The Definitive Guide To Building and Maintaining a Photography Client Facebook Group!
Creating a free Facebook group for your photography business is an easy way to book more clients, as well as maintain a place to build trust and value within your community. Because you have full control as the group creator and administrator, you are able to take your group in the direction of your choosing, and use it as a platform to engage with your clients and potential clients. Creating a Facebook group is imperative to the success of your photography business.
The Three Main Ways To Build Up Your Facebook Group
The first way to build up your Facebook group is to use your pre-existing email list to invite members to your group. If you need more subscribers on your email list, try getting involved in your local community, attending networking events, and getting in touch with old clients.
The second way is to use cross-promotions. This entails enticing group members to join your group across multiple social networks. This is important because different users use multiple social media networks, so you may find that you draw in Facebook group members from IG or LinkedIn.
The third way is to use Facebook ads to draw in new members. You can set your ad budget and target demographics and watch as your engagement soars, for as little as, say, $7 to $14 a week, depending on how many clients you have.
Jenn Bruno Smith has a VIP Facebook group of more than 13,000 women. She uses it for social proof, giveaways, and to interact and build trust with her following. She recently ran a giveaway that grew her list by 4,500 contacts and more than 2,500 new Facebook group members. She booked over 100 clients from that single campaign. Here is the link to that training: The High Rollers Club
Facebook Groups Versus Facebook Pages: Why Groups Are Better For Businesses
For business owners, Facebook groups can be better than Facebook pages.
Groups allow for a more concise, focused, and engaging environment for your members. Groups allow for discussions and the exchange of information, whereas pages merely promote your business without much attention to consumer response.
Facebook groups are great because they allow for positive client feedback, social engagement, and opportunities for you to network with your ideal clients while providing them with the highest value. Facebook groups also allow for more organic exposure, whereas Facebook pages are at the mercy of the ever-changing Facebook algorithm. This allows for easier ranking enabling relevant people to find your group more easily.
Facebook groups also create a place where users can generate content and discussions, and share ideas. Employees and assistants can help generate the content as well, so if you get a good crowd, you won’t have to generate as much of the content because the members will ask questions, interact with each other, and keep you top of mind.
In Facebook groups, the most commented and liked posts are automatically placed at the top of the group. This lets you see in real-time what your members are most interested in. You can then gauge the passions and interests of your members, and use this to the advantage of your business.
Another benefit of Facebook groups is that you can create secret groups that are only accessible to select clients/members, or clients of a certain tier. This is perfect if your photography business has an exclusive audience, and it can also be used to provide an added bonus to loyal clients.
Creating a secret Facebook group also gives you the opportunity to have private feedback from your most loyal and engaged customers. They can discuss your products and services without public scrutiny. This can be incentivizing for your clients and also provide tremendous value to you, as the business owner.
Facebook groups also allow you to discuss relevant topics of interest, as opposed to just promoting your products and services. This makes for a more entertaining and informative environment that is not solely sales-driven.
Facebook groups have the added benefit of attracting the most promising prospects and allowing you to shine as a leader in your field. For example, The more you post about photography tips and tricks, or how to get the most from your photo sessions, the more you will draw in people interested in finding out more about your business. When your clients know your page is a valuable resource, they will engage regularly and feel comfortable asking questions or sharing their own tips and experiences.
The Importance Of Post Consistency
It is crucial to be consistent with your Facebook posts. To get a good idea about what kind of content to post, you can explore other booming photography pages and websites. See which posts have the most comments and reactions, and see what about those posts users are most excited about. You shouldn’t copy anyone’s content, but you can use it as a starting point for ideas in your own group.
Another great way to build up the content in your group is to make your articles or posts into series. Find out what clients are searching for within your area of expertise, and see if you can deep dive into that topic in a way that no other expert has done before. This will make your group more intriguing and spark discussions and reactions that will generate interest and increased profits for your business.
Going Live In Your Group To Boost Engagement And Interest
Going live in your Facebook group is a great way to open the doors of communication with your clients and potential clients. Going live 3-5 times per week will make your business feel friendly, approachable, informative, and interesting. It will put a face to the name and humanize your business beyond merely posting content geared towards turning a profit.
When you go live, you can talk about predetermined topics or you can prepare a Q&A session where you answer questions about your particular products and services. You can also do a mix of both. Be sure to prepare an outline in advance, but maintain eye contact and a personable demeanor so that you don’t appear to be simply reading off a script.
