We are talking about a very common question I get about Facebook groups versus Slack channels. Specifically, we're going to talk about them in the scope of a community for a membership, or a free community that you're having as part of your opt in, or as a bonus add-on for maybe a group program you're doing.
Facebook group versus Slack channels. First, let's talk about what each of these things are because you might not know what Slack channels are. First, Facebook groups. These are the groups that you can set at 3 privacy levels: closed, open or secret. Closed means that the group is searchable, you can see who is a member but you have to be a member to be able to post or see any of the content inside the group. Public means everything is searchable. We can see everything that is going on in the group without being a member. Secret means the group is not searchable. The member list is not available publicly and all of the content in the group is members eyes only. Those are your 3 options when it comes to Facebook groups.
Facebook groups are 100% free. You do need a profile to run it. You can't create, use or access groups as a page you can only do it using your profile. They are a really really popular option for a lot of things keeping in touch with friends, mastermind groups, free groups to help build your email list, as a program add on, as a membership community piece. Most people kind of understand them. Nobody has to go to any additional place to get access to the forum. It is a really good option for a lot of people.
Number 2 is Slack channels. Slack is a relatively new communication tool, in comparison to Facebook group anyways. You can create it, it's totally private to the people who have access. When you create a group you get a special URL. You can access it through an app on your phone, you can access it through desktop. I have a Slack app on my iMac even so that I don't have to go through the desktop, I can keep it open almost like a group chat or a messenger. It is a separate thing. I don't have to worry about having a tab open for it on the desktop, which is also really nice if you're somebody who has multiple Slack channels by the way.
It is a really great tool for keep your team in communication, for groups, for meet ups. Basically, just anything to share what is happening with everybody. I really like both tools. I don't think that one tool is necessarily better than other just overall.
I do think though that these tools have different uses. They have different places and again it's going to come back to that question, and you hear me say this all the time. It's going to depend on who your clients are. Let's kind of break down the either or's on this on a case by case basis, and then I will kind of talk about why one or the other is better for each of these options.
First, let's talk about for a free group as part of your email opt. Maybe you're running a free challenge or as a webinar you offer a bonus into Facebook group, it's something I did for a long time. Basically, you're using it to build your list. It is 100% free to be a part of. It is not an addition to any program it is just a free group. For those, I really like Facebook groups because they are easy to be found via search, they are easy to share with friends, they are easy to navigate, they are easy to use, and they are easy to get people comfortable in and keep people active in.
