After adding sponsored posts for Facebook groups back in August, Facebook's now looking to better facilitate brand/group partnerships by listing eligible public groups within its Brand Collabs Manager tool.
Brand Collabs Manager provides a means for brands to locate relevant platform influencers and Pages for influencer marketing and brand partnerships. Brands can search across both Facebook and Instagram for creators that post content in their niche, and then reach out to them with partnership opportunities.
And now, they'll be able to search for groups as well - as explained by Facebook:
"Public Group admins can collaborate with brands to create campaigns that resonate with their group members. Brands will be able to connect with relevant audiences in spaces people trust and actively engage in, and group admins will also have an opportunity to earn money to support their work to manage engaged communities."
As you can see here, groups listed in Brand Collabs manager will include data on their audience demographics, along with sample posts and a group description, providing an overview of who brands can connect with if they choose to partner with your group on a sponsored content campaign.
That could be very beneficial for Facebook group managers, who are now finding themselves spending more and more time managing their group interactions. Now, you'll actually be able to make money from those efforts, while you'll also have full freedom to be able to decide which brands you partner with, or don't, via Brand Collabs queries.
Facebook Groups usage has increased in 2020, as users seek more ways to socialize amid the lockdowns, and along with that comes more responsibility for admins to keep things running smoothly. Getting paid for such could help keep those admins active, which will subsequently provide more engagement benefits for Facebook.
In addition to this, Facebook has also recently added some new group post types to help maximize engagement.
Last month, Facebook added a new Q and A group post option, which enables admins to host question and answer sessions in a new, dedicated format.
As explained by Facebook:
"Q&A allows admins to lead real-time question-and-answer sessions. This post is text-based, so admins can start one easily from wherever they are, and as admins answer questions that come in from the group, they are featured in a swipe-able stack of cards that anyone following along can read and engage with."
To start a Q and A session, group admins can select the “Host a Q&A” option when writing a post in their group.
Facebook also recently added a new 'Prompts' post type, another way to promote group contributions in a highlight post.
As you can see in this example, admins and members can post a prompt, with responses then displayed in swipeable stack, which all members can flip through.
"When creating a prompt, you can choose a background color to fit the theme of the post and add your own response before posting to the group."
You can select "Write a prompt" from your group post options to get started on your own.
Groups continue to be a key element for Facebook, and as noted, have likely become even more so during the pandemic. These new tools and options further enhance the platform's groups offering, providing more ways to connect, and now monetize, your Facebook group efforts.
Facebook is rolling out Branded Content Manager to Public Groups first, before assessing its viability for other group types, while the Q&A option is currently available in select regions.
