TIP OF THE MONTH: How to choose between a Facebook Page and a Facebook Group

November 18, 2009 | Posted by Carolyn Pikoulas
There's some confusion as to whether a business should start a Facebook Page or a Facebook Group. There are advantages and disadvantages to each, so here are some facts to know before you jump in:

GROUPS
Facebook Groups can be created for just about anything. They are typically used as gathering places for people who share a common interest, support a common cause, or participated in some program or event together.

Advantages:

• Administration - As the group administrator, you can easily send messages to group members, making it easier to communicate with them about your business.
• Familiarity - Facebook Pages are relatively new, only having debuted in the last year or so, but Groups have been around since the beginning. Because of that, some people are more familiar with Groups and how to join and use them.

Disadvantages:

• Not widely accessible - Groups are only visible to its members, and sometimes you have to first be approved by the administrator to become a member. There is also a limit of 5,000 members who can join your group and receive your messages.
• No extra applications - You can't get extra features. What you see is what you get, which is generally the bare-bones stuff such as discussion boards, a wall, photo gallery, and basic features.
• Need to visit regularly - If you post a message to the group's wall, you won't see when someone responded unless you visit often.
• Less visibility on people's profiles - When someone join a group, it gets added to a long list of the other groups that they've joined. If someone is a member of many groups, it's may not be easy for them to keep up with yours.

PAGES
Pages can be created by anyone for any organization, person or business. One of the biggest differences from a Group is that you don't need to become a member. Rather, you are a "fan" of the Page.

Advantages:

• Widely Accessible - Pages can be seen and found on the wider Internet to people who aren't members of Facebook, so you can gain wider exposure. Most importantly, a Page is publically visible, which means that the search engines can index it. Groups cannot be indexed because you must be a member first to view the Group.
• Applications - As the Page Administrator, you can add applications to your page, similar to the way you can add them to your personal Facebook profile.
• Tracking - Facebook has provided Page Administrators a tool that lets them know how many visitors their Page is receiving.
• Visibility - Whenever you post something, it will appear in the News Feed section of your fans. If a fan of your Page takes action on it, such as writing on your wall or posting a video, their actions will be documented on the news feeds of their own personal pages. Their friends will see the news feeds and, if curious, will check out your Page.

Disadvantages:

• No mass invitations - If you want to invite people to become fans of your Page, you can't send invitations to large groups of people like you can with a Group. So, it takes some creativity in gaining more fans.
• Less familiarity - Longtime Facebook users might be less familiar with Pages than they are with Groups. But, Pages are quickly becoming the norm.
• Messages might get less attention - As the Page Administrator you can send an update to your fans, but they might not notice it because it's within their News Feed and not in their Inbox.

THE BOTTOM LINE
Groups are great for smaller scale interaction around a cause. Pages are better for brands and businesses who want to interact with their fans or customers without having a limit on the number of fans who are following your Page.