Should I Use a Facebook Group or Page to Promote My Business?

Recently we’ve been looking at Facebook for web marketing and SEO – specifically at the two main methods for businesses to connect with people on Facebook, through Groups and Pages. We mentioned that from a consumer point of view, the two are much the same; but from a business perspective each offers their own benefits and drawbacks. So today we’re going to toss the coin with you and help you decide … Group or Page? Group or Page?!

The old style of non-virtual group!

To recap:

Just to recap the difference between Groups and Pages (and save you sifting back through the old posts!), a Group:

• Can be created for free
• Are simple and have plenty of viral potential
• Members can ‘invite’ other members
• Have a limit on the number of your members you can blast message at once

And Pages:

• Can also be created for free
• Are more highly customizable than Groups, including applications, Flash and other rich content
• Have no limit on the number of members you can blast message at once
• Are a little more difficult to share
• Are often the ‘official’ version of a product – Facebook has been taking action against Pages that aren’t administered by the official company or group, in response to a joke Barack Obama Page.

Most popular business choice … Pages

Pages are the most popular method of social media marketing on Facebook for businesses. This is because they have several eency weency features that Groups don’t have. These include:

• A shortcut URL, so you can promote the page more easily outside of Facebook
• Allowance for extra applications, Flash etc, as mentioned above
• Visitor statistics can be monitored
• Pages can cerate Events through the Facebook Events function, and invite their fans
• Can be promoted with ads, whereas someone must be logged into Facebook to access a Group

But don’t close the book on Groups yet!

One striking difference which can impact the culture of your social media marektin greatly is simply the language Facebook uses for members of the public to connect with your business on Facebook. Consider that:

• With Groups, people can ‘become members’ and ‘invite friends’
• With Pages, people can only ‘Become fans’

This small linguistic matter can create an entirely different feel for the Page/Group, and your business culture and brand should determine which is best.

That said, the differences are quite minor … and both are great for social media marketing, general internet marketing and SEO!