Facebook: Pages, Profiles and Groups – what are they and when to use them

A question I am often asked is what is the difference between Facebook: Pages, Profiles and Groups, quickly follow by “what are they” and “do I need them all” And it is these questions that I aim to answer and help you within this post.

So let us delve into the world of Facebook: Pages, Profiles and Groups and look at what they are, and when and how you can use them.

Your Facebook Profile:

Your Facebook Profile is where it all starts. It is your key to the land of Facebook. This is a single account for one person that’s in their real name.

When you sign up to Facebook, you agree in the Terms of Service that your account will be in your real name and only used by you.

Although you may see business owners running two personal profiles, or a profile in their business name, it is not recommended, because if you are found to be in breach of Facebook’s terms of service, all of your account profiles and pages can be deleted (and no one wants that).

With a Facebook Profile you can:

• Connect with people by adding them as Friends or Following them (although you are limited to a maximum of 5000).
• Share statuses, photos, videos, links and so on with your Friends and Followers.
• Post comments and share things on your Friends’ accounts or message them privately through Facebook Messenger.
• Create events for family, friends and more.
• Like Pages and join Groups.
• Set up your own Pages and Groups.

When do you use your Facebook Profile:

Your Facebook Profile is the key for everything. It is the ‘person behind the social’ in social media. And, although Facebook frowns upon you doing business via a personal profile, it is key to doing business on Facebook.

Your Facebook Page

Your Facebook page is the place for doing business. It is the place to create a following and have people engage with your brand.

 The page is similar to a Profile except it can be for anything—not just people. A Facebook Page allows users (profiles) to connect with a brand and feel part of the business journey.

If you’re looking to set up some sort of Facebook presence for your business, or even a more professional presence for yourself, a Page is what you’re looking for. We have a Facebook page for each of our businesses and I have a personal brand page too. You can find the links below:

• Business Business Business
• Media Connections
• Enever Group
• The Course Creators Circle 
• Linda Reed-Enever (my brand/public figure page)

With a Facebook Page you can:

• Have people connect with you by Liking the Page
• Share posts that your Followers will see
• Connect with a wider audience than your friend base
• Respond to messages sent to your Page
• Run advertising campaigns
• Create groups around your brand

You need your own personal Facebook Profile to set up a Facebook Page.
Connecting with a page allows a user to closely follow the brand. Pages are also verified for authenticity and can help a brand develop a deeper level of trust.

When do you need a Facebook Page?

All businesses should have a Facebook page that is set up for their customers to interact with, especially if your customer base is active on Facebook.

Your Facebook Page should be linked to your profile in your work history, and it is the only place on Facebook you can create ads. While Facebook is social and you can grow your reach organically, paying to promote is often also required.

Facebook Groups

Facebook groups are communities for like-minded people, and for business owners, the opportunity to build your profile with a group is huge.

Communities/tribes, whatever you like to call them, make social media work, and the Business Business Business group is proof of that. Started in 2014 as a place for business owners to hang out, we now have over 30,000 members.

I like to call Facebook Groups your inner circle and, depending on how the Group is set up, it can be open to anyone on Facebook or just a chosen few.

With a Facebook Group members can:

• Meet like-minded people
• Post things to the Group
• Comment on Group posts and interact with other members
• Network with and empower others
• Grow their network and skills

You need a personal Facebook Profile to set up a Facebook Group, and the fact you are an admin will be public information. You can then add your business page or pages as admins to the group to brand your business further from there. If you want to know more about Facebook Groups, check out Creating Communities with Facebook Groups.

When should you use a Facebook Group?

Facebook Groups can be created around almost anything, but let’s concentrate on business. You could create a group to educate your customers on how to better use your products/services, to support a course you are running, or around a topic that you wish to be “known” as a leader in.

Facebook groups can also be used without being an admin. One of the strongest ways to build your expert profile is to engage in groups socially, which is why we created our Facebook Groups Calendar list, to help clients and students get started with Facebook networking

So which one do you need for doing business on Facebook?

In my opinion, businesses should be using all 3, starting with the personal profile, which opens up the door, then branding your business or yourself with a page that will open up promotion opportunities. Add networking in groups to educate and empower others about what you do, and who knows, one day you might start your own like we did!

Want to know more about Facebook for Business? Enrol in Facebook for Business: Boost your brand, biz and network where I share with you the tips on how we do business on Facebook and how you can too.