Lots of Independent Consultants and Direct Sales Professionals are familiar with using Facebook Events for hosting Facebook Parties.

Facebook Events have been very popular for Online Parties, but with all the new Facebook updates and features added into Facebook Groups, many top producers have made the switch and changed the way they Party online.

In fact, they are starting to gain an unfair advantage by making the switch and are having more success.

In this blog post, we’ll share fifteen reasons why more and more people are switching to using Facebook Groups to host their Online Parties.

But first, what’s the same between Events and Groups?

What’s the Same?

In both Facebook Events and Groups:

• You can give host privileges in the Party
• The guests/members can control notifications in their setting preferences for each events and groups. We suggest pinning instructions for the best options to the top of your Party.
• Guests can invite friends when you choose this option when creating the event and in the group settings so you can have ultimate control over who joins and who sees your posts.

What’s the Difference?

Well, I’m glad you asked because there are fifteen big differences.

So let’s break down the differences between Facebook Events and Groups and why we recommend using Groups for hosting highly successful Online Parties.

1. Inviting Guests is Different

Be careful not to invite too many guests too quickly, Facebook could flag this activity by thinking someone hacked your account and is trying to spam other accounts.

• Events: When a guest is invited they receive a notification and are immediately added to the event as ‘invited’. They can then change that to either ‘going’ or ‘not going’. They will receive notifications and see the posts in their newsfeed unless they specifically mark themselves as ‘not going’.

• Groups: When you invite a member they’ll be automatically added in Preview mode and will see the personal invitation and can choose to say ‘OK’ to be fully added or ‘Leave the Group’ to no longer be in the group at all. They’ll see the posts in their newsfeed but will not receive notifications or be able to comment or like any posts until they click OK. Preview mode is set for 30 days, then they will be automatically removed from the group. You can look in the member list to see who is still in ‘Preview Mode’.

• Why It’s Important: Nobody likes to be added to anything they didn’t approve of. So with the new option of Preview Mode in groups, Facebook allows guests to see that someone wants them to join the fun, but they still have the control of participating.

2. Keeping Posts in Order is Different

• Events: This is why most prefer to use Facebook Events for their Parties, because the posts are kept with most recent posts at the top, thus staying in reverse order.

• Groups: New activity at the top of the feed is the default to highlight the most popular posts, but this can be changed. Click the downward arrow and change to “Recent Posts”. You can now do this on both desktop and mobile/app versions. Just remember that this setting will default back to “New Activity” when you leave the page, so we recommend using a pinned post to remind members how to do this individually.

• Why It’s Important: Many consultants like to share several posts at a time, but when anyone makes a comment on a particular post in groups, it gets bumped up as a more popular post. This is because Facebook wants to highlight the posts that create the most interaction with members (more community-building). You can actually use this to your advantage when updating your party posts to see what content was the most fun and successful.
  

3. Deleting the Party After it’s Over

• Events: Use the delete event button in the settings or let the event complete. You can find any past events that you’ve hosted, under the Hosting tab in the Events section. You can now easily ‘duplicate’ an event, which will have you update the dates and settings. But you will be starting over with adding guests and posts.

• Groups: You can delete the group by removing all members, then removing yourself last. Simply archiving the group only pauses all activity and doesn’t make it visible to guests. But then you can also re-activate it for another Party with this same group of members. This is great for holiday or annual parties/sales, or for your regular hosts.

• Why It’s Important: Hosting a party is about meeting new people and getting to know how you can meet their needs. After the party, you might want to continue these new relationships in a creative way. One of our favorite options after a group party is reusing it as a VIP group for your host if she decides to join your team – this gives her a ready-made customer base and a little extra incentive to help get her started in her new business venture.

4. Pinning Posts to the Top

• Events: Use the three dots in the top corner of the post to pin it to the top – you can have one pinned post in the event.

• Groups: Use the three dots in the top corner of the post to make it an announcement and then pin to the top of the page. You can have up to 10 pinned announcements (the most recent unread announcement will appear to members at the top of the group. Past pinned announcements will move to the announcements tab).

• Why It’s Important: It’s easy for important info to get lost in the shuffle of party posting fun. Keep info in easy reach for your guests to find at any time such as: shopping links, order deadlines, party specials, featured products, how to participate in the party, and setting up notifications so they won’t miss any fun.

5. Messaging the guests

• Events: You can message the guests individually or as a group.

• Groups: Both the desktop site and the mobile app only gives you the option to message individual guests from the member list .

• Why It’s Important: Sending a personal message makes a guest feel extra special. Facebook has integrated Messenger so that you can easily message anyone to touch base and see how they are liking the party, or to follow up afterward.

6. Scheduling a Time Frame for the Party

• Events: This is required when the Event is created and you will receive notifications that you have an Event coming up. You can also schedule when you want this event to be created. Events can’t go longer than 15 days.

• Groups: There is no time frame limit, since the focus is to build a community and build new relationships with your guests. But you can easily create an event inside the group that will automatically invite all members to help remind them of order deadlines and specials.

• Why It’s Important: Keeping your parties specific with a timeframe helps guests feel they can participate quickly and plan ahead to budget their play money.

7. Posting Features

• Events: You can write messages, create polls, go live, tag people (posting as yourself), check-in, support a non-profit, and schedule posts. You can also post photos and videos. On the mobile app you can now select the See Album tab to view them in one place.

• Groups: You can write messages, create polls, go live, tag people (posting as yourself), check in, support a non-profit, and schedule posts. You can also post photos, videos, and host files. You can easily find them in their own tabs. Don’t forget to use GIFs in your posts for the best party games and interaction!

• Why It’s Important: Getting your guests to interact with your posts is the first priority for any party, and partying online can be much more than just pictures and links these days. Get creative with more available features to engage your new friends!

But Wait! There Are More Reasons to Switch to Using Facebook Groups to Easily Host Successful Facebook Parties!

Facebook Groups have more options that are not available to Events, which could give your Party that edge.

Did you know you can…

• Sell something, like a unique item or products you have on-hand. You can list a price and description with the picture.
• Ask for Recommendations from your members on where to find items or places related to your services or products.
• Plan a Get Together and encourage your new friends to join you with face-to-face fun. Remember, it’s all about building relationships!
• Start a watch Party of public Facebook videos. This is neat if your company already has some helpful videos on Facebook or if you have some uploaded on your business page. People can comment and ask questions during the string of videos while they play. Check out this article to learn more about using Videos for your Online Parties.
• Use the Units/Social Learning feature for your group, to set up special sections for members to learn more things. Ideal for trainings, or have guests learn more about products.
• Not only tag any event, but also create an event right inside your group! Now your VIP customers, guests, or teammates can take advantage of exclusive sales, deals, or classes just for them, and use all the features in a Facebook Event venue.
• See who and how many guests have viewed each post. This helps you learn which posts get the most interaction and which posts are getting passed up or ignored.
• Use the Group Insights tab (in groups of 50 members or more) to find so much invaluable information. This includes discovering what are your top posts, most active users, most active days and times, and a lot more. When used properly, these insights can lead you to understanding what works best for your Parties.

So there you have it. Fifteen reasons why top producers are using Facebook Groups to host successful Facebook Parties. Check out more ways to use Facebook to grow your business and encourage repeat sales.  

We hope this is helpful and inspires you to try something new for your next Online Party!