As a blogger or online business owner you probably know that sharing captivating visuals on social media is crucial for getting your audience to engage with you. Which means that good social media design is crucial to attracting your ideal customers.

But did you know that the reason has to do with how the human brain processes information?

Consider this:

• Your followers on social media are sorting through thousands of messages every single day, some studies say up to 10,000!
• In order to cope, they sort out what’s meant for them (and what’s not) in the fastest way humanly possible.
• Rather than carefully examining every word, they “skim and scan” first, looking for visual cues to help them find subjects that are relevant to them.
• All of this happens faster than you can imagine. According to this study done by MIT, the human brain processes visual information first and in as little as 13 milliseconds!

Milli. Seconds. ?

Visuals can make or break your engagement, but what makes an effective social media design?

A big mistake people make with design is assuming that its function is just to make things look cool. Ooof! The pressure!

If graphic design isn’t your cup of tea, luckily for you it’s much simpler than that, and I’m going to share some tips that’ll have you feeling like a design pro in no time.

First, let’s go back to how your audience is skimming, scanning, and sorting out messages on social:

The best way to level-up your design game on social media is to begin to think about it as the way you’re going to help your audience understand the context of your post as quickly as humanly possible.

Your graphics should also work hard for you to accomplish several goals:

• Express the personality of your brand. How do you want people to feel when they see something from you in their feed? Do you want to be perceived as trustworthy? Zany? Serious? Inspiring?

Communicating your brand personality visually is accomplished by choosing fonts, colors and imagery that are in alignment with those traits.

• Enhance brand recognition. Recognition leads to trust which makes engaging with your posts more likely. This happens by being consistent with your visuals so your audience instantly notices and registers who it’s from when they see a post from you.
• Remove uncertainty. You want to make sure that your audience knows that if they pay attention to your message it will be useful to them.

This happens when you communicate clearly and avoid using trickery — like irrelevant images just to grab attention and “clickbait” titles that don’t follow through on their promises.  

Why designs fail to capture attention on social media

In most cases, when a design fails to capture attention, it’s because there’s too much information to process and it’s difficult to read or understand.

Good design is only as complicated as it needs to be to communicate clearly and no more. It’s as much about restraint than it is about adding pretty-looking things.

And here’s a secret: designers follow rules. (Yes, rules can be broken! But you first need to know what they are.)

The great thing about that is if creating attention-worthy graphics isn’t something you feel confident about, this is something you can absolutely learn.

Without further ado, let’s dive in to some of these rules so you can take your social media design to the next level!

#1. Determine your most important thing

Think about the MAIN thing you want people to notice about your graphic first. What will your audience care most about?

In design lingo this is called a focal point.

Contrast is an excellent way to draw the eyes where you want them to focus. For  example, you might highlight a highly-descriptive word or phrase with a different color or a contrasting font.

Because “Mother’s Day” is in contrast to the rest, your eyes naturally go there first.

See, it’s not so much about using a pretty color and a pretty font, it’s about solving the problem of “where do I want their eyes to go so they immediately understand this post is for them?”

(BTW, design is just another way to say “problem solving”!)

Before you finalize your design, take look to see if there are any elements that are distracting from your most important thing and remove any visual clutter that’s competing for attention.

#2. Choose 1-2 readable fonts to use consistently

I know how tempting it is to change your fonts every time there’s a sale over on TheHungryJpeg. (You know who you are. *slowly raises hand*)

But reinventing the wheel by experimenting with different fonts for every design you create is not only a bad use of your time, it can actually work against you in the noisy social media feed.

Remember that your audience is looking for cues for what to pay attention to and that it happens fast. By using the same fonts time and time again, you’re training them to recognize and remember your content.

(If you’re getting bored looking at your fonts, you’re doing it right.)

Some ground rules:

Choose one main font for setting text.

At least half of your audience will see your graphics on mobile, so you want to choose a font that’s suuuuper easy to read.

As a rule of thumb, sans serif fonts work best online. You can tell a sans serif font because it lacks the foot-like edges you see with serif fonts.

Google fonts is a great place to find free fonts that are available for commercial use. Just make sure you choose one that comes in multiple styles so you can create lots of contrast between headings, subheadings, and callouts.

Here’s what I mean by lots of styles:

The above example is Fira Sans, but other versatile go-to Google fonts include Open Sans, Roboto, and Raleway.

Test your text on mobile!

I have been soooo guilty of this one because I primarily use my laptop when using social media, but you want to make sure your text is easy to read without squinting when viewing your graphics on a mobile device.

