"Can anyone recommend a good roofer? Ideally someone who’ll actually turn up." Posts like that appear in town and village Facebook groups across West Yorkshire every week, from Holmfirth to Horsforth. Within an hour there can be dozens of comments: customers tagging firms they’ve used, neighbours sharing a number, and a few businesses jumping in to recommend themselves.
These groups can be a steady source of local work, because the people asking already trust the people answering. They can also go badly wrong. Post too often, or too pushily, and the admins remove you, the members roll their eyes, and your name gets linked with spam in the one place where your neighbours are paying attention. Here’s how to use them well.
"In a community group you’re a neighbour first and a business second. Be useful, be easy to find, and let your happy customers do the recommending. If your posts would annoy you as a member, they’ll annoy everyone else."
1. Find the groups that cover your patch
Start with where your work is. Search Facebook for each town and village you cover, plus words like "community", "residents", "noticeboard" or "what’s on". You’ll usually find more than one group for the bigger places, and a single busy one for smaller villages.
Before you join, look at each group’s:
- Activity. Are people posting and commenting this week, or did it go quiet years ago?
- Members. Is it genuinely local, or a regional buy-and-sell group with members from all over?
- Rules. Most groups set out their rules in the "About" section or a pinned post.
Pick three or four good groups that match the areas you want work from. A plumber in Ilkley is better off active in a couple of Wharfedale groups than lurking in thirty across the county.
2. Read the rules, then follow them
Group admins are usually volunteers, and many have strong views about business posts. Common rules include:
- no business promotion at all, except in reply to someone asking for a recommendation;
- business posts only on one set day of the week, often in a single thread;
- recommendations must come from customers, not from the business itself;
- no posting the same thing in several groups.
If the rules aren’t clear, message an admin and ask what’s allowed. It takes a minute, admins tend to appreciate it, and it saves you being removed for something you didn’t know about.
3. Answering "can anyone recommend" posts
This is where most of the value is. How you respond depends on whether someone has already mentioned you.
If a customer tags you
Reply promptly. Thank the customer by name, then speak to the person asking. Keep it short and personal, for example: "Thanks Karen, glad the guttering’s holding up. Happy to take a look for you, Mark. I’ll send you a message now." Then follow up in a private message, and ring when they give you a number.
If nobody has mentioned you
Check the rules first. If businesses are allowed to reply, keep it to one comment that says what you do, where you work and how to reach you. Something like: "Hi Lisa, I’m a roofer based in Shepley and cover Holmfirth regularly. Happy to come and have a look. My number’s on my page." No sales pitch, no capital letters, no list of every service you offer.
Things that put people off
- Pasting the same advert under every request.
- Commenting on posts outside your area just to be seen.
- Running down other firms in the thread, even if you’ve had to fix their work.
- Arguing with anyone, about anything.
4. Be useful when you’re not selling
The businesses people tag are usually the ones they already recognise. You build that recognition by being helpful in the group when there’s nothing in it for you, as long as the rules allow it.
- Seasonal tips. A heating engineer posting how to re-pressurise a combi boiler before the first cold snap. A roofer reminding people to check gutters after autumn storms.
- Answering questions. When someone asks "is this damp or condensation?" a short, honest answer helps, even if the answer is "you probably don’t need a professional for that".
- Local warnings. In the Calder Valley, where the Boxing Day floods of 2015 and Storm Ciara in 2020 are still well remembered, sharing the free GOV.UK service to sign up for flood warnings when heavy rain is forecast is the kind of post people thank you for.
Write three genuinely useful tips for the coming season while you have ten minutes, and save them in your phone’s notes. When a quiet moment comes up, or the weather turns, post one in a group where it fits the rules. Add a photo from your own work if you have one, but leave out the sales line.
5. Let customers do the recommending, honestly
A recommendation from a real customer carries far more weight than anything you post yourself. You can encourage it without being pushy. When you finish a job for someone you know uses the local group, it’s fine to say: "If you ever see someone asking for a builder in the village group, I’d be grateful if you mentioned me."
What you mustn’t do is fake it. A recommendation in a Facebook group is a review of your business in everything but name. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 bans submitting or commissioning a fake consumer review, which it defines as one that claims to be based on a genuine experience when it isn’t. The Competition and Markets Authority’s guidance on fake reviews sets out what businesses must avoid.
Never ask friends, family or staff to post as if they were satisfied customers, and never set up second accounts to recommend yourself. Members often know each other, so people notice. And beyond the embarrassment, it may break the fake review rules in UK consumer law.
6. Make sure what they find checks out
When someone’s tagged in a group, the next thing the person asking does is click through to their Facebook Page, search for them on Google, or both. If your Page hasn’t been updated since 2021 and your Google reviews are thin, the recommendation loses a lot of its force. Our article on why recommended customers still check Google first goes into this.
A quick check:
- Your Facebook Page shows recent work, your areas and a working phone number.
- Your Page links to your website, and your website links back.
- Your Google Business Profile has recent reviews, with replies.
If keeping your own Page going feels like one job too many, our guide to social media in 15 minutes a week keeps it manageable.
7. When someone complains about you in a group
It will happen eventually. Somebody posts that you were late, or overcharged, or didn’t come back to fix something. The thread fills up quickly, and it’s tempting to wade in.
- Wait before you reply. Give yourself an hour to calm down if you need it.
- Reply once, publicly and politely. Acknowledge what they’ve said, give a fair, factual line on your side if it’s needed, and offer to sort it out directly.
- Take the detail private. Message or ring them, and leave the argument out of the group.
- Don’t delete-and-run. If you sort it out, it’s fine to add a short note saying so, if the customer’s happy with that.
People reading the thread are judging how you handle a problem, not just the problem itself. Our article on replying to a bad Google review covers the same approach in more detail.
8. Keep it to a few minutes a day
Groups can eat your evening if you let them. Turn notifications off, then check your chosen groups once a day, perhaps at lunch, for recommendation requests in your trade and area. Reply to anything relevant, like or answer a couple of posts, and close the app. Little and often, and always as yourself.
Your checklist for this week
- Find three or four active groups covering the towns you want work from, and read their rules.
- Tidy your Facebook Page: recent photos, areas covered, phone number and a link to your website.
- Write three seasonal tips and save them ready to post.
- Ask two or three recent happy customers if they’d mention you when they see a request in their local group.
- Set a daily five-minute slot to check for recommendation requests.
Local groups work best alongside a strong Google profile and a website that backs up what people say about you. Social media posting is part of the Driving Sales Locally monthly plan, at £225 a month with your website included. If you’d like a hand, book a free call with Jeremy.
Frequently asked questions
Can I advertise my business in local Facebook groups?
It depends on each group’s rules. Many only allow business posts on a set day, or only in reply to someone asking for a recommendation. Read the rules or ask an admin before you post.
Is it all right to ask friends to recommend my business in a Facebook group?
Only if they’ve genuinely used you. Asking people to pose as customers when they aren’t may break UK fake review law, and members often notice. Ask real customers instead.
How should I reply when someone complains about my business in a community group?
Wait until you’re calm, reply once politely and factually, offer to sort it out directly, then take the conversation to a private message or phone call.