Kassaundra 0:00

Wondering what is actually working for teacherprenuer and Facebook groups in 2024? This episode is spilling all the tea.

Kassaundra 0:09

So teacher authors, go ahead and reheat that cup of coffee, because I'm your host Kassaundra Foster. And we're about to get schooled in socials. Welcome back to school and socials. When I titled this episode, this is what is working well in teacher Facebook groups. I didn't set it up as clickbait to provide you a bunch of generic advice from the social media world. Today, I'm sharing what I have seen work well firsthand in Facebook groups, run by teacherpreneurs, just like yourself in 2024. We're talking the logistics of the group, posting in the group,maintenance of the group, all of it, so you can leave with some ideas that can help your Facebook group thrive.

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First things first, I've come to know that if a Facebook group doesn't have logistics down, it's going to be hard for it to be successful. So that's exactly where we need to start. Here are three things I've seen successful teacher groups have in place. Number one, strong membership questions that truly help you discern if someone is your ideal community member, and truly only allowing people into the group, if they have answered each question fully. Here's the thing. Does it stink to decline someone who might have been a fit, but didn't take the time to answer all the questions 100%. But you want your group filled with people who really care about the topic, you are giving them space to learn and chat about. People who can't even take two minutes to answer three membership questions with coherent answers aren't the kind of people who are going to create that strong community for you. If they are truly interested, they will take a minute and fill out those answers appropriately. I found this is really a case of quality over quantity if you want an active group. number two, having an intro message setup, so that our reminder of the group rules and an invitation to download a relevant freebie is the first thing people see when they open the group, the time between when you accept a member and when they actually jump into the group could potentially be a bit and probably by the time they jump in and want to start engaging. They've already forgotten about those rules, and how you could potentially help them. So by having that intro message feature turned on, and including a rules overview, as well as that relevant freebie to show people your value and move them further down your funnel right away can make a huge difference. Number three, having a weekly welcome post giving members more background on the group and the resources we offer that can help them and changing these messages periodically depending on your goals. For example, adding a link to your latest lead magnet or dropping information about your course that currently has the doors open, making those members feel welcome, giving them the space to introduce themselves. And again reminding them of how you can help them fosters that sense of community while also helping you reach your business goals.

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Once you have some strong logistics in place and kind of set on autopilot for yourself. It's time to start thinking about posts for your group. And the post recipe I have seen work best for cultivating a community and moving members down your funnel consists of engagement questions that foster connections, and engagement questions that help you conduct market research. So asking people's opinions or thoughts on certain topics, asking them specifics about their teaching situation so they can connect with others in the group who are in that same spot. Having them share about their biggest wins, and their biggest barriers. Those can all help open up conversation among you and members, and among members themselves, while giving you valuable information about what content they would find most helpful for you to post. The second part of that recipe consists of posting a mix of free content, so about blog posts, lead magnets, etc. and paid resources based both on the time of year and what people have been talking about in your group. So see a lot of people talking about struggling to engage students in reading when gathering some qualitative data. Head back to the last episode if you're aren't sure what I mean. Bam. Here's a blog post fresh off the press with the top five ways you can engage elementary students in reading lessons, you have help solve one of their pain points. see a lot of people asking for CVC word activity ideas. Bam, here's my year long bundle of hands on CVC word activities from my TPT store that you can grab, you have solved the pain point. See a lot of people looking for information about teaching students reading that are below grade level. Bam. Here's a freebie that outlines my top tips for those situations, you have helped solve a pain point. Okay, see what I'm getting at. Pay attention. Let members tell you what they need, and then serve it up in a variety of ways so that they can access free and paid value from you.

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Finally, we need to talk about how successful teacher Facebook groups maintain their group. Because unfortunately, this is not just a set and forget it kind of situation. As with most social media, the best way that I've seen is checking into the group daily. And no, this doesn't have to be a huge task on your to do list. between myself and my clients. We typically check into groups for like 10 or so minutes a day. And we just vet new members, we read through new posts, add comments, if possible, giving free or paid options as suggestions, and make sure group guidelines are being followed. Just getting your eyes in the group for a short time on a regular basis means you can really keep ahead of any slipping of the rules and keeps your name and brand top of mind in the conversations that are happening there. Beyond that runners of successful teacher groups pay attention to and take note of the topics that people are discussing. What are they asking questions about what kind of resources are they looking for? This helps drive what we share in the group like I talked about earlier, and gives us ideas for future blog post freebies paid resources, right. And finally, strategically posting a reminder of the group rules after a period of quick growth has been invaluable. It reminds old members what is expected of them if they have started to stray. And it helps set the tone for the newbies so that you can create the kind of community that truly helps the teachers you are working with.

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So there you have it nothing flashy, or trendy. Just all the things I've seen actually working for teacher printers with their Facebook groups and 2024. They are strategically setting up their groups with strong membership questions, Intro messages and welcome posts. They're posting a mix of engagement questions and resource based posts. And they are maintaining their groups by getting their eyes on the conversations every day, even for a few minutes and correcting the ship early and often.

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Are you running a teacher Facebook group right now? I would love to hear about all the things that you are doing. Whether you feel like they work or not come over to Instagram and drop me a DM so that we can chat.

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Alright, cold coffee friends. Thanks so much for listening. If you're loving getting schooled in socials, make sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode. Also, I would love it if you left a review so that other teacher authors like you can start getting schooled in socials too. All right, I'll see you in the next episode.