Test on all of the devices you can, because if it’s difficult to read, people aren’t going to zoom in to figure it out — they’re just gonna keep on scrollin’.

Start paying attention to other people’s graphics too. Which ones catch your attention? Which ones are too hard to read to even bother? Which ones are totally (un)missable?

Don’t use too many fonts.

You might’ve heard this one before. But a lot of people misunderstand this advice so I want to dig in a bit deeper and clarify.

First, a font and a typeface are two different things, and it’s helpful to understand the difference because this is where it can get confusing.

Think of a typeface as a font family. For example: Arial is a typeface.

A font is one specific style within that family. For example: Arial regular, Arial bold, and Arial italic are all fonts.

But, the words “font” and “typeface” are used interchangeably these days.

So when someone says “stick to 1-2 fonts” (*ahem*… like I did in the beginning of this section), what they really mean to say is “stick to 1-2 typefaces for your brand.”

(Sometimes 3 but you don’t want to get carried away.)

When I say “don’t use too many fonts” what I mean is don’t use too many font styles — even if you’re only using one typeface.

Still with me? How ‘bout let’s do an example to illustrate.

In the following graphic, I’m only using one typeface: Raleway.

In the example on the left, there are way too many fonts. Notice all the different styles and sizes and weights competing for attention and creating visual chaos. I have no idea where to put my eyes first, do you?

One typeface, too many fonts.

In the example on the right, I’m also using just Raleway, but fewer font styles.

It’s clear that the first thing I want you to notice is that there are a lot of tips in store for you (23!). Then, that this is about “digital product ideas,”  because I used a contrasting color from the rest of the text to set it apart. Then, I want you to notice there’s a free checklist.

This is called visual hierarchy. Take a look at the total composition of your graphic to see if it’s clear what you want people to notice first, then whether it’s obvious  where their eyes should go next and so on.

By reducing the number of font styles used in the second example, I was able to create a sense of quiet in some areas and bring back contrast where I really wanted it.

Think of it like this: every time you add variation to your text — a different weight, size, or style (e.g. initial caps, all caps, italic) — you’re adding a new design element.

And the more design elements you use, the harder it is to create visual harmony and a strong focal point. Rule of thumb is to keep it simple, then make it fancy in strategic places.

Choose one brand-appropriate accent font.

Accent fonts are a fantastic way to draw the eye to something in your text that you want to emphasize, and they help with brand recognition too.

But, probably the biggest design crime out there is abuse of accent fonts.

I know, I know, I love fancy fonts too. But use them carefully and they’ll work much harder for you to capture your audience’s attention.

The main goal we have for your accent font is that it absolutely, positively, no-question-about-it must be READABLE.

Some ground rules:

Never set large bodies of text with a decorative accent font.

You may love your accent font and know what it’s supposed to say, but don’t assume your audience will be able to read it. Anything that’s even remotely hard to read is just not worth the risk.

Below I’m using the same font applied to the word I want you to focus on. Not only does it draw your eyes where I want them to go, it elevates the font and makes it look way cooler!

Choose an accent font that’s brand-appropriate.

Fonts have personality and your accent fonts should reflect your brand’s! It’s not so  much about picking out fonts you find pleasing to look at as it is choosing one that can be a great ambassador for your brand.

Are you casual and relatable consultant? Is your product reliable, sturdy and timeless? Do you stand for luxury and elegance? Do you have a quirky and youthful spirit?

Choose a font that best reflects the way you want people to perceive you.

#3. Choose brand colors and stick to them

Color evokes powerful psychological responses and they vary from person to person and culture to culture.

Rather than following the latest trends or just choosing colors you like, you want to use color strategically to help you stand out and capture attention.

The important things to consider when choosing a color palette for your branded social media graphics are:

Brand appropriate: Same as with fonts, colors have personality so go back to those brand personality traits you want to become known for. Then, choose a palette that’ll help you express those traits.

The most important thing is to use these colors consistently so you can begin to train your audience that when they see your brand colors, they instantly know it’s a post from you.

Competition: take a look at what others in your industry are doing — there are  usually color themes people in your industry or niche will follow.

Now think of ways you can use color to stand out from your competition (while also being brand appropriate).

For example, if everyone in your industry uses corporate blue, consider using Harvard red or forest green.

Versatility: You want to make sure that your colors are versatile enough so there’s enough opportunity for you to create contrast wherever you need it.   

Related: How to Choose Colors That Will Make Your Brand Stand Out

#4. Create some rules for the images you’ll use

Having a game plan for the types of images you’ll use will make researching images exponentially easier and it’ll help you create brand consistency too.

