3 Things You Need To Start Doing In Facebook Groups For Your Trade & Construction Business.
Facebook Groups don’t work.
Right?
You join a Group and expect your DM’s to be full of enquiries by the time you tuck yourself into bed that night.
It doesn’t happen.
So you give it a bit of time.
You stay put for weeks.
Then months.
And still, NOTHING comes of it.
Not a single whisper.
Facebook Groups? Total BS.
So you’d probably think I’m nuts if I told you participating in the right Facebook Group is one of the most powerful brand and marketing tools to have at your fingertips, wouldn’t you?
A lot of Trade and Construction companies use them totally wrong.
I see it every day.
But what I have ALSO seen is a tiny handful of our Trade and Construction buddies absolutely NAIL IT and make a killing from using Facebook Groups as part of their brand and marketing.
Because they’re using these 3 tips, day in day out.
⚡️ Lesson one.
From this point on, I want you to start thinking about a Facebook Group differently.
This is not your website.
Or your Facebook Page.
It’s a community space where people go to help each other.
It just happens to be on Facebook.
This is not a place for a sales pitch.
Or throwing around discounts like you’re in a marketplace.
❌ No selling.
Even if the group says it’s ok.
I always advice my Trade and Construction clients never to ‘sell’ in a Facebook Group.
You don’t want to get a reputation as the Derek Trotter of the Group.
No matter how loveable Del Boy might be.
He's always trying to flog something.
If you keep this valuable lesson in mind from now on with everything you do in a Facebook Group, you will start having more success as a business there.
Trust me.
So now you understand it’s a community space where people help each other.
Great.
So what does this mean you need to start doing?
Exactly that.
Helping and supporting.
And how do you do that?
Well here’s the first tip…
1. Start commenting on other people’s Facebook posts from your Trade & Construction Profile.
Get engaged.
Comment on other people’s post.
The most successful Facebook Groups out there are successful because of the amount of engagement they have in them.
*Engagement = interacting with other people.
Businesses talking to each other.
Neighbours, recommending folk to each other.
Individuals becoming part of something with hundreds or even thousands of others.
Someone posts a picture of an unusual December sunset in the local area… Others start posting pictures of their view below it.
Another posts a photo of a stain on their carpet asking for tips to get rid… People start recommending products in the comments.
Someone posts asking for a Tree Surgeon to help remove an unwanted Oak Tree in their garden… Folk start recommending companies they’ve used in the comments.
Different people use Facebook Groups for different reaons.
Almost always to enhance a certain area of their life.
⚠️ Nobody goes there to be sold to.
But.
If you are going to be part of a Facebook Group because it’s full of your Ideal Clients then you and your Trade and Construction business need to become part of the community too.
And not just when making posts about you.
Have a fellow Trade and Construction business to recommend when you see a post asking for a plumber?
Then post your plumber’s details in the comment below.
Have a suggestion for how to get rid of that mark on the wall that someone has posted a photo about?
Tell them what you think it is and how they might be able to fix it in the comments.
See a post about with an unusual December sunset in the area you live in?
Get involved!
Post a photo of your view in the comments too.
This isn’t about spending your entire life commenting on every single post in a Facebook Group.
No way, Jose.
But if you want the community to embrace you and your Trade and Construction business, the most POWERFUL way to do that is to become part of the community.
And here’s the clever bit.
When you join a local Facebook Group, it may let you join as your Trade and Construction Business Profile (not all of them will let you. Some will only allow your Personal Profile to join).
But check if you can do this.
When you click the JOIN button of the Group, if it allows you to join as your Trade and Construction Business Profile, then a window will appear asking if you want to join as one of your Pages.
So be sure to click that one before proceeding.
💥 If you do join a Facebook Group as your Trade and Construction Business Profile, then make sure when you comment on other people’s posts you are commenting as your Trade and Construction business.
(Incase you are a member as your Personal Profile, and it flips back to that).
Why?
✅ Your business and brand name are going to get heaps more exposure.
