A Facebook Fan Page or Group? Which is best to use for social media marketing with Facebook? I have used both for social media marketing and would like to share my thoughts/ experience in using both. Have a look at the below screenshot comparing Fan Pages, Groups, and Profiles. If the image is too small click on it to see a larger view.
As you can see in the screenshot above each sharing option provides similar functions however, depending on what your purpose for use is using the appropriate sharing option will generate the highest amount of exposure to you and your content.
For instance a common trait of many Facebook marketers is to post their content on their profile walls. While this can be effective and generate interest in you and your content. Content shared in this way will only be limited to the newsfeeds of your friends (you are limited to 5000 friends) and any of their friends if that user comments, shares, or likes your post. Also depending on your Facebook Edge Ranking there is a chance that your friends will not see your content. (I will create a separate post on how Facebook Edge Ranking works at a later date so if you have not provided your email address for updates and would like to view the post on Facebook Edge Ranking do signup here.) So this might not be the best option for you if you are looking for mass exposure to you and your content. Also to be honest with you. Having a profile page full of marketing offers can be a huge turn off to someone wanting to know more about the person that is providing the offer. Is the person providing the offer an actual testimony of said offer? Is the person providing the offer an actual person or just a fake account setup to share content in as many places as possible? These are things to think about when using a Facebook Profile wall to share content. My advice for using a Facebook Profile wall is to share information about you and allow others to get to know more about you and what you do on a day to day basis. Give those viewing your profile wall a chance to follow you and what you are doing. This builds trust and attracts others looking for a person of your talents. Next time you look at the profile of a Facebook marketer have a look at the followers of that marketer. The more followers that user has the more value that user is providing. Facebook Edge Rank hint hint… I included a screenshot showing the amount of followers I have as of July 3, 2015 below…
Using Facebook Groups is a great way to share your content with an unlimited amount of Facebook users. Nope you are not sharing your content with the entire Facebook directory of users, but you will have the opportunity to reach hundreds of thousands of users with one share. Content shared in Facebook Groups is viewable by all of the users of that Facebook Group. This includes friends as well as those that aren’t you friends. First your content will appear on in the newsfeeds of all of the members of the Facebook Group you are sharing the content to. Also once your content is engaged either through commenting, liking or sharing all members the group will see that engagement and also the friends of the group member that engaged that content will see the message appear in their newsfeeds if they are a member of that group. Having content you share in groups engaged by others can lead to that content reaching millions of others over and over again without you having to share that content again. That’s the one of great things about using Facebook Groups to share your content…
There are also some not so great things about using Facebook Groups to share your content. Working around Facebook Group posting policies, other Facebook marketers, and locating the best groups for sharing your content are a three that I will go over.
- If your Facebook account has ever been suspended aka put in Facebook jail then you maybe aware of Facebook Group posting policies. Posting in Facebook Groups too quickly. Posting the same content over and over again in the same Facebook Group or multiple groups. Posting offensive content. Those are all easy ways to get your account suspended due to breaking Facebook Group policies. I have experienced this once and I tell you it sucks. I had groups that I created and although I could see members of the group posting and asking for my assistance I was not able to post in the group due to my account being suspended from posting in groups. This meant loss of income and potential followers that were interested in what I was providing. The loss of income hurt the most. Depending on the Facebook policy you break your account maybe suspended for two weeks, but with repeat offenses your account will be suspended or maybe your account banned. Be careful and do your best to obey Facebook Group policies if you are using this method of sharing your content.
- Other Facebook marketers can also hurt your group posting efforts. They will either see your post and instead of supporting your post with valuable information or inquiring about information they will use your post as an opportunity to share their content or offer. Some Facebook marketers will see your post and report it if you are promoting something similar to theirs in hopes of reducing competition. There are also a percentage of Facebook marketers that will report groups that you have created resulting in them being deleted by Facebook. This has happened to me recently. There’s really no way around other Facebook marketers. So if you are using Facebook Groups for sharing your content just understand Facebook is a public network full of marketers of all sorts. Posting in Facebook Groups is free so if you are using this method instead of paying for Facebook ads this is a risk that you take.
- Lastly locating the right Facebook Groups to share your content can be a very time consuming task, but if you want to receive maximum engagement on your content you will need to do a bit of work. I created a post about locating the best Facebook Groups for sharing your content recently. Have look here…
On to using Fan Pages to share your content. I don’t know this to be 100% true, but this is something that I have thought about. By having a Fan Page or Fan Pages created by your account it prevents your account from being fully banned. What I mean by this is. Facebook will delete your account if they suspect you are using it for business purposes however, if you have a Fan Page they will suggest that you use your Fan Page as a business page which enables you to maintain your account. I had that happen in the past with an account and I was a bit puzzled, but then again Fan Pages were created by Facebook as a way to get more businesses to use their service.
With Fan Pages you are able to have an unlimited amount of likes/ followers. So that means if your Fan Page has 1 million people that like it and you post content on that Fan Page all 1 million users that like you Fan Page will see content you post on in their newsfeeds and if they engage that content the friends of those users will see your content. Ever see Tyrese Gibson’s posts floating in your newsfeed? Yes the actor/ singer. You know the bald sexy black guy from the Fast and the Furious movies. His Fan Page has 26 million people that like it. So there’s a very high chance you have a friend that has liked his page. Once any of those friends engage his content it’s shared amongst their friends. Check out one of his posts below… Have you ever seen this type engagement on a Facebook Group post? He shares content on his Fan Page daily and most of his posts receive equally as much engagement.
A Facebook Fan Page will allow you to use it pretty much the same as you would a blog. As a matter of fact a great amount of Facebook marketers used Fan Pages instead of investing in capture pages and blogs. However, in the past two years Fan Pages have changed a lot and some feel Fan Pages aren’t as good of a marketing tool as they used to be, but I beg to differ. Now I am not saying you are going millions or end up with 26 million followers like Tyrese, but if used properly and with consistency in providing valuable content Fan Pages are very effective.
If you need help creating a Fan Page have a look at this video I created sometime ago showing you how to create your very own Fan Page…
Hopefully you have a better understanding of which option is best for your social media marketing when using a Facebook Fan Page Or Group Or your profile wall. If you found this information useful… Share it!
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