Will you use stock photography? Original photography? Illustrations?

What style? What mood do you want to convey?

Again, think about your brand’s personality and determine a few adjectives you can use when choosing images.

Here’s an example of some image rules I created for a foodie blog brand guide. You can see that by having some rules in place, the images tell a more consistent story.

The more consistent you are in using the same fonts, colors and image styles, the more people will begin to recognize, remember, and grow to trust you. When people trust you, they’re more likely to engage with and share your content.

#5 Make whitespace your design BFF

Whitespace is not necessarily white, think of it as the space between things. One of the best ways to elevate your designs is to pay as much attention to the areas that surround your design elements as the elements themselves. Like…

Don’t push text right up to the edge, give it plenty of margin.

I see this a LOT on social media. While it’s tempting to make your text as big as possible and to use all the space available to you, bigger doesn’t always mean it’s more readable.

It’s actually better to allow plenty of breathing room around the words so the eyes have an easier time focusing.

Align design elements and create even margins.

Wherever you can, make the spaces between things equal to improve visual harmony. Designers very often use grids and rulers and guides, but you don’t need to be pixel-perfect, just eyeballing it works too.

When you look at the following example, you might not immediately see the problem or even the difference between the top left graphic and the right, but when the top and bottom margins are measured, the left is off-balance.

Is this nitpicky? Well yes, it is. But little details like this where something’s slightly off about a composition is like having “visual clutter” — and wherever possible you want to avoid that.

#6. Use relevant images

The other day a graphic caught my attention because it had a photo of yummy-looking, colorful cookies. Problem was, it was a blog post about affiliate marketing. (I’m still perplexed.)

Wherever possible, use relevant images to communicate your message.

The more relevant your image is to the topic of your post or story, the more it’s likely to grab the attention of people who are actually interested in that topic.

The following example works well to capture attention because we all need a weekend getaway to relax at the beach, right?

It immediately makes me go, “OMG I WANT THIS TO BE MY LIFE RIGHT NOW!”

But the following example is even more relevant for people who struggle with the problem of always packing too much for short trips… which is the actual topic. (Not weekend getaways. Sadly.)

The great thing about social media is that you can test different graphics to see what works best!

Because most people are going to miss most of your posts most of the time (thanks algorhithms), it’s perfectly okay and even advised to share your posts multiple times.

Use the opportunity to experiment with different images to see what people respond to.

#7. When setting text on top of a photo, make sure there’s enough contrast

By now you’ve probably caught on that clear, easy to read graphics is the KEY to effective social media design.

One of the most common mistakes I see people making over and over again is setting text on top of a photo with virtually no contrast.

The way to fix that is to either choose photos that have areas with very little detail where text can easily be read when placed on top, or to use an overlay.

An overlay is basically just a shape with a background color either set to full opacity or a bit of transparency so the background can still be recognized.

Flat lay designs are very popular because they’re usually composed in a way that leaves a blank space that works perfectly for adding text on top. So when you’re researching images add the keywords “flat lay” (flat lay desk, flat lay floral, flat lay food, flat lay fitness, etc.) to your search!

#8. Ask for design critiques

I know this is probably a terrifying concept, but one of the very best ways to create more engaging designs is to be open to critique and criticism.

A huge benefit of getting a formal design education is the valuable feedback that happens in the classroom, and professional designers consider processing criticism a necessary aspect of growth.

But you don’t need to go to design school to get the same benefit! If you’re not sure whether something you’ve created is click-worthy, get feedback from people in your target audience.

Facebook groups are great for this! People looooove to engage with “what do you think of this design?” posts. Everybody enjoys sharing their opinions about design.

Then, buckle up, because no design is ever going to satisfy everyone. Just take what’s useful to you and really listen, but don’t take it personally if someone doesn’t like it.

This is the fast track to becoming more objective about what you’re creating which is required for making effective, engaging graphics.

#9. Use analytics

A lot of times people will tell you they LOVE your graphic design handiwork (bless their hearts), but in practice you’re just not seeing the engagement you want.  

This is where analytics can be immensely helpful.

Check your social media analytics and see which tweets, pins and posts are performing the best. Then, look at posts that aren’t as successful.

The reason why could be the subject matter, but it might also be the design. Do you see any patterns in the graphics that perform best or worst?

When you use analytics for anything, think like a scientist:

–What’s working?
—Why do I think it’s working?
–What isn’t working?
—Why do I think it’s not working?

Then form a hypothesis and test it.  

For example: When I look at my top performing Pinterest pins for the last 30 days, I notice that graphics with a teal background are performing best.

