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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07
Feb

Ace Bermuda - ‘WTF is Ace Bermuda?’ (Feat. Jada Freeman & Profiiit) Single Review

If the elusive, grand and electrifying Ace Bermuda were a TV show, ‘WTF Is Ace Bermuda’ would be their theme song. The collective’s first official release perfectly encapsulates the group’s innovative intentions and collaborative nature. The first official emergence of Ace Bermuda has been literally years in the making and although they took their sweet time to release a track, the debut has smashed all expectations. Brand new to Jeeni, we’re so lucky to catch this group at the genesis of their refreshing and wild style of alt hip-hop/electronic fusion. This act consists of a core partnership of Jake Thomas and Jacob Richardson, two evil-genius producers, who work overtime for the chief himself, Mr. Ace Bermuda. The semi-retired industry legend watches from a distance and nods his approval as the two do his creative bidding. ‘WTF Is Bermuda’ is a living, breathing organism which shifts and morphs around whoever takes to the mic at any given time. Where other electronic based producers might copy and paste chunks of identical audio to flesh out a track, the Bermuda beat-makers give each bar attention, care and detail. Similarly, neither feature steals the show, but instead are balanced and work together incredibly well. American rapper, Profiiit brings a stone-cold iciness to the middle section of the track. His second verse is accompanied by a harsh, yet distant synth that snakes alongside his un-faltering bars and propels the part even higher. East London’s Jada Freeman sing/raps her smooth, and captivating featured verse as the track begins to peak and wind down. The reverb settings and panning given to her vocalisations brings an ethereality to her voice which adorns the outro with charm and beauty. A potential reason behind Ace Bermuda's ambiguous sense of identity is also subtly addressed here on the group's debut single, another reason why this track is important to the act's timeline and history. A repeating verse heard at the beginning of the track and throughout, criticises those who value their image above a message that they could be expressing, "Look, another self promoter, spread your face, not your voice". This ideology was infamously held by the late MF DOOM; the masked rapper was known for occasionally sending imposters in his stead at live shows to outline the unimportance of his actual identity. This is an interesting stance in the music industry, which luckily has been continued with acts like Ace Bermuda. Check out Ace Bermuda’s showcase on Jeeni: https://jeeni.com/showcase/AceBermuda/ The Ace Bermuda masterminds have a lot more up their sleeve. Follow the group on socials: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ace.bermuda/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ace_bermuda Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ace.bermuda.927 They also have an upcomming live show with ‘Naytiive’ at Fiddler’s Elbow, Camden on the 12th of February: https://www.ticketweb.uk/event/limited-tickets-naytiive-support-the-fiddlers-elbow-tickets/11537915?pl=hotvox&edpPlParam=%3Fpl%3Dhotvox How can Jeeni support artists like Ace Bermuda? 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

Jeeni - 'Coming Into Focus'

Friday 22 January saw the first of a month long project for Jeeni, as they work to connect directly with their members. 'Coming Into Focus' is a collection of Zoom meetings, set up for Friday afternoons at 2pm, giving performers, artists, writers and fans the chance to relay their user experiences and chat directly to the directors of the business. With music platforms under increasing scrutiny from government committees, as well as their users, now seems the perfect time to meet the feedback face to face. Jeeni's ethos of 'Ethical, Honest, Fair' means they aren't afraid to hear what many are choosing to ignore. The directors' believe their platform can offer a better way for the music industry to operate and have been striving for this for the past 3 years. From an online 'open' invite, the whole of social media was invited to register for the meeting and for a first outing, the take up was good. There was also a quick questionnaire to complete, to give an outline of usage of the platform. Once into the Zoom arena, guests were personally greeted by CEO Shena Mitchell, who gave a short briefing on the company, the reasons for starting the focus group project and it's plans going forward. The attendees were then given the 'floor' to discuss their experiences. 'Coming Into Focus' - Jeeni meeting The group was an international mix of musicians, songwriters and music fans, with their feedback being extremely positive. All were amazed musicians, artists and performers were going to be earning 100% of the income generated by their postings, merchandise and tickets. This was seen as a huge positive against other platform competitors. There were some great ideas coming from the group, which Jeeni is interested in developing further. One of the attendants, a recent graduate of The Songwriting Academy was keen to understand the process of uploading his work, and generating an income from this. Another participant, recently arrived from the Southern Hemisphere to the UK, wants to use the site and the Jeeni network to connect with fellow musicians and music fans. Shena was also told, fans want easy access to new and diverse music, rather than the constant stream of similar tracks which follow your previous choices on other platforms. The next 'Coming Into Focus' meeting is scheduled for Friday 29 January at 2pm. To receive your invite, follow the link and register your details, http://focusgroupjeeni.eventbrite.co.uk/. There is even a rumour Roger Watson, an industry legend and Jeeni ambassador, who has sold over 500-million albums in his incredible career, may join the call! www.jeeni.com

