If you're managing your business presence in a group instead of a Page, you're missing out on access to free Facebook tools and the opportunity to scale your business and reach potential fans. With a Page, you can expose your brand, learn more about your audience and how to grow it, unlock competitor insights and more. Although groups are a great way to connect and share with various communities and like-minded people, they aren't the best method for growing your business.

While there isn't a feature that allows you to merge a group into a Page, it's not difficult to make the manual transition. Since you're already in a group, that means you already have a Facebook profile and are ready to set up your Page today.

Get started

You already have a Facebook profile, which is the first requirement to create a Page. Before we go over transition steps, complete the following:

1. Create a Page.
2. Remember to use the same name as your group so that people know it's you when you connect with them via your Page. Make sure you add a username that is also similar to that of your group so people can easily find you.
3. Add a familiar profile picture and cover photo, such as your business logo or an easily identifiable image that your followers recognise.
4. Complete as many informational fields as you can so that your followers have access to relevant information, such as your about section, business hours/location and contact information.

Transition period

To avoid prolonging your transition period, decide on a date to officially close your group. Choose a date that is 30 days from the time you create your Page. On the 30th day, you'll close your group and operate solely on your new Page. Here's how to make it happen:

In your group

1. Announce the transition to your group with your new Page URL: Write a post about your new Page and your intention to close the group at the end of 30 days. Make sure that you include the link to your Page and invite them to like it so they can continue connecting with you. Change your group cover photo to an announcement of the change so that it's the first thing people see when they visit your group.
2. Build your audience: Since you've already built an audience in your group, you should start by adding them to your Page. Under Tips for your Page, click Invite friends to like your Page and extend an invite to the people in your group.
3. Post transition announcements regularly: It's likely that people in your group might miss your transition post the first time you share it. Repost announcements about the transition weekly so that everyone in your group is aware of the news.
4. Post a final reminder the day before: Send out one last post thanking people for being part of your community, asking them to like your Page and letting them know the group officially closes tomorrow. Again, make sure that you include the link to your Page in this post.

On your new Page

1. Post to your new Page weekly: People are more likely to engage with your new Page if they see that it's active. Whenever someone visits your Page, they should be able to see that the Page is actively monitored and kept up to date.
2. Ask your Page followers for help: Write a post asking your audience to share and tell their friends about the Page. You can see how often people are sharing your Page by visiting the Promotions tab.
3. Monitor your Page daily: To make a quick transition, you'll want to check in with your Page and take care of posts and messages. If you notice that people aren't liking your Page as quickly as you thought they would, it might be an indication that you should post to your new Page more frequently or test out different types of content.

Closing the group

Once you've shared your final announcement that your group is officially closed, make sure that you lock your group so no one else can post in it.

Turn on lock messaging:

1. Click the gear icon in the upper right-hand corner of your group
2. Click Edit.
3. Choose only admins can post to the group
4. Click Save.

Remove group members:

1. Go to About.
2. Select beside each members name.
3. Click Remove from group.
4. Click beside your own name.
5. Click Remove from group.

Post transition

Now that you've closed your group and moved everything to your new Page, you're ready to take advantage of the features available through Pages, including Facebook advertising.

* Nguồn: Facebook