I also have pins with pink backgrounds, white backgrounds, yellow backgrounds and gray backgrounds and those didn’t get nearly as much traction.

What’s my theory on this? Well…

• It could mean that people are starting to recognize that teal color and because they trust my content, they’re engaging more.
• It could be the subject matter is more popular and I’m getting better at creating the right content for my audience.
• The teal pops and people love it.
• It’s a coincidence. Maybe I just inadvertently made more teal graphics than usual this month.

It’s really just something to make a mental note of so you can compare results over time and get smarter and smarter about what works and what doesn’t.

But here’s where it gets interesting. The top performing pin uses a new color I’ve recently introduced into my palette–a light blueish-gray color.

This could mean that I’m on to something with this new style, or it could mean that  people just really liked the topic.

Because I saw more engagement on this pin than usual, I’m going to form a hypothesis: that people are responding more favorably to this style of graphic.

I’ll test it by creating more pins (for different blog posts) that follow that style and check back in a month to see what happens.

If those posts perform significantly better than their pink, teal, gray or yellow counterparts, I’ll modify my design templates accordingly going forward.

It doesn’t really matter that I prefer my pretty pink pins, what matters is what my audience responds to. Analytics will always give you the straight scoop and never sugar coat it for you.

And that’s great because when it comes to design, it’s easy to let our own personal taste and assumptions get in the way of results.   

#10. Start with templates

Here’s another secret: there’s no reason to reinvent the wheel if you’re not comfortable designing graphics from scratch.

Using professionally-designed social media design templates as a starting point using a tool like Canva is one of the best ways to look like a pro even if you have no experience with design.

You don’t have to use templates forever, the idea is to develop an eye for how to compose an engaging graphic and learn the “rules” of design by actually doing design.

Pretty soon, you’ll be creating graphics from scratch and even grow comfortable making your own templates!

Pro design template packs like Biz-in-a-Box still allow you plenty of flexibility to put your own twist on things and make them unique to your brand.

Ready to level-up your social media design game?

I hope this post has been helpful and you’re ready to make social media a more beautiful place! If you have any questions, hit me up in comments below.

Ever have one of those days where you can’t POSSIBLY squeeze another thing in, then you remember a blog post you have to write?

Today is one of those days for me.

I’ve been dropping the ball on blogging lately and it’s time to pick it back up, so I’m hustling to get it done. The good news is, I repurposed this post from a video and it practically wrote itself!

If you’ve been wondering how to turn videos into blog posts, it’s actually very easy. I recorded a video, uploaded to YouTube, transcribed it at Rev.com, edited it, and hit publish.

But I digress! This post is about Instagram.

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about how to organically grow Instagram. So today, I’m sharing five tips that will help you do just that.

Let’s dig in.

#1) Make sure your Instagram looks gorgeous.

This one’s a no-brainer but worth mentioning because Grammers are all about eye-candy. 🙂

Make sure your Instagram account is beautiful and reflects your brand the same way that your website does.

Your colors, fonts, and images should communicate a cohesive look, feel, and personality. Think about ways you can use your posts to tell a cohesive and consistent brand story that draws people in.

Whether you’re framing your account around a niche, interest, or personality, all of your images should support each other and work together harmoniously to tell that same story.

The same thing goes for your profile:

Make it descriptive and tell people what they can expect when they follow you. Bonus if you include a call to action!

The reason this step is important is that people will visit your account. And they’ll be more likely to follow you if you can wow them with stunning visuals, colors, and images that tell a rock-solid story.

#2) Next up: follow, comment, and like.

One way to pull people into your account is to follow the followers of brands related to your niche.

Now, please don’t go crazy and follow 200 people a day or anything like that. Keep it low key. Follow people, here and there, who might want to follow you back.

#INSTATIP  You can also comment on posts, but don’t drop lame comments like “nice” or “great post.” Bleck. Comment like you mean it. Write something thoughtful that will inspire people to visit your account.

You can also look for hashtags related to your niche. Now, I’m not talking about hashtags to use in your posts (I’ll get to that, step #5 below).

Right now, I’m talking about finding posts that use hashtags related to your niche, and commenting/liking their posts.

#3) Create stories and highlights.

Have you noticed that Instagram’s organic reach has taken a nosedive (the same way that Facebook organic reach is down)?

Stories are a way to get some of that reach back. Have you created one yet?

I’ve noticed a bump in traffic when I post a new story. Plus, they’re fun to make!

And if you change the settings to “Save to Archive” on your phone, you can save stories to your profile. That means they’ll won’t disappear after 24 hours and people will see them when they visit your account.