✅ People can click straight through to your Trade and Construction Facebook Business Page...
✅ …Which is a great way to build your own social media following.
✅ You start humanising your business when people see your Trade and Construction Profile interacting and engaging with them...
✅ …Which helps kick that stereotype ‘Cowboy Trade’ label to the curb.
✅ Your business brand starts building positive relationships with these members.
✅ If you have someone in your team helping you with social media, they can also go in and comment as your Trade and Construction business when they are signed in – meaning even more engagement from your business.
Some serious brand and marketing benefits right there. 💥
Now.
This can get TOTALLY overwhelming if you are a member of 100 different Facebook Groups and try to interact like this everywhere.
So don’t.
Choose 2 or 3 Facebook Groups where your Ideal Client hang out and put your focus there.
Show up in their comments weekly, or even daily.
5 minutes a day to have a quick scroll and see who you can help or what you can engage with as your Trade and Construction Business Profile in your chosen groups.
Because you are better off showing up in less places and doing it fully and in the right way, than being a ghost in lots of places. 👻
Ok. Next…
2. Post helpful content from your Trade and Construction Facebook Profile.
We now understand that we are not in these Facebook Groups to sell.
We are here to be part of the community.
And that by doing this, we create more Brand Awareness for our Trade and Construction business which means the community will think of US when they are ready and in the market for our Trade.
Excellent.
So until then, we want to show up and help people as much as possible.
Now.
There will be one of 2 Facebook Group types you will have joined.
1. A stand alone, free Facebook Group.
2. A paid Facebook Group that is linked to a business or directory.
If it is the latter, then you will only be able to post in these Groups if you are a paying customer to that business.
So bare these points in mind from this point on.
Whether you are posting in a FREE Facebook Group or are part of a directory that allows you to post in their Group, showing up consistently with valuable content of your own, should be the focus for your brand.
❌ NOT selling.
So how do I do this, I hear you say?
Show us behind the scenes and educate us, of course.
And this does not involve nearly HALF the work you think it will.
Example.
🎨 Maybe you’re a Decorator.
And you’re on an external painting job.
Perhaps you have a technique that helps with painting pebble dash render.
The job you’re doing right now.
You could post a short video of how you do it to get the best results.
Perhaps your local area has many properties that were built between the 1920’s and 1950’s when this was popular.
Yes I did my research. Thank you, Google. 👌🏽
So posting a video in the Facebook Group for the local area, showing people a few tips and tricks that they could use and will find useful for their property means they are likely to remember you as and when they need help to do theirs.
Brilliant.
🍃 Maybe you’re a Gardener.
And you have a few ideas on how best to protect certain small trees and plants in your garden over the Winter period.
You could post a photo on the Facebook Group showing what you do to protect them, what materials you use to wrap certain plants and detail how the Facebook Group members can follow suit in the status.
Awesome.
🧽 Maybe you’re a Cleaning Company.
And you have the perfect break down of a home-made washing solution for cleaning down the UPVC of internal windows.
A solution that keeps it dust-free and spotless for longer.
You could post a photo of all the ingredients you use so that members of the Facebook Group can make their own and start freshening up their homes.
Epic.
The list is absolutely endless.
Breaking down all the knowledge you have in your Trade and Construction business into bite-size tips and making short posts about them in your chosen Facebook Groups.
✅ To be memorable.
✅ Helpful.
✅ And part of the community.
Whilst none of this needs to take up more than a few minutes of your day.
A video can be filmed and posted within minutes if it’s a job you’re actually doing right now.
Like securing and protecting a client’s planting.
So theme your posts around what you’ve got going on in the business that day, week or month.
And you don’t need to worry about losing clients because you’re sharing secrets, tips and tricks in the Facebook Group.
Us mere mortals may very well give a few of your easy tips a go.
But I don’t care HOW brilliant your video is, there is no chance in hell I am painting the front, back and side of my semi-detached pebble dashed house by myself.
No siree.
Though if you post a video showing me how you do it so perfectly and position yourself as the expert, then no prizes for guessing who I will be calling… ☎️
🟡 IMPORTANT.
