How to grow your Facebook group.

Jeeni Blog

Helping the next generation of talent to build a global fanbase

How to grow your Facebook group.

Times are moving fast when it comes to social media, in particular the use of community groups to target your audiences with event, streaming and watch-parties going live every second of the day all around the globe.

All of a sudden it feels like everyone except me is an expert at creating successful Facebook groups, so I decided I would take some time to try and unpick why are Facebook groups so successful.

Had the groups been going for years and grown their members organically? Did they have large budgets and were they spending loads of money on Ads? Were they all marketing experts? Did they engage large teams of enthusiastic influencers?

To my surprise I found that in most instances these assumptions were just not the case. Rock The Lock Down, founded by Lucy Pardoe & Ollie Hughes, is a great example, with over 887,000 members in less than 6 weeks.

I finally had to admit I was missing the critical ingredients for a successful campaign.

I only watched a selection of YouTube Videos, so not exhaustive, and I will watch some more tomorrow, but in the meantime to save you time, these were my key take-aways.

1. Make sure you take extra time to set up the group correctly, with an accurate, yet brief description. Check to make sure you have completed all sections, not just the about, which is the mistake I made.

2. Get as many people as possible to like your landing page, so that you can invite all of those people to your community group. Really simple and easy to use, but Facebook only allow you invite 50-100 in one day to stop you spamming. Which is what I also did!!

3. Make the group public, as you want as many members as possible to grow and contribute to organic growth.

4. Create as many discussions and engage with all your members as often as you can, be as helpful as possible, share and like and answer their questions. Be a guru, be supportive, open, honest and kind.

5. Use a bot to run competitions, contests, have freebies and giveaways , looping the bot back to join the group.

6. Join other relevant groups, share those groups and contribute as much knowledge and wisdom as you can helping members in those groups. It’s all about genuine and engaging conversation. Write guest posts and contribute wherever you can. Share and reuse your work on different sites, saving time and money. Keep the content helpful and meaningful. Cross-promote as often as you can and contact group's admin to share your group.

7. Test, test and trial Facebook ads that are targeted and specific, making sure you have set up demographics and location settings.

8. Create an exciting and interesting email campaign to support engagement from existing and new customer databases.

9. Interlink and entwine your groups posts and comments on You Tube and use back-links to improve your SEO.

10. Remember groups are for genuine enthusiasts who love music, or food, travel etc, and members do not want to see any information that is not relevant to what they love.

At the end of the day this is all about them after all!

In the meantime, please feel free to invite friends to our Independent Musicians and Performers Group and we will soon be at 2,000 members.

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06
Jul

Artist Focus: Eden James

Devoted to bringing depth, grit and sophistication to his alt-rock sound, Eden’s success has been steadily building momentum since 2002. Hailing from Australia and currently residing in New York, Eden has been grinding and innovating for years, always striving for greatness in his craft. Eden joined Jeeni after being initially impressed with the marketing team and the brand established which at the time was led by Ella Venvell, “The first thing I noticed and liked about Jeeni is the quality of the visual design of the whole Jeeni brand and how it brands each artist’s posts. It’s slick and contemporary which is absolutely necessary if your content is going to stand out.” Jeeni are honored to be uplifting and supporting an artist of Eden’s caliber and it seems as though both us at Jeeni and Eden himself are excited to see what we can do for each other next. Eden's style is in a lot of ways a romantic call back to the most iconic days of rock music.Eden is directly inspired by acts such as Leonard Cohen, Iggy Pop, The Strokes and a good many others. With such a lineup of rock icons to look up to, it’s no surprise that Eden’s own work is so varied, layered and mould-breaking. His voice is certainly reminiscent of the great Nobel Literature winning Bob Dylan, another one of his legendary influences. Full of character and swagger, Eden’s voice is no mere copy of Dylan’s however; Eden brings an unplaceable uniqueness and charismatic tone that is entirely his own. It's strangely refreshing to hear someone single-handedly bring back the golden years of rock with such fresh and exciting projects and performances. If rockstars bothered carrying around resumés, Eden James’ CV would make for quite the read. Having a career lasting over two decades and contributing with the bands of Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen and David Bowie, Eden has made a giant splash in the world of indie rock, “The last 6 months have been a huge success for me, winning 35 music and video awards from ceremonies around the globe, gaining chart entries on itunes and Amazon Music, and receiving a slew of reviews and interviews from some of the biggest music magazines out there, including Classic Rock magazine and American Songwriter magazine.” Driven purely by a passion for music, Eden began his career as a musician in the early 2000s. Music has been Eden's ultimate goal since he was a young boy, “I have always been spellbound by music. I started playing the drums when I was 8 years old and around that time began listening closely to songs and how they were put together. I started writing songs in my teens so I’ve been making music a long time. I was, (and still am) very independent so I taught myself a few other instruments and began recording the songs I was writing. I released something very early on as an electronic artist, then realized my true passion was in the rock genre so began to focus on writing in that genre. I scraped together funds for the recording of my debut album and went ahead and recorded it and co-produced it in Brisbane Australia. The album was picked up by a large indie label called Collision Records Australia and the first singles were released in 2002 with the debut album to follow in 2003. Since then, I’ve never stopped releasing and producing albums.” Eden’s dedication to the rock genre and the industry as a whole is nothing short of astonishing and it's that kind of dedication that is essentially what keeps music alive and well. If Eden wasn’t already a giant asset to Jeeni and its mission, He’s provided an exciting and busy list of Eden James projects that fans can look forward to this year: 1. Album release of "All the Good Blank Are Taken" Alternative Mix 2022 (with new artwork) OUT NOW! 2. Video Album Release of a concert: Eden James Live at Baby's All Right, NYC. Alongside album release on streaming platforms, too. (Potential Jeeni Exclusive, later this year!) 3. A limited edition vinyl record release of the 2021 album "All the Good Blank Are Taken" - August/September 2022. 4. Live shows in the summer with my New York-based band. Eden also hopes to tour all around Europe in addition to US shows. 5. Studio album number five (As yet untitled) - July to December 2022 Jeeni are honored to be uplifting and supporting an artist of Eden’s caliber and it seems as though both us at Jeeni and Eden himself are excited to see what we can do for each other next. How can Jeeni support artists like Eden James? JEENI is a multi-channel platform for original entertainment on demand. We’re a direct service between creatives and the global audience. • We give creatives, independent artists and performers a showcase for their talent and services. And they keep 100% of everything they make. • We empower our audience and reward them every step of the way. • We promise to treat our members ethically, fairly, honestly and with respect. • Access to artist liaison and a supportive marketing team.

