Over the past few weeks we’ve heard a lot from both clients and members of the CASE Social Media Listserve around the topic of merging Facebook Alumni Pages & how to most effectively use Facebook Groups. After a little digging, it can be quickly seen the Facebook madness that many schools face: many confront multiple groups, pages and, in some cases, even a Facebook Profile for a school mascot or their alumni association.
So how does a school align all these efforts to communicate with a large spectrum of constituents on the world’s largest social network?
From Facebook’s definition, a Page is a tool for “brands, businesses or organization” to “showcase important news,” “highlight what matters” and to “manage everything in one place.” The last is perhaps the most important to note. While it might be helpful for an institution to have two Facebook Pages, say one for general interest and one for alumni, it becomes difficult for an institution to manage more Institution Pages than that effectively. If you have too many to manage (i.e. one for your alumni center and tone for the broader alumni community) and would prefer to centralize your messaging, you can combine pages as long as they represent the same institution.
To note: You can only merge the Page with fewer likes into the one with more likes. Additionally, once a Page is merged, it cannot be unmerged, and combines likes and check-ins — all content such as photos and statues from Page with fewer likes will be deleted permanently.
To get started follow the steps below:
1. Go to the Page with more likes.
2. Click “Edit Page”
3. Select “Update Info”
4. On the left sidebar, select “Resources”
5. Click “Merge Duplicate Pages” *this will only pick up if you have another Page with a similar name*
6. Select the Pages you wish to merge. If it’s a location, they must have the same address information.
SEE FULL DETAILS HERE: http://www.facebook.com/help/249601088403018/
Facebook Groups, in comparison to Pages, are great tool for a segmented focus; think messaging for recent alums vs. alumni volunteers vs. board members.
Groups allow administrators to “create a private space” for specific groups of people, and to have a high level of control through privacy settings. In a similar way to LinkedIn Sub- Groups, Facebook Groups allows you to really cater to appropriate needs, and to post audience-specific opportunties.
Although you cannot merge Groups into Pages, Facebook recommends that if you wish to promote your Page to notify your Group (unless your Group is larger than 5,000 in which case you cannot). Also, do not use Groups exclusively of Pages — Pages still provide an important and central place for alumni of all generations to rally around and to share content!
Looking to master your Institutional Facebook Game? Try our Social Media Playbook.
Lastly, if you have a institution-related Profile on Facebook promoting your Page to your Profile’s friends is simple.
1. Open your Page’s admin panel
2. Click “Build Audience”
3. Select “Invite Friends”
We hope that these tips and tricks are helpful for your advancement and communications office. Remember social media is a cross-departmental task so make sure to work with your social media point person when tackling accounts!