As a marketer wishing to create a presence on Facebook, one is often faced with the decision of whether to create a Group or a Fan Page.

Before the design revamp earlier this year, Facebook Groups and Fan pages both had similar functionality and one big problem: they didn’t give people a reason to come back.

Once someone joined a group or became a fan, there wasn’t much to remind them to return for a visit.  This made the decision pretty much 50/50 for a marketer as one option had about the same pros and cons as the other.

Point: Team “Fan Page”
The Group vs. Fan Page game changed a few months ago when Facebook updated Fan page functionality to act more like a personal page.

Rather than having static content, fan page news updates and wall posts would be pushed out to fans’ newsfeeds and foster more organic word of mouth and engagement (see our previous entry on the benefits of a Fan Page). During this time, Groups stayed the same– stuck with limited functionality and passalong factor. The marketing choice became a lot easier: create a Fan Page to maximize participation.

Point: Team “Group”?
With recent updates to the user interface, Facebook has decided to level the playing field once again, as they have recently updated their Groups to incorporate some of the same benefits of the Fan Page and personal pages.  Gone is the static dead end page, which has now been replaced with something very different.  At first glance, the Group looks very similar to a Fan Page, with some subtle differences.

So the question is- which is a better option for marketing your brand, message or persona?  And why does Facebook continue to have both options available, when they now seem so similar?

While we may not know the answer just yet and need to get our arms around all these new changes to understand how they work, the one thing we do know is we can always expect Facebook to keep evolving and changing the rules.

The takeaway as a marketer? Both seem to be good options for creating a presence and destination for your brand.

The other takeaway? Do your homework and prepare to stay nimble, because Facebook intends to keep us on our toes.