social-ed

One of the questions that seems to come up a lot when starting a social media presence, is whether one should do a Group or a Page for their business. As always, Facebook has made some changes, but this time around it actually simplifies the issue. There are two questions you can ask yourself that will help you decide which to go with.

A little history:

Before, Groups and Pages almost looked the same. Groups were just easier to create. T-Mobile commercials prompted Groups entitled “IDK, my BFF Jill” – and they weren’t created by T-Mobile. This seemed to lead a business owner to head for the Page instead. There were steps to go through; you have to identify if you’re a local business, a product, a person of interest, etc. It was more professional. However, when Facebook made everyone’s interests into Pages awhile back, you lost a bit of that professionalism. If a person listed something specific and random, like drinking coffee in the winter on a beach, – well, there’s a Page for that. While it is funny to see that there are three other people in the entirety of Facebook who listed the exact same, random interest, it hurt the legitimate Pages out there. And then hackers jumped on board, so now that Page for a $1000 IKEA gift-card that pops up in your home feed, – actually does some harm.

So, back to Groups then? Would people be more engaged in a Group – will it feel more like a community? Perhaps you don’t need an omniscient representation of your business, as you’d get on a Page. Well, now Groups are different, but again, it’s a good change.

For one, Groups look a lot different. While all the old Groups that were created back in the day will still exist, – and still look strikingly like Pages, – you can no longer create them to look this way. (Here’s an example of an old Group, and a Page.) Now when you create a Group, they will have more of a ‘List’ feel to them, like the kind you used to be able to make to categorize your Friends and their news. (It’s also interesting to note that with Facebook’s new Group features, – as shown in this picture, – that allows you to upload documents and share information within the Group, Google is actually discontinuing some of their own Group features, like the Welcome Message and Files.)

In short, the new Group set-up on Facebook encourages active participation. You don’t ever feel like you’re leaving your home page or News Feed – you are a part of this Group. But does that mean then, that your business should have a Group instead of a Page instead? Will that increase engagement?

You just have to simplify your questions. There are a million factors you could consider, and if you try to appease all of them, you’re creating a problem you can’t solve. Instead, focus on the following:

1) Do you want Analytics?

Do you want to know who is visiting your page, and how they’re using it? Do you want to know how many views you got on that video you uploaded? Or what the trend is for Unsubscribes? Yes? Answer: Page.

And honestly, if you’re really going to be getting into the social media space, this is the number one resource for measuring your success. That’s the whole point of online media – it is so much easier to measure than it is in traditional media. Will you really truly know how many people looked at that ad in a magazine? No, but you can see the exact number of people who clicked on a promotion in your latest e-Newsletter.

2) Do you want an omniscient presence?

What does that mean? It means that you have an actual representation of your brand. When you make a comment or a post, it shows up as THE company. You are an Admin, so you can freely upload photos, create events, and respond to people’s questions without having people wonder who this random person is. This is not a feature in Groups, and probably never will be. If you do want this, your answer is: Page.

Of course there are other things to consider, but if either of these questions are important to you, and they really should be, then the smaller details are just that – small.

A final note:

The new Groups make it easier to have both a Facebook Page and a Group, – that won’t compete with each other. In what circumstances would you want this? Perhaps you have a new product you want some feedback on. It’s your latest and greatest, and you want all conversations about it to be located in a specific area. Create a Group, – and promote it on your Page. Or perhaps your company has created a following across the country. Create Chapters of your company, like ‘X’ West, ‘X’ North, ‘X’ South and so on. Especially if you have contacts in those locations, they could take the lead in the conversations. This way, conversations, especially when related to something as specific as a location, have an actual place to live. You could try and do this in the Discussion section on a Page of course, but remember, the new Groups really do promote active participation. The Discussion Boards tend to die off, and you can’t do any of the cool things, – like upload documents or photos.

As always, if you’re unsure, try it out. You can create a Group and refrain from making it Public, giving you some freedom to utilize it. Search for Groups and join some. See what you like about it, and what you don’t. Your own experience will only help shape your professional social media presence.