by Edie Melson @EdieMelson
Yep, you read the title of this post correctly. Facebook has finally given professional pages the options of starting or linking to a group.
In the past, there was only one way to start a group or join a group—from the Facebook personal profile. Now that has changed.
Very quietly, Facebook began testing the Groups for Pages option in March of this year. It must have gone well because on July 19, they rolled out Groups for Pages for everyone.
In June, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook is turning the growth of group membership into a goal. "We want to help 1 billion people join meaningful communities If we can do this it will not only reverse the whole decline in community membership we've seen around the world... but it will also strengthen our social fabric and bring the world closer together.
What does this mean for authors?
Probably quite a lot—if author's are savvy enough to make it work.
It's now possible for an author to run a fan club, book club, even a launch team, directly from his or her own professional author page. This means that those who are interested in a specific author—or even a publishing house—can have insider access through a group.
All the usability of the Facebook groups we're already familiar with are there.
How to create a FB group from an author page
1. Go to your author page home page.
2. Click on Groups (at the bottom of the menu on the left side of the screen)
3. Name your group
4. Choose the group designation
In the past, there was only one way to start a group or join a group—from the Facebook personal profile. Now that has changed.
Very quietly, Facebook began testing the Groups for Pages option in March of this year. It must have gone well because on July 19, they rolled out Groups for Pages for everyone.
In June, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook is turning the growth of group membership into a goal. "We want to help 1 billion people join meaningful communities If we can do this it will not only reverse the whole decline in community membership we've seen around the world... but it will also strengthen our social fabric and bring the world closer together.
What does this mean for authors?
Probably quite a lot—if author's are savvy enough to make it work.
It's now possible for an author to run a fan club, book club, even a launch team, directly from his or her own professional author page. This means that those who are interested in a specific author—or even a publishing house—can have insider access through a group.
All the usability of the Facebook groups we're already familiar with are there.
How to create a FB group from an author page
1. Go to your author page home page.
2. Click on Groups (at the bottom of the menu on the left side of the screen)
3. Name your group
4. Choose the group designation
- Public: anyone can find it and anyone can join it
- Private: anyone can search and find it, but must request permission to join
- Secret: no one can search and find the group, all members must be invited manually
5. Add a picture, description, etc.
NOTE: If you want to change the group designation or modify the group settings here's how:
- Click on the small dots to the right of notifications (below the cover photo)
- Scroll down and click on change privacy settings
- You can also choose a group type to help members know what they're joining.
Bottom Line
Personally, I'm excited about this new option to connect with my readers through this new option. How about you? Let's do some brainstorming, how are you going to utilize this new Facebook feature? Be sure to leave your thoughts below!
Don't forget to join the conversation!
Blessings,
Edie
TWEETABLES
This is great, Edie! I just returned from a writing conference and had discussed using FB groups as a way to maintain some relationships forged there.
ReplyDeleteJoy!
Kathy
Kathy, great idea! Thanks for dropping by, blessings, E
DeleteI'd really like to transition from my personal profile solely to my author page and keep all professional interaction there. Maybe this will help!
ReplyDeleteLindsey, I think this is going to go a long way to make that feasible. Theres is so much we can do with this! Blessings, E
DeleteThis is great news! Thanks for keeping us up to date, Edie.
ReplyDeleteCynthia, thank you!
DeleteSO good to know--thanks for giving us the low-down. You're awesome!
ReplyDeleteRhonda, I try to stay up to date on what's out there - so glad I'm able to help! Blessings, E
DeleteThank you for this information. I don't know how I will use this new feature. My book came out eight days ago and I want to reach as many people with the news of its availability as possible. I have a page for my book and wanted to keep it for writers and bloggers with whom I am acquainted.Book Title:Times of Trouble Bring Rays of Joy.
ReplyDeleteA page is good! You can also offer more info for a select group of readers who sign up for a group. Perhaps sharing stories of why you write it, offering them a place to connect with others who are struggling and searching for joy. Think of it almost like an active newsletter. Typically a newsletter goes out once, readers read it and they're done. With a group we can keep the conversation going. Blessings, E
DeleteThis is great! Thank you. Printed it out to keep with what to do when....
ReplyDeleteChristine, glad I was able to help! Blessings, E
DeleteThanks Edie, like some of the others I am still not sure what to do with it since this is so new, but hope you will let us know some great ideas later on!
ReplyDeleteRose, take a look at my reply above to Quietspirit. I posted some ideas there. Blessings, E
DeleteThanks for the info. I linked my author page to my already established group. Now I can post from my author profile.
ReplyDeleteKimberly, that's awesome! Great use for this. Blessings, E
DeleteThe Facebook Author Page to me is a complete conundrum. It seems no matter what I read - I still can't get that page to "perform" as an effective tool. That said, Facebook is regularly sending me notes about boosting and advertising. I can't help but think it's more of an engine for Facebook than this poor author. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteBrad, Facebook sees all professional pages as lost advertising revenue. Their plan is to monetize that area of FB. BUT they've realized that they have to offer more before people will pay to play. So just like groups for pages, we'll probably see more cool stuff being released. Blessings, E
DeleteEdie, thanks so much for this exciting news! Will definitely keep this in mind. Appreciate you!
ReplyDeleteCynthia, happy to help! Blessings, E
DeleteEdie, thank you so much for this! Your post raised another question. I frequently get friend requests for my personal FB page from people I do not know or do not know well. I would like to divert them to my Author Page. Does FB allow me the option of redirecting these friend requests to my Author Page? Also, do Author Pages allow for friend requests or simply for "Likes"? Thanks for your help with this. I posted my questions here as I thought others might have the same questions. Thanks and Blessings!
ReplyDeleteFacebook doesnt allow you to forward requests to a page from a personal profile. Also you can only FRIEND someone on a personal profile, not a Page. I hope this helps, blessings, E
DeleteIts helps a lot. Thank you, Edie! :). Blessings to you, too! - MaryAnn
ReplyDeleteJust set up my group. I'll be using it to replace the Facebook page I set up in 2013 when A Woman's Guide to Reading the Bible in a Year was published. I haven't been posting there and it still gets lots of views and likes.
ReplyDelete