{"id":1168,"date":"2017-05-25T11:44:58","date_gmt":"2017-05-25T04:44:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christweten.com\/?p=1168"},"modified":"2020-11-11T13:57:30","modified_gmt":"2020-11-11T06:57:30","slug":"facebook-group-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christweten.com\/facebook-group-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Boost Facebook Group Growth 923%: A Real Life Case Study"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
For context, I need to explain the original purpose of the Facebook group I ran this growth experiment on. Elegantly titled Shitposting in Asia Ironically\u2122, or SIAI for short, was a group aimed at expats living in Asia. Its sole purpose was to share memes about the absurd elements of living in Asia. For those out of the loop, Urban Dictionary defines shitpost<\/a> as a verb meaning \u201cto make utterly worthless and inane posts on an internet messageboard\u201d. Sometimes I don\u2019t agree with Urban Dictionary, but in this case I do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As far as content goes, SIAI contained the kind of stuff you\u2019d miss out on as a tourist. My group had less restrictions than the typical regional expat group. People could share more controversial news articles and memes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SIAI originally started as a means for me to manage UGC (user generated content) for a meme page I started a few years ago, Living in Asia Ironically (LIAI<\/a>). Facebook hasn\u2019t updated its Page inbox management features in a very long time. If fans send in pictures for me to post, it\u2019s a pain. I\u2019d have to open up a message, click the photo, then click download.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My solution was to create a Facebook Group to handle UGC. Groups can easily be scraped using free solutions, but there aren\u2019t many options for a Page\u2019s Inbox. Thus, SIAI was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m no stranger to organic Facebook growth<\/a> and groups are no exception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Members of this group were highly engaged. Many have said that posts from the group dominate their newsfeed. This leads to even more engagement and growth. Before embarking on the 3 day experiment, I started with 8887 group members and ended it with 10,318. <\/strong>My flaw in calculating the 923% growth rate is that I hadn\u2019t taken good notes on average growth beforehand. Facebook doesn\u2019t provide analytics for Groups like it does for Pages so I was out of luck there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From memory, I recall gaining a bare minimum of 10 in a day and up to 50 when things were really picking up. To be more modest with my growth rate, I took the +50 stat. My true growth rate could very well be much higher than 923%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are 2 sides to this story and both involved quite a bit of teamwork. I couldn\u2019t have done it alone, but I also didn\u2019t have to spend a single dollar. Side A was rebranding the group to appeal to a much larger audience. Side B was using a combination of free tactics to take full advantage of the rebrand. Shitposting in Asia Ironically\u2122 was no more. Say hello to Living in Asia\u2122!<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the record, these aren\u2019t trademarked names. Adding \u201c\u2122\u201d to a shitposting group\u2019s name is a meme in and of itself. Popular examples are Simpsons Shitposting\u2122<\/a> and Twin Peaks LogPosting\u2122<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You only need 1,000 true fans to succeed. Kevin Kelly<\/a> is famous for coming up with this concept. The theory goes like this: You will make much more money off the first 1,000 fans than anything you gain after. Kevin calls them true fans, but I call them super fans because they truly empower any brand you\u2019re trying to build.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To start off the growth experiment, I made a post in SIAI. It explained what I was trying to achieve and asked for help from fans. This was a crucial element in the growth hack\u2019s success. Without my group of Super Fans helping me out, it would have surely failed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Living in Asia\u2122 was meant to appeal to a much larger audience of people in Asia. Not just expats. Not just meme connoisseurs. My sights were set on expats in Asia, backpackers, travel groups and even regional business communities. With close to\u00a0over 9,000<\/a>\u00a0fans before the experiment, there was no hope of getting everyone in on my plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I created a Facebook Messenger group chat for the super fans. It kept them up with the planning and execution phases of the Facebook Group growth hack. To brand with the new group identity, I got them to flood the Living in Asia\u2122. These posts reflected the re-brand and drowned out the usual feed of memes, insider jokes and news articles.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat was my strategy for unlocking Facebook Group member growth?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Leveraging Super Fans to Help with Rebranding to Living in Asia\u2122<\/h3>\n\n\n\n