Website vs. Facebook Fan Page
Here’s the dilemma: you have a new idea, product, or business and now you want to share it with the world. Do you create a website or do you thankfully embrace Mark Zuckerberg and create a Facebook fan page?
Guy Kawasaki, writer, 2.0 expert, and founder of Alltops, recently wrote that the Facebook Fan Page is the way to go.
It’s free, it’s popular, and it’s easy to create, maintain, and advertise. Compare that to the long process of designing your own website or the expensive process of having others design a website for you.
From this angle it doesn’t take a expert to see that a Facebook fan page is the easy winner.
But the truth is a little murkier.
Promoting your business, product or idea on the web isn’t about cost, time, and ease-of-use. It’s about style.
If you are in Guy’s shoes and you want to promote a book–a Facebook fan page makes sense. He wants to appear relevant without looking like he tried to hard. He wants people too actively “like” his fan page so they might, if the mood strikes them, buy his book. He knows that the majority of people who stumble onto a static website dedicated to a book will most likely ‘X’ out of it because they will feel like they have wandered into an online billboard. He’s striving for an authentic, lets-be-friends, style. Facebook can guarantee this style–a website can’t.
If Guy was really interested in saving money and keeping an easy to use interface he wouldn’t have spent $2,000 on a design firm to customize his fan page nor would he have bothered researching which Facebook apps could help him optimize his page. Guy isn’t interested in the money or the time–he’s more interested in style. He wants to sell his book, not save some money on advertising.
Before you decide who you want to promote your idea think about style. Use a fan page if you want your business, idea, or product to be represented in an informal, every-man, light. Build a nice website if you want your business, idea, or product to be taken seriously and appear large, busy, and successful. Reverse the rules if you want to be seen as a innovator within your field. It’s that simple.
Money and time shouldn’t be the prime considerations when you decide how you want to promote your ideas online. You first need to decide on how you want your message conveyed and how you want to separate yourself from everyone else.
Photo Credit: Laurie McGregor
Tagged as alltops, book, facebook, guy kawasaki, website + Categorized as Features, Managerial Competence, Proactive Technology, Social Media
5 Comments
Trackbacks & Pingbacks
-
Hook Storyline and Sinker | State of Mind Coaching & Training
[...] The Bacharach Blog’s Website or Facebook Fan Page by W. Briggs Nicely played. Draw me in with a “vs.” title, seemingly pose an idea contrary to none other than Guy Kawasaki’s, and wrap it up with a twist on the ol’ “I’m smarter than someone more successful” that we see all the time and actually, intelligently, articulate how and why what you are proposing is exactly what he was doing that most all of us just overlooked. Very impressive hook, storyline, and sinker! _____________________________________ Share and Enjoy: [...]
Nicely played. Draw me in with a “vs.” title, seemingly pose an idea contrary to none other than Guy Kawasaki’s, and wrap it up with a twist on the ol’ “I’m smarter than someone more successfull” that we see all the time and actually, intelligently, articulate how and why what you are proposing is exactly what he was doing that most all of us just overlooked. Very impressive hook, storyline, and sinker!
Jade Handy,
I’m just trying to clear the water here and I gather I did a poor job! Let me explain. I don’t like the “vs.” title either. The “What’s Better?” hook was something Guy and Open Forum blog brought up. I don’t think it’s a question of what’s better–it’s a question of common sense.
Making a decision between fan page vs. website is a question of style–and therefore is a personal decision that doesn’t require a pro/con list from Guy Kawasaki who is admittedly more successful than I am.
The thesis of my article would be simple: Before you get into the vs. argument think about how you want to frame your ideas online. Factors like cost, time, etc. are important–and dealt with throughly and ably by Guy–but they aren’t the only things that are at play. I was attempting to take a step back and make sure we realize it’s a question of style before anything else.
Hopefully next time there won’t be a sinker!
Best,
Wbriggs
Hi,
I just came across your post and your analysis on Guy Kawasaki’s post about owning a FB Page over a website. I had read his post and wanted to react to it which lead me to write on the topic too (you can check my blog if you’re interested).
One thing I would add to your analysis is the “critical mass” factor that biases your views of what platform you should use to promote your business.
When you’re someone like Guy who has over 300,000 Twitter followers, over 4,000 Friends on his Facebook Profile and over 45,000 Fans on his Facebook fan Page, then your concerns are very different then those of most people who struggle to market their products and services. Guy could have a presence on any website and tell his following to go and a great number would flock to the destination (even if just to check it out). Guy of course has worked hard to build such a following but my question at the end of the day is: would he have made the same statement about having a Facebook Page over having a website if he didn’t have such a following and if he didn’t initially start by having a website and building his following through any means possible?
Thanks for sparking this conversation.
Stf
Great point Stephane. The calculating cynic in me applauds your line of thought. Of course Guy can afford to use a Fanpage because he already has a following that he has worked hard to build. What do his admirers care where he sends them on the internet? They’ll happily click into an angelfire site if they had to.
The debate, for me, circles around style. Both mediums can be just as hard and costly to design and optimize–their only tangible difference is style. People should stop comparing the two as if one was easier and more comprehensive than the other. It’s hard to appear legitimate and engaging in any medium.
There’s no clear winner and no easy answer. Just preferences and guessing what your market might like (or think is delightfully ironic).