Social Media Matters: Don’t Forget About Facebook Group Pages

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When it comes to marketing on Facebook, creating fan pages to connect and acquire new followers and customers is a must. However, group pages shouldn’t be forgotten about. Fan pages are great for posting and sharing content for followers to read and interact with, but in some cases and industries, a group page on the side would be beneficial. The way Facebook pages are currently constructed, there is the potential for a disconnect between followers and the business, and also from one customer to the other.

As a hobby, and as an owner of a specific vehicle, I created a Facebook fan page for the car that I own. Without any advertising the growth rate of the page was tremendous, and the amount of viewers being reached was impressive, considering every single like and view was all organic. However, a problem arose a few months later when people who liked the page began posting comments and pictures of their cars on the Facebook page’s wall. No one other than myself, and anyone who looked at the comments section, would have seen the questions and pictures fellow car owners posted.

On a few occasions there would be questions that were posted that I couldn’t answer, as the model the owner had wasn’t sold in the United States. Knowing that the page had a global audience, there was most likely someone from Europe who could help answer the question and knew more about that specific model than anyone in the states.

A few months later, I stumbled upon a group page dedicated to the manufacturer that made the car I and my followers own. This group page had members who would post pictures and discuss news about the manufacturer, making it an open forum and a friendly place to socialize with other car owners. The comments and questions that were posted could be seen by all members, not only on the group page’s wall, but also on the members’ own news feeds. This allowed for more engagement, more answers to questions, and an endless supply of pictures that were constantly being posted.

How does this all tie into marketing strategy for a business, or become an invaluable asset to companies? If your business sells products, not only are you posting pictures of those products, but your customers might do the same, depending on what you sell. Unless you publicize your customer’s pictures on your fan page, not many, if any of the other fans of the page will see it. This has nothing to do with posting content, but more of connecting yourself to the customer, and having that customer connect with the other followers of that page.

Especially for businesses, there is also a review section where customers rate your business and hopefully write a nice comment to go with the rating. While it’s a great feature to have on the fan page, all the fans see is the 5 star system, while the comments themselves are in a tiny box which needs to be clicked on to show all comments and ratings.

With a group page, the customers can all be in one place where they can share experiences, talk about the product, and you the business owner, can further engage with your clients on a more personal and friendly level. The group page shouldn’t be a substitute for the fan page, as you’re not going to post marketing content there, but have that go hand-in-hand with the fan page as a mini forum option for the customers and followers. Also with a group page, you can link your fan page on the wall, and pin it to the top where everyone can see it for as long as you keep it as a top priority status.

As business owners, you must use every weapon in your arsenal to attract future customers and connect with current clientele. A group page should be utilized to create that engagement with your fans and customers. Even though you can’t promote it as you can a fan page, it’s primary goal is to bring all current fans into one place where they can discuss your products or services. There you can gauge what they want to see and find out what will work best for your business in the future. Group pages stopped being popular when Facebook gave owners the power to advertise, but there is still an opportunity to revive that aspect of the social media platform, and use it to your business’s advantage.

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