Facebook Fan Page vs Group?

This week, I have a topic that seems pretty simple: which do you prefer? Facebook group or Facebook fan page?

I bet most of you haven’t really thought about this question before, at least I never really paid much attention to the difference of these two although I see them and use them almost everyday on Facebook. I just clicked whatever buttons available on the web page and then became a fan or join a group. However, for a company who is doing SEO on Facebook , things are different and choice might matter. So, I spent a few hours to try these similar functions again just to get some clear insights.

There is a article online concluded that the first and foremost the 2 major differences include:

1. Unlike groups, fan pages are visible to unregistered people and are thus indexed (important for reputaion management, for example);

2. Unlike pages, groups allow to send out “bulk invite” (you can easily invite all your friends to join the group while with pages you will be forced to drop some invites manually). Groups are thus better for viral marketing, meaning that any group member can also send bulk invites to the friends of his.

As a result, the authore concluded that pages are generally better for a long-term relationship with your fans, readers or customers while groups are generally better for hosting a (quick) active discussion and attracting quick attention. I kind of agree with the conclusion, but I have several additional insights.

(Source:http://www.searchenginejournal.com/facebook-group-vs-facebook-fan-page-whats-better/7761/)

Based on my own experience, I have to admit that the fan page works better since it attracts more people while both of the two options are designed for the same purpose. Although there is a bazillion people on Facebook that join many groups and fan pages just like me, I find that most just join the group but there is little contribution. I think the only good thing is that they will see your latest information in the news feed but that’s about it because people nowadays don't really take their time to interact within a group although they are members while it is more likely for people to spread information on a fan page.

Of course, it can’t be so easy to make a 100% correct decision on which one is better. I would say the best choice is to go with both first and later on see what’ the analysis of effective say.

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