Just one more way to engage people and increase your visibility, friends.

Here’s another:

Use hashtags and location tags.

Hashtags and location tags help people (beyond your followers) find your stories.

There’s even a way to show up on Instagram’s Explorer page (if you’re strategic with hashtags – step #5 below).

Let’s say you’re at an event and create a story using the event’s location tag. You’ll likely appear for searches that include that location.

You can even create a cool “About You” story. Maybe it’s the first story people see when they view your account so they can find out more about you.

Here’s the idea with all of these tips:

While you’re working to increase your visibility on Instagram, you do anything you can to make people want to stick around, see what else you have to post, and get to know you.

So these are working hand in hand…

#4) Post consistently + frequently

Next up, post consistently, and try to increase the frequency if you can.

Now, if all you can manage is once a day, that’s perfectly okay. But if you can post a bit more frequently, you’ll likely see a boost in all things Insta! I see a noticeable increase in both followers and engagement when I post three times a day vs just one.

Before you share your post, spend some time writing a description that will start a conversation.

Maybe you write something really thought-provoking and end it with a question. If you can toss the ball back to your audience for their thoughts, it will work in your favor, with me?

The reason is that Instagram is watching your account. And it’s giving you a score based on your number of followers and level of engagement.

Higher scores = Higher hashtag rankings = Get more Instagram followers organically

Curious about what that means? Read on to step #5, friend.

#5) Create a hashtag strategy

When you think of hashtags, think of SEO and keywords. That’s the way hashtags work on Instagram.

And they have A LOT to do with your Instagram score.

For example:

Let’s say you’re a big account with a huge number of followers and crazy engagement on your posts. Instagram gives you a high score for all your hard work, and you easily rank for highly-competitive hashtags.

(Highly-competitive hashtags are ones used by 200K+ posts.)

Buut, if you’re a smaller account, you’re out of luck because you can’t compete. You have about ZERO chance of ranking for those same keywords.

So what should you do?

Great question! You still need to use hashtags so that people can find your posts.

You just can’t use any ol’ hashtag. It’s time to get strategic, which I’m going to show you how to do right now!

First off, make a list of your hashtags.

The first step with hashtags is to collect data about your account. You want to find your current level of competition, so you know where you stand today, make sense?

You want to find out what hashtags you actually have the potential to rank for on Instagram, so you can focus on those.

Start by writing down hashtags related to your niche and interests (I recommend using Google Sheets). If it helps you to brainstorm, think of hashtags you commonly use in your posts.

Next, look for related hashtags that have a range of competition levels. For example, if a common hashtag for you is “plannerprintables”, look for related hashtags with:

• 1,000 posts
• 5,000 posts
• 10,000 posts
• 20,000 posts
• And so on

Can you see what we’re aiming for here? You want to create a list of hashtags with different levels of competition.

Then start testing them. Use them in your posts for a day. Then later that same day, search for those same hashtags.

Find your current hashtag level.

Let’s say you have a new account. You do the hashtag test above and appear for hashtags with 5,000 posts.

Can you see the magic here? High five! You’ve just found your hashtag level!

Which means that 5,000 is your current Instagram score.

Knowing this, you can look for other hashtags at 5,000 and start using them in your posts (make sure the hashtags are related to your niche and interests).

Next, test your hashtags again.

I recommend using your 5,000 hashtags for a month, and then rinse and repeat.

Only this time, search for and test hashtags with 10,000 posts.

Use your newly-found 10,000 hashtags and wait a bit. Later in the day, search for them and see if your overall Instagram score is higher.

THIS is how you can get more visibility on Instagram, friends!

Last thing, give your posts a chance to be found!

Now, you may be thinking I’m a new account, so I’m only going to look for hashtags with 500-1000 posts.

I know it’s tempting to aim for hashtags with very little competition when you’re starting out, but please don’t limit it to just that!

The reason is that hashtag competition = hashtag popularity.

More competitive hashtags mean that more people are searching for them. AND less competitive hashtags mean fewer people are searching for them.

So if you lowball your hashtags all the time, you will likely only be seen by a handful of people. This will have the same effect as using only highly-competitive hashtags:

You won’t get the results you need.

But if you test your hashtags incrementally following the steps here, more and more people will start finding your posts.

That’s a wrap! If you create a 100% on-brand experience, engage with your audience, share stories, and get hyper-focused with your hashtag strategy, you’ll have no problem getting more Instagram followers organically.

Have more IG questions? Let me know in the comments!

Hi friends!

If you’re a member of Facebook Groups, you already know what sanity-savers they can be.

