Fans vs. Groupies: Which markets better?

July 14, 2009
Blog

Playing around in Facebook land, I’ve noticed many companies, organizations and individual people have both groups and fan pages related to their message. Now, whether that’s because one was developed before the other (groups before fan pages) or because having both is the best marketing technique, I’m not sure. So in this week’s blog, let’s weigh the features of both and see if we can determine an answer to this social media marketing quandry. (Oh, how I love a good pro/con list!)

It’s important to point out a few details about the above pro/con list, while I have you reading:

• While both Facebook groups and fan pages have mass messaging, groups allow you to invite all your friends at once, while pages force you to go click through one-by-one. Who has that kind of time?

• Facebook’s promotional features cost money. I haven’t looked into how much, but one of the best qualities about social media in the marketing world is that it’s free! Plus, it’s so easy to spread the word on your own, this feature isn’t even that helpful.

• Visitor statistics are more useful than one might think. I know you can produce your own site audits, but if you don’t live and breathe social media like we do at Firebelly, you likely don’t want to spend the time or energy figuring out your weekly unique visitors or growth in membership week-to-week. For that reason, this feature may be a +1 on the Pages side for most Facebook users.

• Pages are visible to those not registered on Facebook. Although users cannot send messages or post information without registering, social-media-wary audience members can still access details and view new information about a person or place, inviting them to the conversation without forcing them to pull up a chair.

• The privacy settings in Groups are much more controlled. Groups can be made invite-only or completely open, allowing the administrator to determine who can participate and who can’t. Pages don’t allow this level of control, but an admin can regulate who can and can’t post on the Page wall.

Conclusions

Pages are best for larger companies and public figures aiming to reach out to fans without connecting them to a personal profile. Plus, Facebook restricts profiles to a maximum of 5,000 fans, and if you’re as popular as most companies and celebrities are, you’ll reach that number quickly and start denying fans access. That’s not very good social media etiquette!

Groups are better for smaller-scale activities focused around a cause. Use a group to stay in touch with your high school graduating class or to get the word out about a weekend bake sale. You won’t have to spend time clicking through your hundreds (maybe thousands) of friends to invite each one, and you can delete the group after the event ends. For larger companies and public figures with Pages, Groups can be used to promote a one-time event like an upcoming appearance or promotional contest.

Facebook Groups and Pages are both great marketing techniques that offer many options and are free and easy to use.

My conclusion: make a Page to be permanent — use it as the social media equivalent to your website. Get Groups going for one-time events — use them as the social media equivalent to a press release.

Alyson (follow me @alyandthecity)