Should You Have a Facebook Page, Facebook Group or Both?

 

Hey there sister! Obviously, I talk about social media a lot here and if you don’t know by now, you should definitely be on social media to grow your business! More importantly, you need to cultivate relationships! A great platform to do just that is Facebook! But how?? Should you have a Facebook Page or a Facebook Group… or both?! You’re in luck because I had a chance to sit down with my good friend Molly Goodyear and she is here to give us all the juicy details on Facebook! Molly has been helping small businesses with their social media needs for close to a decade! Between her coaching services and her podcast, “The Social Media Download”, she has a plethora of knowledge and expertise when it comes to creating, strategizing, and managing social media! Ladies let’s get ready to dive in!

 

Molly, before we get started on dissecting all things pertaining to Facebook Pages vs. Facebook Groups, please share with us your business and your mission!

 

Hi, My name is Molly Goodyear and I own 802 Social which is a social media management company in Vergennes, Vermont. I’ve been doing this since about 2012 and I chose to move into this space because I really wanted to help the local small and medium-sized businesses in my area with their social media marketing. I knew that way back then when social media was really starting to take off as an important marketing platform that the local businesses around here were really struggling with how they were supposed to do it all so, I jumped in and have been doing it ever since!

 

That is great Molly! I’m excited to learn more so let’s jump right in…

 

What is the difference between having a Facebook business page versus a Facebook group?

With a Facebook business page, it’s almost like a mini website where it gives you a space to list your business information, what you offer, your services, and more. A Facebook group helps to create more connections. Facebook groups are more personable. I’m sure you’ve heard or even experienced difficulties with algorithms, that can affect the probability of the content you are posted on a Facebook group to be seen. When it comes to a Facebook page is really hard to tap into your audience but with the Facebook group, people are there for a reason. Those people that are part of a Facebook group feel a sense of community and they feel that support that you can provide for them and they’re also more apt to actually have a communicate or have a conversation with you. It’s also a great place to really support your audience by encouraging them to have their own conversations with each other and you can’t really do that on a page.

 

If a business wants to show up on Facebook should they have a Facebook page, a group, or should they have both?

At the bare minimum, they should always have a Facebook page. If you want to do an Instagram business page you have to have a Facebook business page that it can be connected. You can also run ads on a Facebook business page, but you cannot do that with a Facebook group so if ads are something that are part of your strategy, you need a Facebook page. Now that your business has a Facebook page, the next question is, should they have a group? It really depends on what the end goal is and what type of community you have or are trying to have. There are three different settings on Facebook groups which are: public, closed, and secret. For example, if there’s a lot of opportunity for you to collect new followers or new community members, you want to make sure your group is set to “public”. There’s a rhyme or reason for all three of those different levels of groups. You may not want your group to be just for everybody. Maybe you have a membership, or you are really striving to have a certain clientele within that community, you’re most likely going to want your Facebook group to be “closed” so that it’s an invite only group.

 

Ok, say you have a business page up and running and they’re using that Facebook page to drive interest to the Facebook group. Would you suggest for them to have that Facebook group as “public” for a while until people start coming in or do you start it as a “closed” group from the beginning and keep it that way? 

 

I would suggest switching it to closed or to start it as a closed group because you can ask questions to get people into your group! For example, a lot of times you stumble upon a Facebook group and they have a couple of questions that you have to answer to get in… that’s a great way to learn about your audience! If you have someone that’s coming in and they answer the questions, you’re learning one, two, or three different points about them, and that way, you can tailor more information towards who is actually in your community. One of the best questions you can ask people trying to get into your closed group is, “what is your email?”  or if they would like to be added to your email list. That is a great way to grow your email list.

 

I love that tip!  The questions also seem like a great way to filter through and to make sure that you have the right people in your group and you’re actually hitting your ideal audience.

 

Right! I’ve definitely had people try to join my group and, I mean, it doesn’t make sense why they want to be in my group, so I’ve definitely denied people! It doesn’t happen that often though! Then there are the “secret” groups too. A secret group is more for a family or maybe a high school reunion or something that the content is more locked down than just a private group.

 

If I currently only have a Facebook business page how would I start migrating those who are active on my Facebook page over to my new Facebook group?

Just like with everything else on social media, you just have to continue to post on your Facebook business page that you also have a Facebook group! Just continue to remind people that you do have a community or group using your business page and even Instagram to promote your group. It’s important to list examples as to why your group would benefit your audience and even entice them with a possible download or something you want to offer special to get them over there in the group.

 

Now I know I have some readers thinking to themselves, “OK, I have a Facebook business page and now I have to do a Facebook group” and they’re probably already spinning their wheels feeling like that’s so much more work. What are what are the best practices for running a group?

 

That’s a good question because I personally have a Facebook business page In addition to two different closed groups which I have for two different reasons. I have one group specifically for the podcast that I do so I try to give information regarding my podcasts as opposed to my other group that’s just for some of my clients. Facebook groups are essentially another platform that you have to manage but in order to do it effectively, you need to stay consistent, show up, encourage engagement with each other. Groups are a great place to ask questions and run polls with your audience.

 

Would you say Facebook business groups are more goal driven, specific to an end goal where a Facebook business page is more about brand awareness and advertising?

Yes! You’re correct. Facebook pages are more community driven. I feel that when I’m talking to my Facebook groups, people are actually hearing me as opposed to my Facebook page where it’s more like I’m just throwing information out there where maybe 2% of my audience is actually seeing my posts. The groups also give followers notifications when something new has popped up into that group.

 

This is all great info, Molly! So, let me see if I am drawing this connection properly. There is almost a relationship between your Facebook page/group to Instagram feed/stories. I feel that your Instagram feed is like your Facebook business page and Instagram stories are similar to your Facebook groups, content wise. So if you are trying to visualize what this looks like, if you are active on Instagram, your Instagram feed almost acts like your mini website or your Facebook business page but if you want to take it one step further and you want those connections you take it to your stories where on Facebook you take it to your group! 

 

Yes! That’s correct!

 

Awesome! Now that I’m starting to see the connection to Instagram when it comes to a Facebook business page would they use it as almost as that initial connection and then invite followers into the Facebook group to go deeper?

 

Yes, but you still need to keep up with that Facebook business page. There are still some people that don’t really even understand what groups are yet so they might not even know what that means to even join a group so giving them a reason to come over to that community is very important. People can just randomly “like” pages so that doesn’t really create that sense of community. I do cultivate my groups a little bit differently than my page and you definitely have to keep reminding your followers to come over to your page and stay consistent with it. I enjoy doing the group because I feel like I have the opportunity for immediate conversation as opposed to a business page

 

Molly, you gave us a ton of information today! I will be creating a Facebook business group right now, especially since I’m stuck at home with my kids! Another big takeaway here is having the opportunity to cultivate those relationships in the groups. That doesn’t mean you have to create all new content, just take what you’re doing on Instagram and how you are cultivating relationships on Instagram stories and turn that into a post in your Facebook group! Molly thank you so much for sharing great information with us today. Before we end our conversation please tell us where we can find you on social media!

 

Thank you! I’m everywhere on social media at 802 Social. 802social.com is my website and I also since we’re talking about Facebook groups, I’m going to plug my group which is “The Social Media Download Podcast” Facebook group so you can check that out and join me there!

 

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