Now, I’m not talking about the kind of sanity-savers that drive incredible amounts of traffic or help you grow your business.

Yes, they can do that, but I’m talking about the kind of sanity-savers that make you feel connected to the universe again.

When you’re sitting at your kitchen table in sweats and a t-shirt bangin’ away at your laptop, it’s easy to feel disconnected. And being able to pop into your favorite group, get feedback, share tips, ask questions, and partner up with other members makes you feel like part of something bigger.

(Fo’sure, there’s the dark side of Facebook groups. But that’s for another day!)

Many of you have asked me how to create and grow a Facebook Group, and today, I’m sharing the strategies that have worked for me to help you do the same.

I’ll be drilling down on the art side of creating and promoting a group. For the techie side of how to create a Facebook Group, Neil Patel has a step by step guide for you.

Ready? Let’s dig in.

First, why should you start a Facebook Group?

Well, for starters, you’ll have the opportunity to meet amazing individuals with similar interests and goals. Just like you can in other groups.

But here’s the difference:

In your own group, you have center stage. It’s much easier to be visible as a group owner vs a member because people HAVE to notice you. It’s like networking on steroids.

Here are some other perks:

• You can reach a broader audience with your posts – you’ll likely get more traffic than other groups
• More comments on your posts – you can use these to fuel other posts and threads
• Draw attention to your freebies – pin them to your group for all to see
• Announce your courses and programs – increased sales
• Showcase your expertise and build trust – hold Q&A sessions and challenges

Of course, I wouldn’t write about building a Facebook group without pimpin’ my own. 🙂

If you want to network with other professionals and have multiple opportunities to promote your business, I’d love for you to join my Facebook community!

Before you create a Facebook Group

You’ll want to spend some time researching, taking notes, and creating brand assets before you set up your group.

I recommend creating a Google Spreadsheet (or Word doc, Evernote, Excel) so you can keep your ideas in one place. Here’s what mine looks like:

I create multiple variations to keep my daily threads fresh and new. Then all I have to do is put them in rotation in SmarterQueue. No last-minute wondering what to post. It’s all ready to go!

1) Decide what type of group you want to create.

Here’s where it pays to “think it forward.”

What level of engagement do you want your group to have?

Do you want it to be a promo group where people can sell their products, a group for sharing ideas and tips only, or a mix of both?

And what types of daily threads will you have?

For example:

If you have a wedding planning group, your thread may include the wedding planning highs and lows, best wedding plans, tips, budgeting, and finding photographers, bands, florists, invitations, caterers, and so on.

What about location? Will it be a local, regional or global group where members can buy and sell old wedding items and advertise their services?

As a rule of thumb, sharing groups have higher engagement than promo groups. Buut, it may be easier to get members if you mix it up. Just sayin’.

2) Create a group description.

Take the ideas you have from the previous step and create a group description.

Make sure you include the purpose of your group, who it’s for, and any group rules you have so that everyone can see.

For example, here’s my description:

See how I include a link to my free resources and my website? Boom.

3) Create a cover photo.

Doesn’t have to be anything fancy. Just a photo of you or a graphic image with the group name.

If you want, you can take it up a notch and brand your cover photo with colors, a logo, and other elements. It’s really up to you.

What size should your cover photo be?

Great question! I’ve got Facebook group cover dimensions and a free template for you.

4) Create daily thread images.

If you plan to run the same threads each week, creating images and scheduling them in advance will save tons of time and headache. This way you can have your group running on semi-autopilot.

Here’s a 1020 x 800 template I use:

Related: How to Use Photoshop to Create Branded Social Media Images

The last thing you’ll want to do before you create your group is to gather up some Facebook friends and invite them to join. You need to add at least one person (besides you) in order to create the group.

Remember, you can always remove them later!

how to grow a facebook group

Next, it’s time to promote your Facebook Group and get some members!

5) Invite Twitter followers to join.

I send new Twitter followers a message to thank them for following me. In that message, I include an invitation to download a freebie or join my group.

When you do this, make sure you frame your invitation around what’s in it for them. Don’t just ask people to join your group!

Be authentic and human, strike up a conversation. Then let them know about the group and why they should join. What’s in it for them? More sales, networking, support, encouragement? Whatever it is, put it out there!

Whatever you do, don’t send people messages like this:

Ick. What a buzz-kill.

Make sure you make it about them and not you. With me?

6) Invite email subscribers to join.

Don’t forget to email your subscribers! They’re your biggest fast and will likely get the most benefit from joining.

