The latest trend in Internet marketing, Facebook, has a lot of potential if you use it wisely.  Among its many advertising opportunities, groups and pages stand out as two of the most effective and easiest methods to promote and brand your business. 

Groups
Groups, the original community-building feature of Facebook, are still quite popular, and with good reason. A group can serve as the main focus for everything related to your brand. It entices people to participate in discussions about your brand, share it with their contacts, and serves as a great communication platform with customers and partners.

However, there are a few disadvantages. Although this restriction is being considered for removal, you cannot send messages to your entire group if its numbers exceed 1,000-1,500 members, limiting communication. Groups also seem to attract more spammers than other methods, which can become time consuming to manage. Also, you’ll need to transition to a Facebook Page if you want to use advanced applications and widgets that make your page more functional.

Pages
While similar to groups, there are crucial differences in Facebook Pages. Fairly new and specifically designed to help businesses advertise their brand and engage Facebook users, they similarly allow you to promote your brand and engage potential and current customers.

Pages have major advantages over groups in the customization and communication potential. Flash, HTML, and Facebook applications can all be added to Pages, while groups have relatively few customization options. Groups promote your brand on their profile pages, whereas Pages simply stand out more. You can reach your entire membership, regardless of how many fans your Page has.

Pages are also accessible to people without Facebook accounts, so they will be indexed in Google and other major search engines. This is crucial if you’re trying to manage your brand and get it ranked higher in search engines.

More importantly, Pages allow a customizable URL to incorporate your keywords, invaluable for SEO purposes, and makes the Page address easier to remember.

You can also monitor visitor statistics, create events, invite fans to them, and promote Pages utilizing social ads.

These advantages give Pages the upper hand for long-term brand promotion, while groups are better for attracting attention quickly for a shorter period of time. It’s faster to spread the word and invite new members to groups.

Which is better?
There is no real answer to the question of which method is better for brand promotion as each method has its own advantages and disadvantages. It all depends on exactly how you’re planning to use Facebook for marketing purposes.

Groups and pages are two of many opportunities to promote your business on Facebook. Consider starting one or both of them to promote and expand your brand.

Jeannine Clontz, IVAA CVA, MVA, EthicsChecked™, owner of Accurate Business Services is a Virtual Assistant (VA).  ABS provides ‘as needed’ marketing and social media support, training and consulting to busy entrepreneurs.  Clontz is a writer, author, VA Coach, and speaker on business topics including business ethics.  For her FREE 10-Step Guide to Finding the Right VA, or her FREE Report, Social Media Marketing Benefits, visit:  http://www.accbizsvcs.com.  Find out more at www.VAbizcoach.com or her book website http://www.entrepreneurialfreedom.com