Pages GroupsVS.Overview

A Facebook Fan Page is similar to a normal Facebook profile but is generally used to promote a business, brand or product (Nashville Farmers Market; Nashville, TN; Tennessee Home & Farm magazine).

Facebook members become fans of your Page, and they then have access to all of the content and information within your Page.

Pages serve as a public branding opportunity for your product/business and as a badge of loyalty for Facebook members who are fans of your business/product.

Think of Groups as several profiles under one umbrella of a shared interest (Farmers Market Vendors; Nashville Young Professionals).

Groups are generally used for interacting and collaborating on a small scale and are typically fine-tuned to specific Facebook users that share that common interest.

Groups are similar to clubs in the real world; you can make them as private or public as you wish.

Pages GroupsVS.Communication

Pages have two walls – one for you, and one for your fans (one or both can show, depending on how you filter the wall). Communicate directly with fans by posting to your Page's wall. Wall posts appear to come from the Page itself rather than the admin (which is hidden). Posts to your wall will appear in the News Feed of your fans' Home Page.

Fans can communicate with your Page by commenting on the Fan Wall. And if they chose to do so, fans can tag your Page in their own status update, which will post to your Fan Wall as well.

You can also send updates to your fans (and even target them by location and gender). Updates are located under the Messages section of personal profiles and appear to come from the Page, not the user/admin.

Members can communicate with the Group by writing on the Group's wall, or directly with anyone in the group, including admins, via messaging.

Communicate to group members using both wall updates and messaging (provided that your group is smaller than 5,000 members). Messages will come directly from you as opposed to coming from the Group itself.

Pages GroupsVS.User Control

Pages are open to the public and just about anyone can become a fan of your Page, though you can add some restrictions such as age or country.

Fan pages are searchable through Facebook or any search engine. Anyone can view the public content within your page, whether or not they are a member of Facebook.

You can appoint admins so that multiple people can update the Page as needed. Admins' information stays hidden.

Admins are unable to view fans' information unless you are friends with that person through your personal profile. Fans do not have full access to other fans' information unless they are friends with that person.

Admins can remove spam or fans manually and block users if needed.

Groups allow you more control over who you want to communicate with. You can open your group to anyone at all, select specific members (closed groups) or keep it private.

Groups are searchable through Facebook, but not through search engines. Only limited access is given to non-members. Secret groups are not searchable.

You can appoint admins so that multiple people can update to the Group when needed. Admins' profiles will show up in the Group's Wall page and those admins can be contacted directly, which allows for more personal interaction.

Members do not have full access to other members' information, including admins, unless they are friends with that person. Admins can remove spam or fans manually or block users if needed.

Pages GroupsVS.Applications

Default applications that show up as tabs on your Page include discussions, events, links, notes, photos and videos, but there are hundreds of applications within Facebook that can be added to your Page as well, many of which can be turned into tabs.

Applications can be adjusted for your desired level of fan interaction.

You can also create Landing Pages, customizable tabs within your Page with specific content to enhance your Fans' experience with your brand or company.

The tabs within Groups include discussions, events, photos and videos. Tabs can be customized depending on the amount of interaction you'd like between group members.

You cannot create Landing Pages or add Tabs in Groups, but you can hide Tabs.

Pages GroupsVS.Additional Features

Track how many people click through to your site via your Page; create advertisements in Facebook to promote your Page; track visitor statistics through Page Insights.

Pages are searchable in search engines.

SMS (mobile) subscription service available to fans. Username, a.k.a. vanity URL (example: facebook.com/tnhomeandfarm), becomes available once the Page reaches 25 fans.

Advertise on Facebook to promote your group.

Designate officers so group members can be easily identified amongst other members.

Groups are not visible on Facebook's mobile phone applications (Blackberry, iPhone).

No vanity URL is available.