The Local Outsider

Following my previous post about tips for using Facebook for business, it seems like there is still a lot of confusion regarding which Facebook tool is better to use for your business: Facebook Groups or Facebook Pages. Well, nobody really has a good answer to that – even Facebook changes its pages function every now and then. It’s important though, that you understand the function of each of the options and use them wisely to leverage exposure to your business.

I found two interesting posts that may shed some light on this matter: Howard Greenstein wrote a great post for Mashable: “Facebook Pages Vs. Facebook Groups: What’s the Difference?”  According to Howard, there are a number of factors you need to consider when choosing which is right for your project, a Page or a group:

‘Personal vs. Corporate:

Due to their security features, and size limitations (only groups under 5,000 members can send email blasts), Facebook Groups are set up for more personal interaction. Groups are also directly connected to the people who administer them, meaning that activities that go on there could reflect on you personally. Pages, on the other hand, don’t list the names of administrators, and are thought of as a person, almost like a corporate entity is considered a ‘person’ under the law.

Facebook considers groups to be an extension of your personal actions. When you post something as a group administrator, it appears to be coming from you and is attached to your personal profile. Alternately, Pages can create content that comes from the Page itself, so that content doesn’t have to be linked to you personally.

Update: Also one key difference is that Pages are indexed by external search engines such as Google , just like a public profile while Groups are not.

Email vs. Updates:

As long as a group is under 5,000 members, group admins can send messages to the group members that will appear in their inboxes. Page admins can send updates to fans through the Page, and these updates will appear in the “Updates” section of fans’ inboxes. There is no limit on how many fans you may send an update to, or how many total fans a Page can have.

User Control:

Groups offer far more control over who gets to participate. Permissions settings make it possible for group admins to restrict access to a group, so that new members have to be approved. Access to a Page, however, can only be restricted by certain ages and locations. Again, this makes groups more like a private club.

Applications

Pages can host applications, so a Page can essentially be more personalized and show more content. Groups can’t do this.

Moderation

Neither Groups nor Pages have great moderation features. They can both be a little granular as to how things get posted, who can post, and what kind of media can be posted, but that’s about it.

If someone posts spam on your Group or your Page, you have to remove it manually, and you can also remove specific members.

Ability to create events

Both Groups and Pages allow you to create related Events, which show up under the users’ Request (and later in the upcoming events page on the sidebar of their dashboard if they’ve RSVPed). Neither have any added functionality beyond the generally available Facebook Events application.

Advertise

Ads can be purchased to promote either groups or Pages, but Pages can benefit from social ads that publicize the fan connection between a Page and a specific user‘

Another interesting post about this matter was written by Ann Smarty for Search Engine Journal, titled: “Facebook Group Vs. Facebook Fan Page: What’s Better?“. Ann provides a nice table to summarize her experience with Facebook Pages and Groups:

The bottom line of both posts though is the same:

Groups are generally better for hosting personal and small scale interactions and discussions around a cause. Pages are better for long-term relationships between fans and the brand.

Since this is a debate in progress, it is interesting to see which function eventually will prove itself to be more useful for businesses. I promise to keep on following with  updates…

Related posts:

1. 8 Essential Apps for Your Brand’s Facebook Page
2. 6 Tips to Use Facebook for Your Business
3. Facebook Marketing – How to Use Facebook to Explode Your Traffic and Profits
4. Facebook Marketing 101
5. Marketing on Facebook – Why Market On This Social Networking Site?