Facebook's New Groups for Pages and What This Means for Brands

Bring the world closer together" Facebook's new mission statement was released to the world on the 22nd June. During the first-ever Facebook community summit : a meeting for top group admins, Mark Zuckerberg explained the new direction Facebook wishes to take & the introduction of what has now led to "groups for pages" 

What is "Groups for Pages?" Essentially, it's a function that merges groups into your page, integrating groups into the brand itself. Previously, pages have not been able to post or communicate in groups, the only way to achieve this was to interact with the group through your personal Facebook account. The biggest flaw with this was you were unable to provide credibility or brand personalisation. Communities like to see official brand pages respond and give their views.

But what does this mean for brands? Here are some things you need to know about the new function & how you can effectively use "Groups for Pages" 

"If you are an artist, a business, a brand, or a newspaper, you can now create fan clubs & groups centred around your super fans" - Chris Cox, Chief Product Officer, Read his full reveal post here . A super fan can be defined, in basic terms as: "A very or extremely devoted fan".

These are individuals that want to be a part of day-to-day discussions of decisions made by organisations they care about. More importantly, to connect with others who feel the same way. Following on from Facebook's new mission statement, the aim is to bring everyone together, business' & audience. "Groups for pages" allows organisations to create devoted groups to achieve this.

Similarly to before, you can create new groups for a specific purpose, be it for a product, an interest, hobby or a fan club. With the new update now in place, you can associate an existing group with your page. Allowing you the same benefits as those who've created a new group. This enables you to interact with the group as the brands official page.

In order to associate an existing group, a page admin must also be the admin of the group in question. 

  Undoubtedly, the biggest advantage is the ability to now communicate and engage with your audience as your brand. This opens multiple avenues to further market & target newer audiences. The ability to associate existing groups also opens further opportunities for brands to acquire different groups focusing on their area, brand or niche. 

This new functionality should not be overlooked as it provides a huge opportunity for brands to create true communities: groups populated by brand advocates or "super fans". This is something that was always a goal of Facebook in essence, but never full-fledged as it is now.

Whilst the new functionality offers a heightened opportunity to engage and interact with audiences, the big issue that arises is moderation.

The risks that come with this change dwell down to the overall size of the brand, following and intentions. Brands will need to ensure that they can adequately moderate the pages & groups they run. With the online platform being such a free space, it only takes one or two negative or abusive comments being posted for a group to spiral out of control.

This will certainly pose a bigger and more difficult challenge for larger brands who have multiple different groups. 

On the flip side, there is also an increased chance that "spam" will become more prominent. Whilst certainly not applicable to all. We've all come across that one brand that selflessly posts promotional material all over the web. Allowing brands access to direct posts in groups also comes with the possibility to receive this promotional spam, further adding to the problems group admins have to face.  

Does Facebook have a measure in place to counter this? We don't know. There have been many issues arising on Facebook that has caused a much-needed look into how Facebook flags certain media. Social media today has a great summary of Mark Zuckerberg's interview with Buzz feed , alternatively, you can read the entire interview here . They talk about how Facebook plans to protect users from seeing certain media and how they are addressing 2017's global topic: Fake news. 

The most important step to take from this point onwards would be to get involved in creating groups. If you are a big existing brand now is a good time to set this up and take advantage of the way Facebook is changing. You can use this to push additional sales messages (make sure not to spam these). You can also use these groups to assist customers or create individual pages to address certain areas of your business. 

If you need a dedicated place for customer service, create a page. If you need a dedicated place for support with one of your software, create a page for that. This works in a similar fashion to how Reddit works with their subreddits. You can work to create a brand hub within Facebook that allows your customers to address problems and communicate with each other. 

You may also find that a lot of the problems fix themselves. Creating a community allows customers to bounce problems off one another and opens the floor for others to solve them. By creating this zone, you are essentially enabling other users to act as problem solvers for you. 

On top of this,  you allow loyal customers an extra platform to push your brand and products/services. They are more likely to recommend you within the group and pass along positive information to those who are unsure whether or not they should buy from you. 

Workplace by Facebook has also received substantial updates and is now striving to be more business oriented. This can also be used by brands to boost their exposure. You can learn more about it  here. If you are looking to learn more about Facebook and how it can be beneficial for your business, Email us at admin@devmac.co.uk and we can run through all the important details.