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Social media promotion is essential for any type of business that you have. It’s a great way to build an audience and make sales.

You don’t want to only rely on social media, of course. It should be one of a number of tools in your box to help build your business. When you do use social media promotion, you also want to use it just right.

One of the networks that I’ve found easier to master is Facebook. It’s set up in a way to create niche pages to help build the exact audience. Things have certainly changed over the years, but there’s one element of Facebook that I still use to my advantage. It’s all about the groups.

You can’t just join groups and drop links. It’s a fine skill to use Facebook but when you get it right, trust me it really does work. Facebook groups are a powerful way to use social media promotion. Here are my tips to make it work.

Join as many groups as possible

Yes, joining too many can be overwhelming, but join as many as you can handle. I’m in writing groups, marketing groups, and specific TV show groups. Anything I have joined stands me a chance of getting my content out there and read by the right people.

But you can’t just join and post your links. It’s so important to interact with people. This is where it gets a little overwhelming. You need to spend time discussing topics with those who are interested in the same things. Join in with the fun and games, and make sure your name is known for being helpful, interesting, and a fan. People notice if all you do is drop a link and leave.

You become a person when you interact.

It’s like with sales. People need to get to know you before they will even consider clicking links. After all, how do they know they’re not going to get hacked?

Share links that continue discussions

You can share links within the comments of a discussion. Don’t do it to derail threads to talk about what you want or for mindless promotion. Do it when it would help to facilitate the discussion.

For example, I’m in a group that is helping writers earn $1,000 per month within 30-60 days. It’s run by a well-known blogger, but there are lots of us who have other bits of experience in the industry. There are also plenty of people who are just starting out. One of the questions the other week was about writing for free and how to use it to your advantage. It’s a big topic with many writers. Rather than share the whole blog post I’d only written two days prior to this, I dropped the link to the blog post instead. It was informative and much easier for me (and everyone else).

Personally, I don’t like reading really long threads or comments on Facebook, so I would have appreciated the blog post link instead. I didn’t get anyone complaining about it and it helped to keep the discussion going. I nearly did it a couple of days later when someone asked a question about something I’d written that very day (well before I saw the question). I didn’t but next time I will.

I’ve done the same with the TV show groups that I’m in. There are lots of questions about Outlander and The Last Kingdom, so I share my content with others. But I’ve built a relationship with them. I’ll join in with discussions without sharing any links at all.

Sometimes my links are to start discussions to help with social media promotion ($). I’ll ask a question and want to hear opinions. And I’ll get involved in the comments to keep the discussions alive until they’re ready to disappear. IFTTT makes it easy for content creators to plan their content.

You do need to look into the rules of the group before you start doing this. There are often rules about sharing links (like you’re not allowed to or that you can only share them on certain days of the week). You will also run into the “no self promotion” rule, which means getting creative about the links that you share.

Watch out for spamming

It’s so easy to come across as a spammer in a group. I worry about this now and then because of the amount that I can end up writing.

This is why the tips above are useful. You make it clear that you’re a fan or someone useful, and not just someone dropping links for sales or views.

Even then, you can overwhelm the group with links. I’ll only share a link every couple of days or so. In fact, I’ve recently only shared them once a week in some groups because of what I’ve had to say and write—and how busy I’ve been with other groups. There are some groups where I post a piece every day, but they’re set up specifically for this.

Facebook groups can be powerful. Just make sure you read the rules and don’t link and run. Facebook groups are little communities and you need to keep that in mind with your social media promotion.

MORE: 5 tips for purchasing a domain name

Do you use Facebook groups for social media promotion? Share your tips to help others become better marketers.