I always include a shout-out at the bottom of my emails, like this:

-P.S. Want your marketing questions answered? I’d love for you to join my Facebook Community where you can network with other professionals, share tips, join forces, and have multiple opportunities to promote your business. Join Online Biz Superheroes.

You can mention your group wherever you prefer – at the beginning, middle, or end of the email.

I like to keep the focus of my email on-topic and close with the group link. Too many buttons and links in the body of the email can be overwhelming, in my book.

7) Include a link on your website.

I just added my Facebook Group to my site navigation. So every time people visit my site, they’ll see the link which will redirect them to the group.

The way I see it, it’s just one more way to make the group visible.

More visibility = more people who know about it = faster growth.

Hmm…sounds like the formula for anything we want to promote, no?

Anyway, we’ll see what happens with it!

8) Mention the group in autoresponders.

When people opt-in to your list or sign up for a freebie, include a link to your group in the Welcome sequence.

Something like:

Hey there! Here’s the link to download the Guide to Wall-Hanging Art.

If you’d like more free resources like this, plus tips to design and sell your wall hangings, join my Facebook community [link].

If you include this extra line in all of your welcome sequences, everyone who signs up for your free offers will have an opportunity to join. And it’s all happening behind the scenes.

The best part is, the more opt-ins you have on your website, the more members you’ll likely get.

9) Add to social profiles

This one sounds like a no-brainer, but it’s easy to overlook. And really, it’s not hard to add a link to your group in your social profiles.

What IS hard is deciding how many calls to action (CTAs) you should include. After all, Instagram, Twitter, and even Pinterest don’t give us much real estate to work with, friend. It’s up to us to choose our primary CTAs.

My picks? My free resources and Facebook Group. Here’s how I include both in my Twitter profile:

What about you?

Are you looking to promote a new course or program? Get more subscribers? Or are you all about your group right now?

Psst…Curious about that fancy URL for the group?

You can do it too! Just create a branded domain (through GoDaddy) and have them forward the domain to your group.

I came up with the idea when I started my YouTube channel. There’s no way to create pretty links in YouTube descriptions, and this is my workaround.

#SHAMELESSPLUG Subscribe to my channel! It’s brand new and I can really use your support to help grow it. ✨ You’re the best!

10) Invite members of other Facebook Groups

This one has worked well for me. If you’re in a number of groups, you can direct message people who seem like they may be a good fit.

#WORDOFCAUTION You have to be careful with this strategy. Make sure you follow the group rules. If they don’t allow direct messaging or promoting groups, don’t do it.

And don’t go crazy inviting 100 people a day or anything like that. Maybe ten people every other day, you get the gist.

As long as you mention the benefits of your group (and follow through with your promise), people should be receptive to your invite. Most people have thanked me for inviting them…

11) Invite people who sign up for webinars.

This one I haven’t tried and am so excited to test for my upcoming webinar:

When people register for the webinar, instead of redirecting them to a Thank You page, send them to your Facebook Group. Simple.

I’m going to try this one soon and will keep you posted on my results. If you get to it before me, please let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear all about it!

12) Pin a post or a tweet to your timeline.

This is another one of those things you can put into rotation with other promotions.

Create a post/tweet about your group, then pin it to your Facebook and Twitter timeline. It will be the first post people see when they land on your page.

Pinning a post is super easy. See those three dots in the upper right of the post?

You can boost the pinned post and reach a bigger audience.

(I’d keep the budget small, say $5-10 a day for a week, and see what happens.)

Even if you boost another post and people visit your page, they’ll see the pinned post first. Woo!

13) Create an Instagram Story about it.

Instagram Stories work! I easily 2x my Instagram traffic every time I create a story.

The best part is, they’re fun and easy to create. Record a quick video or create a graphic about your group and use Instagram’s editing tools to add colors, text, hashtags, and more.

If you enable Save to Archive in your settings, the story will appear on your profile until you remove it, so new followers have a chance to see it.

14) Share your Facebook Group on social media.

You know what? I ALWAYS forget to promote my offers.

It’s terrible! I had to create a product promo worksheet to force myself to get into a routine of promoting offers in the same way I promote blog posts.

And to this day, I haven’t shared a single post about my group on social media (except for the pinned post, step #8 above).

So, friends, I’m off to start sharing!

Here’s my plan:

• Create three Facebook/Twitter images
• Create three IG posts
• Create one pin

Hook those bad boys up in SmarterQueue, post them to my “freebies” category, and let them loop.

Curious about how to schedule posts with SmarterQueue? I’ve got a full guide for you right here.

That’s a wrap! Those are my tips on how to create a Facebook Group (and how to grow it to get more customers). What tips do you have to share?

