My Tricks to Finding Hidden, Local, Facebook Groups

Ask Around

In a past blog I spoke about how to respond when your ideal client posts in your local FB group. In order to "stalk" these local groups, you FIRST need to be a MEMBER of them.  So today let's talk about how to find the groups.

One of the best ways to find local Facebook groups in the area you service is to ask for referrals. Go to all of the groups you currently belong to and post something like this:

"I am looking to join more local FB groups. Does anyone have a group they recommend?"

Believe it or not, some of the biggest groups I belong to are SECRET groups.  If a group is classified as secret, it will never come up in a FB group search. 

There are a number of reasons an admin may make the group secret but the most common reason is due to spam.  I admin multiple groups and the bigger the group is, the more spammers request to join.  Because of all the spam requests, I need to go into every membership "application" and decide if the person trying to join is a spammer. This takes time.

If I make a group secret, however, it means spammers will never find the group.  New members would come into the group by way of referral (friends adding friends).  As an admin, a secret group means less admin work fighting the spammers.

The Search Tool You Didn't Know About

I don't know why, but FB makes it hard for people to search for groups!  There is a way to do it though, just follow the steps below for this example of what a birth worker who serves Miami should do.  

Notice I did not search for "Miami moms".  I kept it broad so I could scan through hundreds of groups and decide where my clients may be.  If I had done a search for Miami Moms I would have missed out on groups named "Moms of Miami", "Miami Mamas", "Miami Mommies", "Lesbian Moms Living in Miami", etc.

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Now What?

So now that you were able to find and join local FB groups, what should you do!?  You need to participate in the communities, "stalk" the communities, and run contests.