In 2019 Facebook unveiled an option to “Ask Pending Members Questions” when starting and operating a group. Membership questions provided a way for admins and moderators to be more informed when allowing people to join their groups.

Admins can ask up to three questions. Their answers can be formulated in one of three ways:

• Multiple choice
• Check boxes
• 250 character written answer

The insight gained from these questions can be incredibly beneficial to admins and moderators.

Confirm they want to join

Users may be scrolling through your page and accidentally click the ‘join’ button. If they do not answer your questions or even answer by saying it was a mistake, you know do decline them.

It simplifies the process and avoids any embarrassment they might feel by immediately leaving a group they just joined.

Verify it is not a bot account

Unfortunately, Facebook is filled with believable bot accounts. Questions that require a written answer are a great way to weed through those accounts. You can even ask simple, or seemingly silly questions such as:

• What is your favorite movie?
• When was the last time you had breakfast for dinner?
• What is your favorite ice cream?

Ask whatever you like! The goal is just to make it so a bot cannot interact with the questions, and therefore your group.

Illustrates future engagement

You want your group to have active participation and engagement. Membership questions allow you to determine if someone is causally interested or actually passionate about the topic.

You determine how invested you want your group members to be. Membership questions are a great way to get a preview.

Determine if personalities match

Membership questions give you a glimpse into who your potential group members are. Based on their answers, you can tell if they would be a good fit for your group. It is important to know if they would mesh well with your current members.

Bringing in a member who ends up clashing with other group members will only cause discord. If you can avoid it, do so.

Confirm they have read the group rules and policies

If you have specific rules and guidelines for how your group is run, list those. Ask them specific questions about them to make sure they have read them. Those can include:

• Which rule stands out the most to you? Why?
• Will you be okay discussing the listed topics?
• Have you ever been banned from a group before? Why?

Asking membership questions about your rules and policies is meant to maintain the the established norms of your group. You have to make sure new members won’t come in and disrupt anything or cause trouble. Membership questions are an easy way to look out for your community.

Investigate your marketing and reach

This one is pretty simple. These are the most straightforward and analytical questions you can ask your potential members. Those may include:

• How did they find your group?
• What do they expect to gain or learn from this group?
• Why do they want to join your group?

These kinds of membership questions will give you insight into what part of Facebook your group is being advertised to. Additionally, if you are implementing a marketing strategy, this will let you know how it is working.

Learn about their interests

Ask questions that are specific to the group. If you run a health food group, ask what recipe have they tried recently or what their favorite recipe is. If you run a group about makeup, ask them what their favorite brand or product is.

This will allow you to get a glimpse into their personality and give you a conversation starter once they are in the group.

Add membership questions to your Facebook group today!

Keep in mind, you only have three questions. You also do not need to ask them everything listed above. Just pick the things that are most important to you and your group. This is a tool that will only help you to grow your group.

Additional articles you might be interested in:

• How To Grow Your Facebook Group
• Why Your Small Business Should Have A Facebook Page
• How To Use Facebook Groups To Connect With Your Followers
• 5 Reasons To Become A Facebook Influencer
• How To Make Money Fast With Facebook Ads: Create The Right Ads
• 10 Ways To Get More Shares On Facebook

Grace Lopykinski is a blogging intern at LadyBossBlogger. She currently attends the University of Tennessee and is studying Business Administration and English.