A good way to get more people to attend your live sessions is to use drip posts or e-mails. This means that you let your members know about the live stream in advance, using an element of mystery and excitement, so that they will make sure to tune in at the stated time.
You want to make sure you choose a time when as many people as possible can attend the live session. You probably have better odds going live on a weekday (early evening time) or weekend (afternoon) than at 9 AM on a weekday or at dinner time.
Make sure you take time zones into account and plan around which time zone the majority of your demographic resides in.
You can also incentivize members to attend your live by offering a prize giveaway or a special discount code only given to those in attendance. Similarly, you can offer a gift for those who invite others to join or share the live post.
Make sure to remind your audience of what you wish for them to do. State it multiple times in case people enter the live stream late or miss what you said.
A great way to make your members comfortable and engaged is to use a humorous tone. You are more likely to build a rapport and get them to come back for the next live if you can get the audience to laugh and relate to what you are saying. The same goes for marketing emails and group posts.
Humor is one of the top ways to get people comfortable enough to spend money on your product. It breaks through the fear barrier and alleviates any concern or worry the client may have around spending. Your humor should be professional, relevant, unforced, and appropriate… never offensive or crude. In other words, keep it PG!
More Tips For Going Live In Your Group
When going live, you need to look presentable, well-groomed, and prepared. The worst thing you can do is show up looking frazzled, nervous, or unprofessional. You will want to wear business casual clothing or at least a nice polo or blouse.
Find a quiet space in your home or office, make sure it is well lit, and be sure to test your internet connection, mic, and camera BEFORE going live. Have your notes in front of you, BREATHE, and try not to worry about how many people did or did not show up for the live session. Remember, your video will remain in the group indefinitely, so there will likely be many replays once your live stream has ended.
Finally, remember that it takes time to build up your group and your audience, and keep your expectations and fears to a minimum. It’s like they always say… “Rome wasn’t built in a day!”
Using Testimonials To Bolster Your Group
Testimonials from happy clients can strengthen your group and provide valuable content that leads to more business. Nothing can boost your reputation (and profits) like gushing words freely given by satisfied customers. Positive feedback such as testimonials lets your group members know that other people are willing to vouch for you. It can be even more effective than paid advertising.
That testimonial’s from The High Rollers Club Photography Facebook Group. You can join it here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/boudoirhighrollersclub/
In order to create a goldmine of testimonials, you need to ask EVERY satisfied customer to provide feedback. You may acquire this through email or a simple form on your website. You may even let your clients know that they can text you their satisfied evaluations if that is easier for them. Be open and willing to receive positive feedback through any format! You may wish to paraphrase testimonials and post them from your own account. You can also have the client post them in the group. Also, encourage them to leave a 5-star rating wherever possible on Yelp or Google My Business.
Protecting Your Group
In order to protect your group and preserve the quality of content, you want to set three questions for members to answer upon joining the group. This will help ensure you to generate good leads from your group. You want to ask for the email and phone number within these questions and make sure your members agree to conduct themselves in a respectful and pleasant manner. This will protect the integrity of your group and serve as a positive reflection of your photography business.
Finally, you want to personally add each new member as a friend, and send them a welcome message through Facebook messenger. This is extra important if the person left their number and said they wanted more info when answering the welcome questions for the group.
Here is a prime example of how Facebook groups can benefit you. Lydia built a photography group, but she was not getting a lot of bookings from it. She started connecting and messaging her followers, and she scheduled three consults within ONE HOUR of networking with her group members.
In conclusion, know that having a Facebook group for your business is critical. Facebook groups are the perfect way to build rapport with your existing clients and gain new clients. Facebook groups can help boost your reputation and in turn, your business. They are free to use and can reap benefits outweighing those of paid ads or other expensive marketing methods. Your clients will expect you to have a Facebook group, and the value you provide within the group will return to you tenfold.
To learn more about how to boost your photography business and revenue quickly, visit PhotographyToProfits.com.
Humberto Garcia is the world’s leading photography business growth expert.
Founder of Photography to Profits and high-performance coach to multiple 6-figure photography businesses. Humberto coaches photographers from his special operations military experience and photography sales and marketing experience. After years of high performance in Marine Special Operations and building businesses, he knows what works.
