Organic reach Facebook for business pages is down to, like, 2%. That means that for every 100 people who ‘like’ your page on Facebook, there’s only two people seeing what you actually post.

The number can vary a little – for example, if you’re producing truly amazing content attracting lots of likes/comments/share or you run a page with naturally great engagement (like a popular sports team), but not by much.

For service based businesses thinking that they can start a Facebook page, start posting and then wait for the attention, likes, comments and leads to roll in, that’s a pretty sobering reality, right?

So, is Facebook dead for business?

HELL NO.

What it means though, is that businesses need to start doing things a little differently. The days of free, easy attention on Facebook is gone, and if you want attention you’re gonna need some killer Facebook marketing tips to help you get there.

Meet Pru Chapman.

FOLLOW THE COURSE CARTEL ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM FOR DAILY SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING TIPS AND TRICKS.

Her business, Owners Collective, is doing just that.

Owners Collective is a dedicated digital community for early stage entrepreneurs, providing tools, tips, education and inspiration to help people create sustainable and profitable businesses.

And, they are killing it on Facebook.

On the surface, their (close to) 10,000 Facebook fans is impressive in itself. It’s when you look under the bonnet, though, that you really start to see that these guys have nailed, well, everything when it comes to Facebook marketing.

First and foremost, their community of Facebook following is one of the most highly engaged around.

They have over 70 raving five star reviews, not only for their business but also for the quality of the content they give away for free.

And in their closed ‘Launching Legends’ Facebook group, they have more than 2,600 members (and counting) and a super active and friendly community.

I can only imagine that this sort of Facebook strategy is doing wonders for Owners Collective as a business, and it’s something that ALL service-based businesses regardless of their industry can learn from.

We had a chat to Pru to get her Facebook marketing tips.

WE’RE SO IMPRESSED WITH ALL THINGS FACEBOOK WHEN IT COMES TO THE OWNERS COLLECTIVE. TELL US A LITTLE BIT WHAT YOU’RE DOING IN THIS SPACE AND WHAT HAS BEEN MOST SUCCESSFUL FOR YOUR BUSINESS?

We love Facebook.

Yes, for real!

As a business, Facebook has given us the opportunity to connect with a global community like never before.

It’s certainly kept us on our toes, and as a dynamic platform that’s continually striving to drive a better experience for the user, it pushes us to do the same!

This has meant that we’ve ebbed and flowed and sometimes completely changed the way we engage with it over the past few years.  The good news is that each transition has put us in a better and better place.

Right now, we’re loving Facebook groups and the conversations that enables us to have with our community every day.

While our numbers aren’t huge, our engagement is off the hook, so much so that we have staff now dedicated to making sure that our community have the best possible experience they can in our Facebook Groups.

It’s enabling a whole new in the minute conversation, where I can gauge in real time what our community are looking for and how we can better support them.

GOOD QUALITY CONTENT IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT PART OF A GOOD FACEBOOK STRATEGY, AND IS SOMETHING OWNERS COLLECTIVE DO VERY WELL. WHAT SORT OF CONTENT DO YOU PRODUCE, AND WHAT WORKS THE BEST?

With our content we always aim to inspire and educate.

We understand that creating a business that supports the lifestyle that our members want to live is super important to them, so we place lifestyle and adventure on equal footing with actually business know-how.

With this in mind we work closely with our community to find out what content they want from us, and then we create form there. We do this through polls, surveys, and generally listening closely to the conversations that are happening within our Facebook groups.

From there, we get busy with reaching out to Business Mavens and Mavericks who can give us the latest on-point advice, and then deliver it through blogs, Facebook Live’s and posts.

Right now we’re delivering a lot of content around marketing and mindset, which is pretty cool, because they also happen to be my two favourite topics!  Facebook Live’s are also going nuts, and recently Mark Zuckerberg said that in five years Facebook will be entirely video so if you’re not already comfy in front of a camera, I’d encourage you to try it out stat!

YOUR CLOSED FACEBOOK GROUP ‘LAUNCHING LEGENDS’ IS ONE OF THE MOST ENGAGED AND SUCCESSFUL THAT I HAVE SEEN! WHAT HAS STARTING THIS GROUP ACHIEVED FOR YOUR BUSINESS THAT YOUR BUSINESS PAGE COULD NOT?

Facebook for business has changed dramatically in the last few years, and we’ve done our best to move and roll with it.  Organic reach for Facebook pages has been down for a long time now, and in any case it always felt like quite a one-way conversation.

Facebook groups create SO much more opportunity.

Within our groups there’s an incredible sense of community, and through being super diligent and consistent in our approach to running them we’ve been able to create safe, connected and incredibly supportive spaces.

All of a sudden we’re having conversations that all of our members can contribute to, and they do.

This then creates a really nice full circle where the groups become self sufficient to a certain level – everyone has value to add, and if you create the right environment they absolutely will.

