Facebook Groups Better for Businesses
It went unnoticed for a lot of people because Facebook groups are not used as widely as they used to be, but Facebook earlier this week unveiled a redesign of those groups. The screen shot below is of the former Fight SMA Facebook Group, which I’ve been working for some time to transition to a Fan Page.
The first thing you’ll notice (click the image for a larger view) is that the look and layout are now much more in line with Fan Pages and individual profiles. One obvious unique addition is organization information in the left sidebar, above information about group members.
So, the first question I asked myself after hearing of this redesign is, “Are groups now better than Fan Pages for businesses?” For the answer, lets look at the pros and cons of each…
Groups have always had one huge benefit over pages: You can send a message through Facebook to every member of the group at once. You’ve never been able to do this with a Fan Page. If you are using Facebook to promote a business or other organization, it’s a great way to contact people and perhaps offer a coupon or other special benefit to members of your group. It can help you create something along the lines of a “special customers” club.
The benefit that Fan Pages have had over groups is that when you post something on your Fan Page, it shows up in your fans’ news feed. This is great for promoting your company, as the posts show up in the feed alongside status updates, pictures, and videos posted by friends of your fans. This obviously makes your news more likely to be seen. The problem with groups has been the lack of this feature, which made your news invisible to anyone who didn’t actually visit the group page. This has changed somewhat with the new group redesign, as Facebook has introduced a somewhat neutered version of this feature. Facebook explained how it works in their blog on Monday…
To ensure that you get the most interesting and relevant content from groups you’ve joined, you only will see stories [in your news feed] when one of your friends posts within a group rather than when all members post. For example, you now will see a story when your friend uploads photos from a recent party at your high school alumni group or when one of your friends posts a message on the Wall of your pick-up soccer group saying that there is a special game this week.
So what does this all mean? If you already have a Fan Page or a group and have a decent number of fans or group members … keep the status quo. I know from experience that it’s VERY hard to get people to move from a Fan Page to a group, or vice versa. There’s no way to pick them up and move them all at once. They have to do it themselves, and it’s like herding ferrets. Until this redesign I would have recommended that any organization move from a group to a Fan Page, but it’s no longer a clear cut decision.
If you don’t currently have a group or a Fan Page, or are thinking of making a change, you have a decision to make about how you plan to use Facebook. If you’ll be primarily posting news about your company and perhaps having discussions with your customers, then a Fan Page is the way to go. If you’re close with your customers (i.e. you’re Facebook friends with many of them) and need a way to message all of them at once (perhaps to send a coupon) then consider starting a group.
One more note: Become a “fan” of EndGame PR on Facebook!
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Couldn’t you have both a group page and a fan page? What, in your opinion, would be the drawback to that?
You could do that, but the drawback is that you’d potentially be splitting your audience between the two. Some people would only join one or the other, so you’d have to post things in both places. Eventually, the people who joined both may quit one or the other because they figure they’re getting the same information from both.