Want to know which social media tools will help you get more traffic so more people will find your blog posts?

You’re in luck! Today, I’m sharing six of my favorite social media scheduling tools to help you get more pageviews, likes, and shares.

#1: Schedule posts to SmarterQueue.

SmarterQueue is an evergreen scheduling tool that allows you to reshare existing blog posts to new followers.

You can also create categories dedicated to new blog posts and set them to post one time only.

I recommend creating multiple “new post” categories and assigning each to its own platform. For instance, you may want to schedule tweets using the “new blog post 2” category and LinkedIn posts using “new blog post 3”.

You can track the number of time slots for each post beneath the calendar.

Use a Word doc to create multiple content snippets using variations of the title, quotes from the post, highlights, tips, or engaging questions. Each content snippet should be unique.

For every new post, I share 15 tweets, 6 Facebook posts, and 2 LinkedIn posts. Make sure you check the analytics and reschedule top performing content as recurring posts.

UPDATE 3/23/18: Twitter changed their tweet policies regarding duplicate posts (can’t reshare the same post anymore). To work within the new guidelines, SmarterQueue will share any duplicate tweets you schedule as a retweet of the original tweet. According to SmarterQueue, Twitter wants you to do it this way, so it may even boost your tweet in the algorithm.

It also looks like SmarterQueue is working on an update similar to SocialOomph’s spinning text (#4 below).

From SmarterQueue:

We’ll be releasing another big update in the coming weeks to help you even further – you’ll be able to create multiple text and image versions of each evergreen post, and each time the post is recycled it will use a different version. This will be available for all platforms, so you can easily test different content to see which gets more engagement.

Love that they’re making it available for all platforms. Woo!

#2: Use Buffer.

While SmarterQueue’s time slots are fully automated, Buffer lets you customize the content in your queue, which makes it a perfect tool for sharing new content.

With Buffer, you can easily control what you share and when by rearranging your queue. For instance, you may want to share 8 tweets the first week your post is published, 4 tweets the second week, and 3 tweets the third.

There are 3 ways to customize your queue in Buffer:

• Randomly shuffle posts using the Shuffle button.
• Select the Move icon and drag your post to a new time slot.
• Use the automated Move to Top button, and then adjust time slots from
• there.

Posts that get the most clicks, likes, and shares should be added to an evergreen scheduling tool like SmarterQueue.

#3: Promote Content using Quuu Promote.

Quuu is a social sharing platform that takes content curation to a whole new level.

Instead of creating custom source libraries and handpicking each post you want to share, you select interests and categories and let Quuu do the heavy lifting for you. It will curate random articles and share them to your social profiles via Buffer or Hubspot.

The articles are sourced from its partner platform: Quuu Promote.

Before you submit for approval, choose a relevant category for your post.

Once you submit a post, the Quuu Promote team will review it to make sure it meets their quality criteria.

Don’t be alarmed if your post is rejected. Quuu Promote has strict guidelines and holds their content to high standards. One of my posts was once rejected because it focused on a single tool and could be interpreted as a sponsorship or promotion in disguise.

Monthly fees start at $40, and each promotion runs for 30 days, after which you can rerun if your campaign was successful.

In my experience, Quuu Promotions out-performed Pinterest and Twitter ads.

#4: Schedule tweets using SocialOomph.

SocialOomph is an advanced Twitter scheduling tool with a number of attractive features, including tweet intervals and spinning text.

Tweet intervals

Tweet intervals help you create a consistent flow of content and give you maximum control over your posting schedule.

With most evergreen scheduling tools, uploaded posts go to the bottom of the queue and are shared in sequence, which means you have little control over when your content is shared.

With SocialOomph, you can share the same tweet every 3 hours, or every 3 days, by setting tweet intervals.

Select the date and time you want to share the first tweet. Then select Recurringly Publish, and choose how long SocialOomph should wait between tweets.

Spinning text

Spinning text is a feature that allows you to enter multiple text variations for every tweet. When it comes time to share, SocialOomph will randomly select one of the alternatives.

To create spinning text, start with { and add your first tweet text, including your link and hashtags. Follow that with a prompt and enter a variation of the text.

Repeat for as many tweets as you want, ending with }.

Here’s an example:

{ Tweet Title URL #hashtag | Title Variation URL #hashtag }

Another thing that makes spinning text so handy is that you can enter all your text in one window using the rotating text validator tool.

Below the compose window of the validator tool, you can preview your tweets before scheduling.

Set a maximum number of shares or let your tweet run continuously, and SmarterQueue will drip-feed it into your Twitter feed on autopilot.