ANY TIPS FOR THOSE WANTING TO START THEIR OWN SUCCESSFUL PRIVATE FACEBOOK GROUP?

They take a lot of time and dedication!

Because it is a two way conversation you need to be willing and ready to really dive in.  I’ve seen lots of Facebook groups pop up, but without a real driving force they either fizzle away, or become something the the organiser never wanted them to become.

I think also assessing whether Facebook groups are aligned with your business goals and therefore where they fit into your overall engagement strategy.  For us at Owners Collective, building communities is what we do best, so Facebook groups are a no brainer (and we love it!).

So we invest time, resources and even specified staff into maintaining the integrity and freshness of our groups.

If you’re thinking about starting a Facebook Group you need to treat it like your living room: welcome people by name, get to know them, be helpful, find out why they’re there and then deliver.

DOES OWNERS COLLECTIVE DO MUCH IN THE WAY OF PAID FACEBOOK ADVERTISING, AND IF SO, TELL US MORE! WHAT FACEBOOK MARKETING TIPS WOULD YOU GIVE TO OTHER BUSINESSES LOOKING TO INVEST IN PAID ADS TO HELP THEM REACH THEIR BUSINESS GOALS?

Indeed we do.

Facebook as an advertising platform is incredibly powerful in that you can be really targeted in terms of who you you want to reach.

That said, it’s not for the faint hearted these days.

For the past two years I managed all of our Facebook advertising personally, however as a platform Facebook is moving so rapidly now that about six months ago I brought in a specialist to run our campaigns.

Again, the investment is warranted because Facebook plays an important role in our outreach strategy for us, so Business Owners dive in they need to ask themselves where it fits in within their own strategy, and then whether it’s worth dabbling or bringing in the pro’s.

I think it’s also worth mentioning that Facebook Advertising is not necessarily the goldmine that a lot of people are trying to portray it as at the moment.

Yes it can be great in attracting leads, however once you have that lead you need to nurture and convert them and of course have a REALLY awesome product so they stay part of your tribe.

HOW HAS ALL OF THIS EFFORT AND HARD WORK HELPED YOUR BUSINESS IN TERMS OF LEADS, BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES AND THE LIKE?

Facebook has created incredibly opportunities for Owners Collective.

The most exciting part for us is really the global community we’ve been able to create and that have become friends.

One of our groups has been running for over two years now, and we’ve shared plenty of love, sweat and tears in there!

Everything from crazy amazing business wins to the birth of babies – one of our members even took a roadtrip from Sydney to the Sunshine Coast and stayed completely with OC members that she met in our FB group!

Overall, it’s crazy exciting to meet entrepreneurs and business owners from all around the world bucking the status quo and rocking their jam every day.

AND FINALLY, IN OUR EXPERIENCE A LOT OF BUSINESS OWNERS ARE FRUSTRATED WITH THE LACK OF REACH AND ENGAGEMENT IN THEIR OWN SOCIAL MEDIA EFFORTS. WHAT WOULD BE FIVE QUICK FACEBOOK MARKETING TIPS YOU WOULD GIVE THEM AS A SERVICE-BASED BUSINESS?

I think if you’re sitting around complaining about Facebook engagement, the first thing you need to do is get over that!  In terms of business page reach it’s a ‘pay to play’ platform now, but the good thing is that you can start at  just a few dollars a day, and experiment with it (and there’s not many other advertising platforms that you can do that on).

But my biggest piece of advice would be to get creative on it – try out a group, or an event, or become part of an existing group.

There’s tonnes of opportunity on there, and you just need to figure out where you like to play in there the best.

Now, straight up:

1// Be consistent

Facebook is a game of endurance.  If you’re there to build a community it takes time and dedication, just like an offline community.  I’d recommend putting together a content calendar (whether it’s for your FB Page or your group) and sticking with it.  You can always freestyle on top, but it will keep you honest, and consistent in the eyes of your community.

2// Be authentic – Be true to yourself, your brand, and your brand values.  People don’t connect with what you do, they connect with why you do it.  So once they dig under the content your values have to be shining bright for people to want to stick around.

3// Deliver real value. Period.

4// Stay educated – Facebook is such a fast moving platform that if you’re going to bring it in as a core strategy you need to stay on top of all the changes going on to make sure that you’re providing the best possible experience for you people.

5// Focus on engagement, not numbers.  This is super key and probably the biggest Facebook marketing tip I have.  While our numbers aren’t massive, but our engagement is off the charts (like 300+ comments per post sometimes in our FB Group), and this makes for real, honest conversations about real topics.  If you deliver great content and really listen to your tribe, they’ll always be back from more. I’d choose 100 super engaged community members over a disengaged 100,000 followers any day of the week.

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Want more Facebook Marketing Tips and tips for nailing your socials? Check out this article on Six Social Media Tips especially for Service-Based Businesses.