There is no point posting once in the Facebook Group and not doing so again for another 6 months.
Whilst your competition is popping up in there on the regular.
So be consistent.
Start by doing it once a week.
And do iteveryweek.
Without fail.
Same time if it makes it easier.
E.g. Every Tuesday at 11am.
So folk can start recognising you and your posts.
Then you can start doing it a little more often.
Some of these Facebook Groups havethousandsof local members in there.
Which has some insane positives.
But good to remember that the bigger the Group, the more quickly your posts are likely to get pushed down into the Facebook ether as other people’s posts take over.
So if you don’t post for 6 month, in Facebook time, it’s more like 6 millennia.
Be consistent.
🟢 REMINDER:
Where possible, make sure you are posting as your Trade and Construction Facebook Profile, not your personal.
3. Post sociable content from your Trade and Construction Facebook Page into the Group.
We’ve talked about being helpful and posting useful tips, tricks and advice about your Trade that can help members of the Facebook Group.
Now we’re going to do a full 180.
I’m now going to tell you to also post non-business related, sociable content in the Facebook Group from your Trade and Construction Business Facebook Page.
So what does that mean?
It means putting your business to the side for a second and posting in the Group as a ‘human’.
Examples.
⭐️ Perhaps you’ve used a local company, a Trade perhaps, to help you in your home.
They are a member of the Facebook Group and you want to post a photo of them working in your home, with your thanks and highly recommending them to the community.
⭐️ Perhaps you’ve used a local florist to send some flowers for Mother’s Day.
They are a member of the Facebook Group and you want to post a photo of your mum (if she’s not camera shy) with the bouquet and how delighted she was with them.
⭐️ Perhaps you’re attending a local festival in the Park with your family.
You take a few snaps of everyone enjoying the picnic and listening to the local bands then post them in the Facebook Group (on the day or just after) from your Trade and Construction Business Page.
What do all these posts have in common?
They are about other people and how YOU support the community.
Community loves community.
And when we see that you throw yourself into supporting others, in time, the community will want to do the same for you.
This isn’t about posting your entire personal life in a Facebook Group.
Oh no.
Though we all know a fair few people that do.
The ’sociable’ posts could be 1 in every 4 times you post, for example.
But it’s about sharing with us that there are people behind your Trade and Construction business brand and that we get a little insight into who they are.
That they are just like us.
With families.
Or live in our area.
Or buy from the same florists as us.
Or go to the same events in the Park that we do.
We start crushing that negative stereotype of the Trade and Construction industry.
And we start building deeper relationships… Before we’ve even met you.
It starts to feel like we know you before we do.
This gives us greater confidence in reaching out and enquiring.
You’re likely to get more engagement from these types of posts.
Someone comments.
You comment back.
Full conversations start to be had in the comment box.
People check out your Business Page (that you posted from).
You’re even more memorable now as contact has already started – even if it was about the local Festival.
The ice has been broken. ❄️
So be a conversation starter.
For the right reasons.
And build your own community within these Facebook communities.
🟢 REMINDER:
Where possible, make sure you are posting as your Trade and Construction Facebook Profile, not your personal.
⬇️ 3 THINGS TO START DOING IN FACEBOOK GROUPS FOR YOUR TRADE & CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS RUNDOWN:
*Post from your Trade and Construction Business Page, where possible…
1. Start commenting on other people’s Facebook posts.
2. Post helpful content with tips, tricks and advice from your Trade.
3. Post non-business related, sociable, content to show you’re part of the community.
Need a little more help nailing Facebook for your Trades and Construction Business?
Course you do.
First. Let’s work out where you are with Facebook.
Got 3 minutes?
Take our Trades Quiz to discover how you score with Facebook and all things ‘Off The Tools’.
We have heaps of tips, tricks, and hacks for your Trades business in our cheat sheets, videos and ideas waiting for you on the other side… i.e., your results page.
So, you can improve your score. And NAIL your Trades business.