S5E13 | “unpause” your group

“So the first step would be to figure out why do you want to unpause it? What is the group going to be for? And what is it not going to be for?”

About a year ago a bunch of people decided to leave Facebook and said they were shutting down their groups and never coming back. I kept an eye on who left, and everyone seemed to come back and be active again..and guess who wasn’t surprised? 

Here’s the truth. It’s hard for us to leave. I’ve been on since 2006, and when you have a great community, and get used to the functionality of groups, it’s even harder. 

A lot of people are still trying to move their free and paid groups off of Facebook, and they’re excited about how it works…until it doesn’t. Some new membership platforms have an app that people need to download to use, or it’s a tab in their browser. 

I think I can say that all of us are a bit app fatigued. There really is an app for everything, but it’s almost overwhelming at this point. When I go to buy a membership or program from someone and I have to put another app on my phone, I’m highly resistant. And if the membership program is available as a tab in the browser, if you’re anything like me, it might get lost in the 100s of tabs you have open at the same time.  

But with Facebook, almost everyone already has it on their phones so it’s even easier to get group notifications or to create posts. Facebook groups just seem to have it locked down. 

So what if you’re like the people I mentioned before who left Facebook? How do you come back to your group and pick up engagement again? How can we get our communities to drive our business again? 

There’s nothing wrong with pausing your group. You might just need a mental break or vacation, or maybe you need to take a step back and re-look at your business. 

If you’ve paused your group or want to start it up again, the first thing you need to do is to consider why you want to bring back your group. What is the group going to be for? Does the cover image still match your brand? Does the name of the group need to be changed? Make sure you check your description too! Do all of these things before you unpause your group, and really plan it out. 

Pick a date when you’re going to unpause your group, and make a big hoopla! Create a promotional plan to bring people back and to reach new members. Tell people why you’re reviving your group, and then make sure to connect with them right away. If you’re on Facebook Live, say their names. Then have some sort of event in your group that pulls people in, or teach in your group.

If you want to learn more about how to unpause your group, take my Wake Up Your Dead Facebook Group Course! I’ll show you how to gently break the awkward silence when your group has been dormant, and how to increase engagement with three easy methods. As a workshop bonus, I also added five super easy engaging posts that you can copy and paste. These are posts that have worked for me and my clients, and there are five there for you to choose from, so check it out!