When looking to establish an online presence on LinkedIn, two options are to create either a LinkedIn page or a LinkedIn group. Both have their own advantages and disadvantages depending on your goals and target audience. In determining which is better for you, it’s helpful to understand the key differences between pages and groups.
What is a LinkedIn Page?
A LinkedIn page is a profile that represents a company, organization, or initiative on the platform. It allows you to share updates, media, job posts, and other content with followers. Pages operate similarly to individual LinkedIn profiles. You can customize the page URL and branding. Followers of your page will see your posts in their feeds.
Some key features of LinkedIn pages include:
- Share company updates, articles, images, videos, job listings
- Engage followers with polls, questions
- Monitor page analytics like post reach, engagement, followers
- List job openings that link to your careers page
- Showcase products, services and brand content
LinkedIn pages are ideal for establishing an official presence for a business or organization. Personal branding experts can also benefit from having a page.
What is a LinkedIn Group?
LinkedIn groups provide an opportunity for professionals in a particular industry or with shared interests to engage in discussions. As an owner or manager of a group, you can share news articles, pose questions, and foster community.
Key features of LinkedIn groups include:
- Start forum-style conversations in the group feed
- Enable members to post their own discussions
- Share news, articles, and resources to the group
- Control membership and moderation
- Analyze group statistics and demographic data
Groups thrive when there is active engagement from members through likes, comments, and sharing. This requires consistent moderation and quality conversations from the owner. Groups work well for niche professional networks and special interest communities looking to connect.
Key Differences
Here is a comparison of some key differences between LinkedIn pages and groups:
| LinkedIn Pages | LinkedIn Groups |
|---|---|
| Represent a company or organization | Bring together professionals with shared interests |
| Post updates broadly to your followers | Foster discussions between group members |
| Build your brand and distribute content | Create a niche community and network |
| Engage followers with updates, images, videos, polls | Moderate conversations and share news/articles |
| List job openings from your company | Don’t have job listing capabilities |
| Analytics on content and followers | Demographic info on group members |
As you can see, pages are oriented towards broadcasting content and building a brand presence. Groups enable more conversations by connecting professionals.
Should I Create a Page or Group?
So should you create a LinkedIn page or group? Here are some key questions to consider:
What are your goals?
LinkedIn pages work well for companies establishing their brand presence, promoting content, recruiting employees, and generating leads. Groups help bring together niche communities and facilitate discussions between engaged professionals. Define your goals to determine which option better supports them.
Who is your target audience?
With pages, your audience is your followers. Broadly share company updates, products, job listings and content with those who follow your page. Groups have a more focused membership base who opt in to conversations on shared topics and interests. Identify which audience you want to reach.
What type of content will you share?
Pages allow broadcasting a wide range of content outward to your followers. This can include company news, articles, videos, images, job listings and more. Groups encourage member conversations and networking through discussions, questions, news and resources relevant to the group topic. Consider what content you want to distribute vs discussions you want to generate.
How much time can you commit?
Pages require consistency in posting valuable content but generally less moderation once set up. Groups require substantial time investment in moderating discussions, sharing relevant articles, engaging members, and ensuring quality conversations. Evaluate how much time you can dedicate.
Do you want access to analytics?
Pages provide analytics on followers, post reach, clicks, and engagement. Groups offer demographic data on members and levels of engagement. If insights are important, pages have more robust analytics.
Best Practices for Success
When creating a LinkedIn presence, keep these best practices in mind for achieving success with either a page or group:
LinkedIn Page Best Practices
- Craft page copy that represents your brand voice and messaging
- Optimize page content with relevant keywords for discoverability
- Use high-quality visuals like images, videos, and infographics
- Share content consistently to stay engaged with followers
- Promote your page and run campaigns to increase followers
- Engage followers by responding to comments and messages
- Analyze page analytics to refine content and strategy
LinkedIn Group Best Practices
- Have a clear, focused group topic or industry
- Set group rules and moderation policies upfront
- Actively share news, articles, and discussion starters
- Welcome and engage new members to encourage participation
- Appoint other moderators to help manage conversations
- Monitor metrics and group demographics
- Send update emails and notices to engage inactive members
Following these best practices can help ensure your LinkedIn page or group achieves your goals and engages your target audience.
Conclusion
Determining whether a LinkedIn page or group is better for you depends on your specific goals, target audience, content focus, time commitment, and need for analytics. Pages enable companies and organizations to establish their brand presence, share updates broadly with followers, distribute content, recruit employees, and generate leads. Groups facilitate more focused discussions between professionals with shared interests or in the same industry.
Carefully evaluate whether you want to reach a broad audience with company and brand content (page) or want to connect niche professionals in active conversations (group). You can also leverage both options to maximize your LinkedIn presence. With a clear strategy and commitment to effectively managing your page or group, you can achieve great benefits through LinkedIn.