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How do I build a Facebook presence for my business?

Lets face it, Facebook is huge, and because it is huge we struggle to get a hold on the best way to market through this social medium. Do I setup a group or a profile page. Which method will give me a better return and how do I measure that return? Lets look method briefly to see what they marketing value is of each.

The Facebook Group

This was the first method allowed to business to promote its activities and it did well. Business is able to build a database of people who choose to follow the group and are able to interact with its group through direct messaging (direct mail). The group interaction is customisable and therefore it is possible to protect brands and business from slanderous activity. However over time groups became more about association and personal statements than about interacting with the group. People would join a surf brand group more to show those people viewing their profile that they were ‘in’ with surf culture. People started collecting groups and were not very loyal to any of the groups they had joined. Messages from groups in the users inbox are quickly deleted before the headings are even read. So the identity of a group has changed and therefore it use.

I would suggest starting a group if you:

1.    Are marketing something of social or cultural value and not primarily focused on the product/service.
2.    Have a brand that people want to associate with.

The biggest problem with the group in my opinion is that communicating with this group can only be done by cluttering the members facebook inbox. Members don’t enjoy clearing their inbox so you are engaging then in an environment that is slightly negative which associates your business with that negativity.

The Facebook Profile Page

The page provides marketers with much more value than a group. Pages provide statistics of the facebook users who are ‘fans’ of your page. These stats help you to profile you market and customise your messages on facebook. The most important aspect of a page on facebook is the way updates are communicated to your ‘fanbase’ (database). All your page activity is treated like an individual person and shows up on the home page of facebook. The home page is where facebook users go to find out what’s happening with  their peers. In other words the are excited to click on the home page, and you post gets to be a part of that excitement. About 80% of all website traffic that I generate from Facebook to websites comes directly off the Facebook home page.  You need a Facebook page because you need to be on your fan’s home page.

The only downside from a marketing aspect of the Facebook page right now is that currently when fans interact on a page, that page administrator is not notified by email. This simply means that you will have to commit to checking the page often.

Both methods now offer advertising opportunities so you can always increase your group and page database by using the Facebook advertising service.

Please leave you comments below should you be able to share more information about social media management, the value differences between Facebook Groups and Profile Pages.

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