Do You Really Want To Delete Your Facebook Group?
Sometimes direct sellers leave their brands and go on to other pursuits. It happens. But do you really want to delete your group and lose the social following that you’ve built with authentic attraction marketing strategies? Or would you be open to other things to do with your old Facebook group? Because you don’t have to delete it.
It’s a really good question for you to think about! You’ve put a lot into your Facebook group. Just this morning, I came across this same question from a group member of The Socialite Suite on Facebook:
” Easiest way to delete my old DS group on Facebook? Do I really have to delete every member then myself?”
The Socialite Suite on Facebook
Her question about deleting her Facebook group gave me a moment to pause. Do you really want to delete your Facebook group? Because let’s think about this!
“Do You Really Want To Delete Your Facebook Group?” contains affiliate links. I only recommend products or services that I would use myself! Read my affiliate and privacy disclosure HERE.
What Do I Do With My Old Direct Sales Facebook Group?
What do you do with your old direct sales Facebook group when you stop selling? Really, you’d have 3 choices! It’s up to you to decide.
You could delete all members and remove yourself. Or you could archive your old Facebook group. And this last option is what many direct sellers are doing when they leave their brands! Keep it active as a community (this is your following and your people) and look for other ways to use the community.
Your community has a value in and of itself and it makes sense to keep it going for that value. Remember – you aren’t your direct sales brand, and your community doesn’t have to be, either.
One thing you don’t want to do – just leave. First of all, that doesn’t leave a great impression of you as a business owner or direct sales leader to your warm market. Also important: If you remove yourself from the group without removing all members first, anyone can place themselves as an admin and take over the group. You might not be able to get it back!
How To Delete Your Old Facebook Group
Currently, there’s only one option to delete your Facebook group. You go in, member by member, and delete each one. This can be tedious, time consuming, and intensely emotional. It’s final, and a serious good bye to your entire online community. ONLY delete your group if you’re positive you have no other use for it.
Your group is essentially a part of your social media following. Do you really want to build that again from scratch? And if you’re asking “how to delete a Facebook group with thousands of members”, you might want to rethink that. That’s a lot of community value to give up.
Archive Your Facebook Group
Now there is one option that I see many people use when they no longer have use for a community. They archive it. Archiving a community has a value, because the community members can still get what they need from the community. Maybe there’s educational value, or memories that they want to save.
Or if you do coaching or social media training, and have a group that is tailored to one training, such as a boot camp group. What do you do with it after the boot camp is over? Archiving the group is a fantastic option. Because it removes you of admin responsibilities of the group, but the members don’t lose the value of the training. For example, when we did the leadership training with Sassy Suite, they archived the group afterwards, but as members we can still see the posts and videos.
How To Keep Your Following When You Archive Your Group
We just talked about archiving your group. Archiving your group can work as a tiny piece of your social media funnel strategy!
Depending on what agreement you signed with your direct sales company, you’d need to strip the group of all reference to that brand. (It makes sense to do this, anyway!). And if you need to start over due to an agreement you signed, I’d still keep your following by archiving with a clear funnel strategy to lead followers to the new Facebook group.
You can go in and make some posts so members are prepared and no what to expect. Create a NEW Facebook group that has nothing to do with your old direct sales brand. This gives you a fresh clean start, and only your most loyal following will come over to the new group. And you haven’t lost them entirely! In the new community, you can continue to grow your following, monetize, and provide community social value.
When you archive your group, leave the pinned announcement tab with information for finding you on your new adventures! That way if anyone missed your announcement – they can still find you via that mini social media funnel.
What If You Keep Your Facebook Group?!
Now there is a third option to explore. Keep your group! Your community has a value in and of itself and it makes sense to keep it going for that value. Remember – you aren’t your direct sales brand, and your community doesn’t have to be, either.
Monetize Your Facebook Group
So I like option three. Keep your group, and monetize it! Remember that your Facebook community has a value in and of itself. Monetize that value through affiliates, maybe you always wanted to build your own course, or you’d like to do a subscription group spin off. Or just keep your online besties together in one place!
In Monetize Your Social Strategy by Sassy Suite, we’ve been learning all about how to monetize our Facebook groups and social channels. I’m finding huge value in this group, myself. Even though I’m planning to stay with doTERRA for a very long time!
Join me in my Facebook group, Exploring Butterflies, to see how I’m weaving monetization into my existing group value.
