Facebook Pages vs. Groups

Did you know that Facebook Groups can be managed by Facebook Pages? Did you know that Facebook Pages can create Groups? Did you just say ‘so what?’ For some organizations, a Facebook Group can actually make a lot of sense. For example, clubs, trade organizations and that sort of thing. Recently I took a Facebook Page and made a Group with it that was only slightly related but makes a lot of sense. 

​I created a Page, Road Trip Reviews, which is related to a travel blog and created a fan club under that Page for a specific brand of RV. The fan club has grown faster even than the Page with a very, very lively discussion allowing members to share tips, challenges and journeys. For lots of businesses it would not make sense to dilute your brand with a Group but, for some, this can be an invaluable resource. 

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Facebook Page vs. Group

A Facebook Page allows you to create an official presence on Facebook for a celebrity or business, for example. It’s more about the official communication from your organization telling the world about what’s happening with that business in an engaging fashion to spur interest. Only the representatives of that organization whom that organization chooses can manage a Facebook Page. Facebook Pages have to be managed by an individual but the voice is that of the official organization with no ties to the individual that the audience sees. 

While Pages were designed to be the official profiles for entities, such as celebrities, brands or businesses, Facebook Groups are the place for small group communication and for people to share their common interests and express their opinion. Groups allow people to come together around a common cause, issue or activity to organize, express objectives, discuss issues, post photos and share related content.

​When you create a Group, you can decide whether to make it publicly available for anyone to join, require administrator approval for members to join or keep it private and by invitation only. Like with Pages, new posts by a group are included in the News Feeds of its members and members can interact and share with one another from the group. 

Groups range widely, from members of a church group or athletic team organizing activities to serious topics on politics and world events or even more lighthearted themes. Groups can also be good for organizing specific functions. Groups can also be a closed discussion for committees and boards. You could even set up a Group for just your employees, for example. In the past the creator of a Group was visible to the members - now you can have your business create a group. 

How to create a Group as a Page

It’s relatively simple to create a Facebook Group from your Page but it has to be done on a desktop computer - I have not seen a way for the mobile versions of Facebook Pages Manager to create or even modify groups. 

To create a Group with your Page simply:

1. Log in to your Facebook account and navigate to the Page Manager function. Choose the Page you wish to manage if you have more than one (or you have 47 as I do which is nuts). 
2. On the left side scroll down to “Groups.”
   1. Here you can either create a new Group or you can actually link to an existing Group. To link to an existing Group, you will have to be an Administrator of that Group. 
3. Link your Page to your Group - or follow the steps to create a new Group. 

Other Group functions - permissions

One of the cool functions of Groups is that you can specify the privacy level and permissions of a Group. For example, if you only want the Board of an organization in a Group, that’s possible. It can also be a secret Group known only to those Board members. You can also create a public Group but specifically allow/block admission to the Group much like an exclusive nightclub. Or, in the case of the travel trailer Group I started allow membership to those who own or are interested in that specific trailer. 

You can also block or allow posts. For example, you can set the Group so that all posts must be allowed by the Administrator if that makes sense. Furthermore, you can grant more than one individual or Page Administrator status so that people can assist if it makes sense to approve posts before they’re seen by the whole group. 
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Or you can just throw the door wide open and allow the world to interact.

Does a Group make sense for your business?

First and foremost, I can’t think of one type of business where it makes sense to have a Facebook Group as the primary presence on the Internet or on Facebook. While it’s true that Facebook’s algorithm seems to be more liberal about showing group updates on individual Facebook walls, there are still disadvantages of using a Group as a marketing tool. 

But if you have areas of discussion such a a Group in the real world, it might make sense to have a Group on Facebook. And using your Business Page to manage this Group might be another feather in your marketing cap, depending on the business.

Written by Anthony B. Barthel