So, you want to start promoting your business on Facebook?
The question now is whether you should create a Facebook page, a Facebook groupÉ or both!
And the answer is of course both. But in order to make the most of this strategy, you also need to understand what the top benefits of each are and how they are different. Here are some key differences between Facebook pages and Facebook groups.
The Basics
The idea of a Facebook page is to provide your business with a kind of Ôshop windowÕ. This is a largely static page that includes a call to action, a description, a photo, etc. While your followers can post on your page, you are likely to do the majority of the posting and they will then comment on those posts or react.
The best feature of a Facebook, is that people can share the things you post and this will then promote those posts to their own social networks. If you share a great post through a Facebook page, then this can end up spreading virally across all the different real-world social networks that are out there!
A Facebook group is different. A group does not allow people to share content to their networks and instead only lets them view or create posts. Most often, this is going to involve their reading what you have written or starting conversations with group members.
Facebook group posts are more often discussions with the community. These are assumed to be more personal and less advertorial, and as such they are also more likely to appear on the newsfeed with more prominence.
The Power of Each
While a Facebook page allows you to create content that gets naturally shared then and can include a call-to-action, a Facebook group will allow you to reach more people with each post. It will also facilitate more conversation.
The question then is not which one you should use, but how you can better use the two together to maximum effect. A Facebook page can be a great way to attract the attention of potential fans and followers, and you can then use this in order to get people to sign up to your Facebook group, which will allow you to discuss with them more directly and increase engagement to thereby drive more sales and build more loyalty and trust.
