of posts that you can accomplish in the one hour. (Sustainability remember?) Scheduling each post is your best resource! This allows for you initiate the conversations within the group, without even having to be on Facebook! 


Second, spend five minutes - twice a day responding to comments on your scheduled posts and answering any questions that may have been posted throughout the day! 


With the hour of scheduling and ten minutes a day for five days, you’re spending just under two hours per week fostering a meaningful community for your clients. 


Types of content for your community group!


-Announcements about upcoming events, projects and promotions. 

-Posts to celebrate Birthday’s for your client babies.

-Holiday posts where clients can share the celebrations with their little ones.

-Funny memes that relate to the things they are going through or a common interest within the group.

-Share about you and allow your clients to get to know you better. 


How to create a private community group for your clients! 

Step #1 - Click Groups


Under the "More" tab on the home page from your business page click "Groups". This will take you to the page where you can create a group that is linked to your business page on Facebook.

Step #2 - Create Linked Group


Under Groups by this page, select to "create linked group"

Step #3 - Name Your Group & Select Level of Privacy


You'll want to name your group as something that is connected to you or your business name. I also recommend adding something along the lines of "private client community group" in the title to clear up any confusion as to who the group is for.


I also HIGHLY recommend that you opt for the PRIVATE. group option. You want to ensure that this group is a safe place for your clients to connect and have the opportunity to be vulnerable.

Step #4 - Hit Create


After you officially create the group - the next few steps will allow you to further customize your group!

Step #5 - Select a Cover Photo for Your Group


You can use a photo of you, of your logo, of a client, or you can create a cover photo with a template in Canva. As an added content bonus... you can do cover photo contests in your group! You can post monthly or even quarterly to have your clients or group members submit and vote for the photos they would like to see featured as the groups cover photo.

Step #6 - Continue setting up your group


There are four basic steps to completing your group setup & Facebook will help walk you through them. First, invite members, starting with any clients or ideal members that you are already Facebook friends with. Next, be sure to add a thorough description for you group so that your ideal members will have a clear vision of the group and what it offers them.


Here is the description for my own Client Community Group:

"Community Group for all mama’s who book with Samantha Tollison Birth! 

A place for you to connect with other moms & me! Long after your birth journey! (:"

Step #7 - Refine Group Settings + Membership


This is where you will establish things like who can request to join your group, who can approve those requests, and if potential members are required to answer any preliminary questions before approval into the group. Requiring questions prior to approval is particularly helpful when you are creating a more general group that is open to more members than just clients only,

Step #8 - Schedule Posts


This step is super important for both consistency within the group AND for sustainability for you and your time management! You can schedule posts like Holidays and Birthdays well in advance. Don't forget to utilize websites like Canva to create on brand graphics for your posts.

Step #9 - Get familiar with your Group Insights


This is where you learn about how your group is doing! Is it growing along with your business growth? Is your engagement increasing? (This will tell you if your members are enjoying the things you are posting) If they are then they will be commenting and interacting on the posts.

BONUs TIP:

Choose someone that you trust to add as an admin for your group. They do not have to act in this role, but it will ensure that you are able to access and rejoin the group if Facebook ever glitches or bans you for any reason from the group or from Facebook in general.