What's the difference between a facebook 'page' and a facebook 'group' in terms of functionality and purpose?

[wallyfeatures]

I've been handed responsibility for a organisation's facebook presence and have discovered that they have both a 'page' and a 'group'. Do they need both? I'm finding myself having to keep two places updated and it is twice the work. Any help gratefully received.

People have to join a group whereas they only have to like a page.

Depends which one already has the most engagement and followers.

It is my understanding (could be wrong!) that Facebook pages are visible to the public. Anyone can see them if they put in the correct search term.

Facebook groups you have to join and can be closed (you cannot see content unless you are a member) or private (you cannot find the group by searching; you have to be invited).

Groups are more for communication between like-minded individuals whereas pages are more for marketing/raising awareness, so I guess it depends on your aim.

I am a member of several Facebook groups relating to my child's disability. The groups provide peer support and information sharing. Several of these groups have public pages, which is more for raising general awareness.

m.facebook.com/notes/facebook/facebook-tips-whats-the-difference-between-a-facebook-page-and-group/324706977130/

I run a Facebook page. Most of the likers never get to actually see the posts on the page because of the algorithms. I have almost 1K people who like it. If 200 of them see a post I consider myself very lucky. Groups are more interactive and I think anyone can post in them plus people in that group get notifications of a new post so engagement is likely to be higher.

On a page only you can post. A group can allow any of its members to post (posts can be moderated or not as the group's admin decides).

Thank you so much for all this information. The group page has 32 members, whilst the page has, seemingly, many more people involved and more activity. I am at a bit of a loss as to what to do given especially your information Smashingnicey .

The purpose of the facebook presence seems solely to be raising awareness and marketing, so while I can see the reason for having a group page it is not what is required in this case. Part of the role is creating events and these are always then shared to other facebook interest pages and groups so I'm used to doing a lot of the legwork in spreading information.
Do you happen to know how the algorithms work? Smashingnicey
Will have a bit more of a think.

Thank you!

It's a conundrum - no one knows or businesses would just alter their posts to allow for this. The only way to increase reach is to either pay for Facebook adverts or to share in local groups etc. It's really annoying.

There are things you can do with a page that you can't do with a group. You can pay to have sponsored posts that more people can see and you can target your posts at particular demographics.

Well we're not in a position to pay, so I guess I'll keep my old-fashioned list and manually share events each time, Smashingnicey

Thanks Gwenhwyfar, I can see more stats on the page than on the group and that is useful.

I'm in the process of messaging each group member to tell them to start following the page instead. But the bastard system will only let me message them as me, rather than as the group, even though I am the administrator. I am loathe to do this as I know they will all message me back Grrrr!

One important difference (depending on how you use it, I suppose) is that you can post as the page but you can only post using your real name on the group. So your posts on the group will come up as from "Wally Features" but your posts on the page will be from "The Stripy Kitten Appreciation Society" (or whatever )

You can also use paid promotion features to "boost" posts in the page, and pin posts to the top of the feed etc

I guess that explains the problem OlennasWimple !

Wally - you can sponsor posts for just a few pounds. It's a pretty cheap form of advertising.

Thanks Gwenhwyfar , I keep seeing offers to 'boost' posts. I don't think the organisation wants to take it that far. They will be happy to see if it increases attendance at events in the short term. They are all rather aged (apologies to any aged folks reading this and wh are tech savvy!) and are not too tech savvy. The facebook presence was set up a few years ago and then they really haven't done a lot with it until I was asked to take it on. I will have to prove to them it is working before they will part with any funds, if ever.