How Facebook group owners can monetize with own social network?

How Facebook groups owners can monetize with own social network?

In the competitive world of technology everyone explores new ways to monetize and Social networking is no more exception. As social media have become more popular, organizations have frequently wanted to create a more branded and controlled experience for their target. With increasing popularity of social media, people are inclined towards creating a more branded and controlled experience for their target audience. The best solution they find for this is creating own social network, aimed towards a personalized experience for their users, bypassing the distractions caused in other, not so niche social networks.

So, if you have 100’s of thousands of members on your Facebook group / page and you want to monetize from it, so this blog post will give you more insights about how you can monetize it with your own social network.

Two million people under the age of 25 will stop using the social network this year, research firm eMarketer predicted. It added that, while 83 per cent of social network users aged 18-24 will use Facebook in 2018, its share will fall to 81.5 per cent by 2021.

With such analytics, Facebook groups have slowly started to lose its charm. But what about those groups that were thriving with 100’s of thousands of members? Group owners have slowly started migrating to their own social networks along with their group members.

This creates an Social Network platform of loyal, highly engaged audiences with more focused interests. Such niche social networks are a great place for monetization.

There a lot of ways these social networks monetize themselves. Here are some of the most effective ones:

Let us assume that I have a thriving social networks platform of dog lovers- thedogworld and see how these methods of monetization work on it.

# Influencer marketing and recommendations:

Influencer marketing is when brands partner with “influencing social media platforms” —platform with large loyal userbase— to promote their products or services. A niche social network owner creates a community of its loyal members, providing them a nurturing environment. This builds a feeling of trust amongst its members, in turn making the platform a “medium of influence”.

“According to a survey, top marketers believe consumers are more likely to make a purchase decision based on influencers because of authenticity and affinity. Brands are being encouraged to leverage niche social networks to more effectively market their offering.”

Marketers will be attracted to such a platform, for an access to a special space on the site. In this case, the social network owners can provide recommendations in exchange of some monetary benefits as a collaboration with the marketers. Moreover, providing deep analytics and user behavior insights is also a monetary benefit.

Implementation: On my social network of dog lovers- “thedogworld”, a company of dog food, DogBites (good name huh?), approaches me and asks me to create a paid discussion room just for him. Now that he has a “special space” on the site, my loyal site members would check it out, considering it to be a recommendation, creating a feeling of trust with the brand, thus benefiting “DogBites”. This would be a great way for them to market DogBites within dog lovers.

# Content collaborations:

A content creator is always looking for a platform to share his content. And a niche social network with 100s and thousands of followers, he could not find a more focused group to share his content.

“These creators often find ways to do chargeable collaborations like featuring their content, events, webinars, etc., giving them a special attention on the network and to increase their reach to the site members, thus solving their purpose of their outreach campaign.”

Often referred to as micro-influencing (meaning you have a smaller but more targeted and loyal audience), creators are always seeking out to it.

Implementation: Thedogworld, finds out that Martha Malon, a freshly graduated vet, wants to establish herself. In this digital era, social networks are a good way to do it. I go up to her, with my social network “thedogworld” (having a 100s and thousands of dog lovers) and ask her for a collaboration. She realizes that she’ll be getting a niche audience to showcase her content benefitting her business as well.

# Vendor Tie-ups:

Your niche social network is a great platform for vendors to sell their products/services. A social network with such a niche target audience is a goldmine for them.

“Offering collaboration and tie-ups is a plus for vendors as they get a platform to advertise themselves and a way to gain loyal consumers. The trust and devotion of the members towards the community can be a leverage for the vendors to gain a loyal consumer base. “

Social network members get products, services and experiences they want. Brands get to participate with passionate, interested customers. Retailers experience greater foot traffic and consumer engagement. Everyone benefits.

Implementation: So now, Thedogworld also benefited “DogBites”(dog food company) by letting him interact with members of the site, which made them realize that my social network is a good way to sell his products. So, he asks me to sell some advertising space on Thedogworld, giving him a loyal consumer base.

