What is the difference between a Facebook page and private group?

Social Media has been constantly growing as the most commonly used tool for marketers and businesses. From higher exposure to increasing their clientele, the use for it just increases. There are many platforms you can use in social media but Facebook remains to be the most used and most popular as they have more than 70 million active businesses in their site.

This may have led you to considering using it for your own business as a marketing tool. At this point, you may immediately think of creating a page. You can’t forget that there is also a Group feature and may be just as helpful depending on you case. These two have so much information about them that it gets confusing as to what it is you really need. Let’s discuss the two so you can make a decision that will help you more in the long run.

Facebook Page vs. Facebook Group

facebook page vs group

Definitions

A Facebook Page is the personal profile of the business, person or organization. This means that it represents something and your branding may indicate it as well. From the graphics and style elements, these are all consistent in what the page is promoting. It can also be a means for communication with the businesses’ customers and followers. When any Facebook user connects to the page, they can easily gain access to everything the brand posts.

A Facebook Group, on the other hand, stands more as a forum. It’s purpose is more of a discussion platform and communication space for people with similar interests. The members can easily trade information and tips with each other. In this way, these discussions are a lot more casual and people are more opinionated as the group may be private and considered safe. There are usually one or more moderators that facilitates what happens in the group.

At this point, you can already notice several differences between the two such as having advertising, how the members interact along with the privacy settings. All posts on a page are visible to the public and once you follow it, you can receive updates for all this. Meanwhile, groups are usually private wherein you have to be approved or invited to filter out the ones interested. There are no legitimate ads in groups though some may allow you to post promotions of your product. At the same time, Pages have paid ads and promos that can be limited to a number and demographic.

facebook page

Pros and Cons

Each of course, have their pros and cons. Facebook Pages can be created easily and posting updates are the easiest. You can also customize the look of the page and personalize the URLs which is important for your branding. There’s a lot that can be done so that followers can easily find you. Pages also allow you to easily engage with your audience and promote your products.

With groups, there’re more communication because you can use wall posts, DMs and e-mails. The discussions you create here are a lot more personal so you’re able to market it in a more intimate way. Although the advertising isn’t direct, the network you create in the group can be stronger and it’s easier to know that they will promote your brand.

We all know that everything has drawbacks, you can’t have it all. Pages are hard to grow organically now because there are so much pages that are paid and given a lot more attention. Their current algorithm forces you to pay for banner ads and boosts in order to gain likes and get noticed. You also have to be extra careful with all your posts since everyone can immediately see it. It can also be quite a hassle to handle the messages between the owner and interested customers.

Facebook Groups are also quite a challenge. First off, it won’t give you any Insights so it can be hard to quantify your success and keep track of all that is happening. You also can’t customize a Group’s look because you don’t have access to design it and don’t have the SEO element that is accessible in Pages.

The Final Verdict

facebook page group goal

The question remains, which should your choose for your business?

It all depends on your goal.

Pages are fit for businesses that are looking to promote their product or service. The Page is where you can share how your product benefits people along with your latest promos and offers. Overall, it’s a good step if you want to improve your online marketing. The Group, on the other hand, suits those who are looking for a better discussion, along with expanding their networks. For example, if you’re starting out a sports business, it would be good to join or create a group for sports entrepreneurs.

The Page is something more formal like a shop wherein people will visit to know about your latest offerings and updates. Meanwhile, the Group is more of a informal gathering wherein people get to share their thoughts and ideas. These channels create better and long term relationships. These won’t allow you to simply promote your brand but you can build networks who support you as you grow.

As you can see, both are very powerful and have very different effects for the user. It diversifies from a personal to a public persona but both in the end, give you a great opportunity to interact with you audience and build your brand.

Read more: How To Find Out Who Liked Your Facebook Page

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  This article was written for Business 2 Community by Jay Leonard.
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Author: Jay Leonard

Jay is a UK-based cryptocurrency expert, specialising in fundamental analysis and medium to long term investments. Jay has a great deal of hands-on experience in analysing financial markets and performing technical analysis. Jay is currently focusing on the institutional adoption of cryptocurrency and what it means for the future of …

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