membership communities: facebook groups vs forums

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FACEBOOK GROUPS VS FORUMS WHICH IS BETTER FOR CREATING YOUR MEMBERSHIP COMMUNITY? www.themembershipguys.com

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Page 1: Membership Communities: Facebook Groups vs Forums

FACEBOOK GROUPSVS FORUMSWHICH IS BETTER FOR CREATING YOURMEMBERSHIP COMMUNITY?

www.themembershipguys.com

Page 2: Membership Communities: Facebook Groups vs Forums

Members will come for the content,but they'll stay for the community

www.themembershipguys.com

Page 3: Membership Communities: Facebook Groups vs Forums

FORUMS: THE PROS

www.themembershipguys.com

Keeps members onsite

Easy to search for information and previous discussions

More advanced features such as text formatting, private messaging, statuses

Full member profiles specific to the site

Signatures at the bottom of posts for non invasive promotion

Automated access – no having to manually approve or remove members

Better categorisation of topics and posts

Fully focused on your brand and product

Members are there specifically to talk about your product and content

Page 4: Membership Communities: Facebook Groups vs Forums

FORUMS: THE CONS

www.themembershipguys.com

Need to consciously login to the site to access the community

Learning curve is high if member is unfamiliar with forums

More chance of members having technical issues

Can be harder to get engagement initially

More members needed for a ‘buzzy’ atmosphere

More complicated to set up and more tech implications to think about

Page 5: Membership Communities: Facebook Groups vs Forums

FACEBOOK GROUPS: THE PROS

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Most people have an existing Facebook account

Many people will log in daily or at least weekly

Can be easier for initial engagement

‘Known’ platform and most people know how to use it already

Quicker responses to posts

Apps available for easy phone and tablet use

Instant notifications of posts and responses

Quick and easy to set up

Page 6: Membership Communities: Facebook Groups vs Forums

FACEBOOK GROUPS: THE CONS

www.themembershipguys.com

Difficult to keep track of topics and discussions

Personal profile needed, potential privacy issues

Poor search functionality

Offsite and away from your content

Quick post turnover – easy for things to be missed

No automated access – members need to be approved or removed manually

Playing on Facebook’s turf, so you're subject to their rules & decisions

Competing with other Facebook ‘noise’

Members not necessarily in the right mindset to learn

No control, can't backup or export your member data

Page 7: Membership Communities: Facebook Groups vs Forums

Still not sure which to use?

www.themembershipguys.com

Page 8: Membership Communities: Facebook Groups vs Forums

www.themembershipguys.com

Is the community an "add‐on" to yourcourse or membership site? 

(i.e more for general questions and support than an integral part

of your product)?

If so, a Facebook Group is your best bet.

Page 9: Membership Communities: Facebook Groups vs Forums

www.themembershipguys.com

Is the community a core part of yourmembership site and a major selling point?

If so, then it should be something that YOU control.

As such an on-site Forum should be your first choice.

Page 10: Membership Communities: Facebook Groups vs Forums

www.themembershipguys.com

If in doubt, ASK your audience. 

You might think a forum is a great idea, but if your members won’t

use it, you’re wasting your time.

Similarly, you might presume members would prefer Facebook,

but actually they crave an easy to read and search forum where

they can have more in-depth discussions.

Page 11: Membership Communities: Facebook Groups vs Forums

Get more advice for creating and growinga successful membership website:

www.themembershipguys.com