The new Facebook Groups and your business: a great match

Facebook Groups have been the forgotten child of the site for too long. While Facebook Pages have seen constant development with new features and adaptions coming out on a regular basis, groups have languished and been largely ignored. That all changed this week with Facebook’s announcement of new and improved groups. The way groups will now be used is not only a major change for members, but also for the way Facebook defines its users.

The distinction between Pages and Groups is now clearer than ever. The use of a page is largely related to commercial affiliations, while groups function around common interest. What does this mean for how a business uses the two? If you want your company to have a presence on Facebook, create a Page and get people to rally around your brand. If you want to gather people to talk about an issue, concern or common interest associated with your industry, Groups are the way to proceed. 

very exciting

Groups are also changing the way Facebook defines its users. Through groups a user has joined, Facebook can determine the relevance of your friends and site activity by your involvement .  For example, if you are active in a group that gathers breast cancer survivors together, Facebook will know that this is important to you and can then suggest other groups or products. Groups help define your social profile on Facebook. While people used to join groups with little thought as to how it reflected on them, the groups you join and interact with will now create a picture of who you are within Facebook. This means where you go and what you do on Facebook has more impact than ever before. Now might be a good time to revisit the groups you have joined and decide  whether or not to stay affiliated. 

The new features of groups are very impressive and look to be the starting point for a bevy of new features which will be introduced down the road as Facebook determines  how they want to develop the product.

The first group of features includes: 

Edit Notifications - You can now select how you want a group to contact you. You can select between a) when a member posts or comments, b) when a member posts, c) when a friend posts or d) to never be notified. Since all posts or comments can generate a notification, this might be the first place you visit, especially if you are a member of an active group.

Group Chat - Facebook is bringing back chat rooms. You’ll now be able to talk in groups of up to 250 people at a time within your group. This is a great way to connect with group members and have focused discussions.

Documents - Facebook is taking their first plunge into creating documents within their site. You can now create simple text documents with basic modifications like bold, italics and lists.  

For a business, groups can be an incredibly powerful tool for loyalty and generating  new customers. Sponsoring a group page about a subject of interest to your industry allows you to become a thought leader in your field. For example, if you’re a plumber and you want people to call you first when they have a problem, create a group called “Burst Pipes” and start weekly chats with your members. Post documents on how to fix simple plumbing issues and message your members with weekly tips. With a group, a company can become a resource for their clients.

How can you see your business using Facebook groups?

Stefan Halley is the Digital Project Leader for The Duffy Agency. He loves to talk about social media.

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