A guide to Facebook Pages & Groups.

If you’re going to implement social media into your brand’s marketing strategy, Facebook is an essential platform. Despite not being a relatively new feature, some people still do not know the difference between Facebook Pages & Groups. Although the two share several similarities, both are very different tools and knowing the difference is imperative to the success of your business. By knowing the difference between these two features and how to use them, you can decide the best way to promote your business while achieving the best possible results.

Facebook Pages

Simply put, a Facebook Page is a medium that allows you to promote your business and brand because it allows any public figure or organization to develop a better relationship with their customers. It allows businesses to connect with their audience, as well as Facebook users to connect with public figures or brands that they deeply care about. Most often, Facebook Pages are used by many sports teams, celebrities and corporations who have exceed the friend limit on their personal profile.

This feature was originally launched as Fan Pages; however, these pages had limited features and looked much different from a regular personal profile. As this feature grew in popularity, Facebook changed Fan Pages to Pages and updated the design so that these pages resembled a regular profile.

Pages have many features that are helpful to brands while creating a marketing strategy. A social media manager can customize the tabs and add in essential basic information as an administrator of the page. In addition, the administrator can:

• Upload photos and videos
• Control whether fans can post on the wall
• Create apps for Pages
• Add your website’s Blog posts
• Post content from other websites such as videos and links

These features allow you to provide your fans with compelling information and updates. Pages have an analytics feature called Insights which provides information about your fans and posts, something that is not available in personal profiles.

Facebook Groups

A Facebook Group is a way to create an online community. Most often, people join Facebook Groups that are related to their interests, whether it is personal or professional. This feature allows brands to develop a better relationship with their audience because members of the group are more likely to comment and engage in conversation on content more than posts on a Facebook Page.

Most of the time a Facebook Group is created around a particular topic of interest, so you should keep the content that you share relevant to the discussion. Groups are great for focused discussions by the most passionate fans of a topic. Groups can be private, and you must request permission to join a group, unless a friend adds you.

Groups differ from Pages in several ways. Unlike Pages, anytime someone posts or comments in the group, everyone is notified via email or by alert notifications. While these emails can be perceived as spam, it is important for group members to know that they can turn off these notifications. There is also a chat feature specifically for chatting with members of the group.

Which One Should I Use?

Both of these Facebook features have benefits for your Facebook marketing strategy. But which one should you choose so you can start engaging with your customers, prospects and fans?

That depends on the goals of your marketing strategy. Are you simply trying to raise awareness of your brand or are you trying to strengthen your relationships and engage with your key advocates?

Generally, if you’re a public figure such as a celebrity, politician or organization, you might want to set up a Facebook Page because these pages are public and are visible to search engines. Everyone can join your page without permission and can share and promote your posts on their News Feed. Also, the available features that accompany pages are essential to a marketing campaign.

If you simply wish to engage and interact with your key motivators, you may want to set up a Facebook Group. By building a sense of community, you can find out their interests, wants and concerns. This allows your relationship to become stronger turning them into key advocates of your brand.

Which one will you choose? 

At Kraus Marketing, we offer many services including search engine optimization, website design and social media marketing. If you are looking to implement Facebook or any social networking platform into your marketing strategy, we have a skilled team that can guide you through the process. For more information, contact us at (973)-998-5742 or visit us online at www.KrausMarketing.com.