Choosing Between a Facebook Page and a Profile

The Sprocket Report

People use Facebook Profiles. Businesses use Facebook Pages. But which should you choose if you and your brand are one in the same?

Speakers, actors, coaches, musicians, bloggers – many self-employed people have business brands that are indistinguishable from their personal brands. This has always made marketing on Facebook tricky. Do you choose a Facebook Profile or a Business Page? There are pros and cons to each and – spoiler alert! – current changes at Facebook may alter your opinion. 

Business Pages can represent an entire company, community or not-for-profit, but a Page could also be a single public figure such as a politician, real estate agent or artist. While the Page looks very much like a personal profile, it still has the attributes of a business Page.

Facebook Business Pages have lots of advantages. For instance, it's great to be able to schedule posts ahead of time so you are providing consistent content during the day while attending to other work. Also, Pages have access to Insights with a wealth of statistics on which posts are resonating with followers and when followers are online reading them. 

But personal Profiles let you connect with other Profiles, which Pages can’t do. If your target market is individuals rather than other businesses, it’s a struggle to get folks to interact with you. Facebook Groups have become very popular since recent changes started limiting the reach of business posts, but from the beginning, only personal Profiles were allowed to start, post in and join Groups.

Of course change is inevitable. Business Pages are now able to be linked to groups and post in them as well. If you are an Admin of a Page as well as an Admin of a Group, you can associate the two and post in the Group as the Page rather than as yourself. This is particularly useful when outsourcing social media tasks. 

To link your business Page to your Group, start on your Page and click “Settings.” Scroll down the left-hand column to click on “Templates and Tabs.” Scroll down the new right-hand column to “Groups.” If you can’t find “Groups,” try clicking on “Add Tab” as it may not be visible yet. Click on the Group tab’s “Settings” button to be sure you have it “On” and “Save.” 

Now go back to your business Page, look for “Groups” in the left-hand column and click to see “Groups by This Page.” From here you can start a new group or link your Page to any groups for which you already are an Admin. 

Changes have given Groups the ability to schedule posts just like business Pages can, which is awesome for keeping the flow of new content consistent, and just days ago, we read on Mashable that our business Pages may soon have the ability to request membership in Groups just like a personal Profile can.

If you are your brand and you have been struggling with how to retain some privacy on Facebook while still interacting in Facebook groups, relief seems to be on the way. Having a business page as a public figure and then joining Facebook groups may be your answer. 

Obviously the only constant with Facebook is change and we can only stay alert and roll with the punches. That’s why we always remind people that your own website is the ONLY place where you are in complete control of your marketing message. Our Sprocket Websites team is dedicated to securing your web presence and then supporting it with social media, even with all its changes! Need assistance with either? Just give us a call. We’re happy to help!  

Kate GingoldKate Gingold

I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.

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Full biography

I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.

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