12
Mar

Award-Winning Photographer Shoots Via 'Virtual World'

As the official photographer in the Jeeni team, Sharron Goodyear is an Award-Winning International Photographer and Film Maker, having won Fashion & Boudoir Photographer of the Year through the Master Photographer Association, with 14 years of industry experience. She has now taken her award-winning talents to shoots via the 'Virtual World' and Jeeni CEO, Shena Mitchell, put her to the test. Sharron Goodyear - Award-winning photographer Sharron specialises in working with entrepreneurs, musicians, performers and artists from around the world. Her photo-shoots are VIRTUAL, enabling her to work with a global client base, directing her subjects in their homes or on location, from her UK studio via the internet. Sharron took the below photographs of Shena, more than 50 miles from her subject! However, having an eye for positioning the camera, perfect attention to detail and the ability to put Shena or any subject at their ease. Eliminating any self-consciousness or embarrassment, meant the whole event was simple and painless. The results speak for themselves. Shena Mitchell - CEO & Founding Partner of Jeeni Shena described her virtual shoot experience, "As Founding Director of Jeeni, I wanted to make sure our subscribers are in great hands, so I booked a VIRTUAL shoot in the comfort of my own home. The intention was to increase my social media presence. I had so much fun and Sharron created over 30 shots to choose from. I picked my favourites and changed my profile picture on Facebook. Within a few hours I had gained 210+ likes, 134 comments and 4 shares. Instant success!" Getting ahead of your competition, is tough on so many levels and from a marketing perspective, there comes a point when 'selfies' just aren't up to the task. Whether you need portraits for profiles, album covers or merchandise, investing in proper photography is always money well spent. It also allows you to get creative and experiment with a different 'look' or a new 'style' to help with your branding. Whatever your skills and talents, Jeeni subscribers will be able to realise the benefits of Sharron's award-winning expertise via her website, plus she is offering a special rate of £95 to Jeeni subscribers for the month of March. So, book your slot, check your internet connection and double-check your teeth for spinach! www.jeeni.com www.sharrongoodyear.com

05
May

Artists' rights have been stuck like a broken record, until Broken Record asked for Reform

An open letter was sent to Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the 20th of April, demanding, finally, that there be a reform in music streaming services. Hoorah! We hear you say, but what does this mean? Well, everything that Jeeni stands for, in essence the fair and equal treatment of music makers and artists. High profile artists such as Sir Paul McCartney, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Boy George and Jessie Ware, have all signed the open letter and petition asking for a regulator to ensure these actions, in order to make the UK “…the best place in the world to be a musician or songwriter.” The move was spearheaded by the Musicians’ Union and the Broken Record campaign but has garnered more than 150 signatures from famous faces across the UK music industry and the support of over 5000 musicians and fans. Since the launch of Spotify in 2008, streaming services have quickly become our primary method for listening to music instead of through the more traditional methods of radio and Television. What these streaming services don’t offer however, is protection and fair treatment of the artists and songwriters. In November 2020, as part of an investigation into streaming royalties, it was found that some artists were receiving just a fraction of a US cent per song streamed and worse, some no compensation at all. In order for this to change, only small amendments need to be made to the 1998 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, however the outcome for artists could mean the difference in being able to pay next month’s rent or not as many have unfortunately experienced. At a time when we need to be looking for ways to restart the post-Covid financial recovery, a truly free market would allow a song to achieve greater profits and therefore, as the letter addresses, put more money in the pockets of UK taxpayers which can only benefit our economy. Fundamentally we don’t want to stop listening to and seeing the artists and musicians we love. When we are able, we want to dance along at concerts, sing our hearts out at gigs and sway to the rhythm that an artist has worked hard to create for us, so why should they not be paid and treated fairly? We want the music industry to thrive, and it is why we at Jeeni believe that it is so important to do this. You can support the petition at https://www.change.org/p/boris-johnson-put-the-value-of-music-back-where-it-belongs-in-the-hands-of-music-makers Let’s make 2021 a great and fair one.

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