# Custom merchandise:

Custom community merchandise is a way of increasing the sense of community and togetherness amongst members.

The best part here would be that you know what your members are passionate about and that would increase the relevance of your merchandise.

“You would only need to upload image files to make a new product available with on-demand printing. This gives you an ability to build a business around niche interests of your social network. “

Plus, you’ll be able to see what their most important values and issues are, as well as what they’re likely to buy and wear—and, perhaps most importantly, what’s trending with them. These insights will help you build the social network better.

# Charging for some facilities:

Having a Own social network gives you an ability to introduce some extra beneficial features that your traditional Facebook groups didn’t have.

“Facilities like creating a business page, events, giveaway contests, polls, personal newsletters can be some that can lure users as it gives them a better hold of the community.”

Charging for these facilities as per their usage is another way of monetization.

Implementation: A few companies selling dog accessories also collaborated with me to market their products via giveaway contests on Thedogworld. I also offered them a few other chargeable facilities.

# Content monetization:

I’ve long held the belief that content is free, but experiences are not. It’s very hard, if not impossible, to charge for an article or a video. But people will pay for experiences.

“A great example of content monetization is exclusive access to podcasts, webinars, etc. Here’s where collaborations come into play. Content creators often find such niche platforms a great way to deliver their content to like- minded people and gain fans.”

Moreover, members of your site, hoping to be influencers can also leverage from the facility of the options of personal webinars, quizzes, videos, surveys etc. It will keep your members engaged in the community and provide you with additional revenue.

Implementation: Remember Martha? Oh, Thedogworld did wonders for her! She got all the fame she wanted and now takes exclusive webinars! Members of Thedogworld are excited to listen to her speak and all the tickets are sold out!

# Premium memberships:

People, passionate for their niche are always looking to become a brand advocate, or ambassador. Their job is to inspire, inform, educate, and empower their unique audience. Your own social network platform can be one of the ways to do that.

“A good way to provide an option for site members to become a brand ambassador is by providing them some exclusivity on the social network. This will make them stand out from the rest of the members, drawing attention. You can introduce a couple of membership plans to do so.”

Other than free membership plans (if you want to have them), premium membership plans may include facilities like creating featured videos /articles, personalized profiles and badges. A proper membership structure can benefit site owners as well as members.

Implementation: Thedogworld provides a good platform to Lana Damon, a loyal member of the social network, now feels that she wants to stand out on the site to reach out to the new members. So, she buys a premium membership giving her this facility.

# Affiliate income through product reviews and analytics:

People coming up with new products and ideas are always looking for a focus groups to get authentic reviews. To find a niche social network facilitating product review would be a great way for product/service owners to validate their respective ideas. Getting to know inner insights about user behavior and analytics about it is beneficial for them.

“Having thousands of associated members with your own social network, an extensive database is built with information like user behavior, demographics, preferences, and more. Market research companies seek out for such data and you can always provide it to them.”

# Google AdSense:

Google is in charge of displaying the ads on your site. And, the ads are often relevant to the content you’re publishing. This helps encourage site visitors to click on them. After every click your site’s ads get, you get paid about 68% of what the advertisers paid to have their ad shown on your site.

“Having a close niche userbase on your social network, google AdSense would work the best in displaying ads relevant to the target audience, helping you earn more.”

No matter what your social network offers, having a niche audience is always opens gates for social network monetization. If you know what you’re trying to achieve by creating a social network, selecting the right options to monetize your site becomes much easier. Vinfotech has been a trusted partner for many companies across the globe specializing in the Social Network development. We have built winning social network websites that have clicked with users well and have carved a niche for themselves. If you are someone interested in building a great social networking Platform, Do check out our portfolio and give us a call.

Check out another blog on Facebook group Time to replace your Facebook group page with an engaging social network.