10
Apr

Daisy Chute on Music, Performing and Life during 2020

Tonight, is the night that we launch the JAM Festival where seventeen acts from around the world will beat the pandemic restrictions and join together to perform in a virtual festival called JAM, and they guarantee complete unknowns will get equal billing with world-famous headliners. So please register that you are Going or Interested, and we will keep you posted each day of acts and keep you informed about their performances. Please like, share and invite your friends to join in the fun, it's going to be awesome. https://fb.me/e/1etPauFMV Don't worry if your busy or miss it, we will be featuring the festival on Jeeni.com from the 11th of April 2021, for you to watch when you are next free. Ahead of the JAM Festival we had a quick catch up with Daisy Chute who is a favourite of mine as Daisy kept me company with her live streams all the way through lock down, most charming, and talented artist who is so lovely she just makes your heart melt. Daisy tells us: “I am really enjoying the sunny weather and I am very much looking forward to summer and performing at gigs again in person”! In the last 12 months Daisy fairly quickly started doing live streams as a replacement for gigs and festivals that she was supposed to be at such as Glastonbury and the Cambridge festival. Daisy was doing online shows which she said was ‘better than nothing’ due to the pandemic. Daisy said: “through the online shows and livestreams etc she was able to connect with many people internationally which she said was ‘really lovely and enabled her to build more of a following and connect with fans on an international scale’ which she wouldn't have been able to-do on a tour.” Daisy said: “during this pandemic, she tried to use the time as best as she could to connect with her fans through the livestreams”! Kate asked Daisy: “Have you missed live performances”? “Absolutely’ the live streams are kind of like live performances, but they don’t feel the same because you don’t have the same connection and it’s much more casual! I miss performing with my band as I have not been able to see them during this time so my livestreams have also been missing that element of energy and adrenaline when performing a set. I am a very social person and I really miss the atmosphere of being at a gig and having drinks with friends and getting back to being in gig – performing and watching.” Kate asked Daisy: “are you excited to showcase your track”? ‘ABSOLOUTELY yes!’ “I love what Jeeni are doing, and I love how supportive the team are to all the artists and I am very grateful for these opportunities to work with some amazing people. I think the showcases and the festivals are so important and they keep the artists going and keep them motivated and connected”! Daisy also overfunded on her Rocket fuel campaign which was amazing and if you want to find out more check out her page here: https://rocketfuelhq.com/daisy-chute Daisy was raising the funds to help make some new music for Daisy’s Singles Club. Daisy reaching her target a week early, which is amazing. But you can still get involved as Daisy has decided to do a “Stretch Goal” to see if she can get some further support to make a series of new videos and Daisy will have new things on offer until 31 March 2021. You can still get involved by buying something, subscribing monthly or making a one-off contribution. Here is a video telling you all about it. https://youtu.be/0j-defCFQvA Best of luck Daisy we know you will be a great success and you have 100% support from Team Jeeni.

Jeeni Blog