Facebook Pages are best for businesses as they get internal promotion on Facebook
as Facebook Page updates on your Fans’ Page feed, whereas Facebook Group updates do not show up on feeds. Pages are also promoted on the right hand “suggestion” column when your friends join them. Facebook Groups don’t get this treatment. Pages are fully customizable where you can show or hide whatever you want, or add applications or modules to your Page. This makes a Page like a mini website and by posting links to your own site, you’ll be driving traffic to it!

Facebook Groups are community-based and are basically mini message boards, with a single area where you can post a message that shows at the top. Groups require constant interaction to survive, much like a message board. Like Pages, Groups have many of the same options, except the focus of a Group is the community-based; whereas the focus of a Page is whatever you post to it, including your business activities. However, Facebook Groups can message their members to their emails directly, which is not available with Facebook Pages. Again like Pages, by posting links on a Group to your own site, you’ll be driving traffic to it!

Here’s a tip from Tad Hargrave from his “Maketing for Hippies Workshop” in Vancouver: An important rule of facebook groups is that nobody goes to ‘visit’ them. Nobody goes to read what’s been posted that’s new; nobody goes to your group; nobody goes to check it. The only benefit of having a group is your ability to message the members. Period. Yes, you can create notes and conversation threads for people to comment on – but you will need to tell them that those posts are there to be commented on. To learn more about Facebook, here’s his ebook PDF.

To see the difference between a Facebook Page and a Facebook Group, visit:

PAGES: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vancouver-Rental-Spaces/107880742590314

GROUPS: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=141824417253

© 2010 ArtConverge (ISSN 1918-9273‏)

I’ve been using Twitter and Facebook to promote the artist submissions published March 2, 2010 for the “One World Art Show & Haiti Fundraiser” of May 1, 2010 at Science World. This charity event is multi-disciplinary, which includes visual arts, fashion design, live paintings and musical performances. We have less than 60 days to find talent, organize, promote and sell over 1000 tickets!

After three weeks, 55 artists have submitted for a total of 60 exhibition spots. Most of these artists were contacted through word of mouth and from Facebook promotions with regular status updates. Since the “One World” art submission process started, traffic as measured on Webalizer for Artistrun.org has jumped from 400 to over 700 visits per day! Furthermore, an increasing number of visitors are coming from Twitter as I’ve been following Twitter handlers with “Vancouver” in their profiles.

I believe the reason why Facebook has been so effective is that people either know me directly or about me through our mutual friends. Every one of the +1500 Facebook friends I have are connected with at least one or more mutual friends. Therefore, social proof is the key to a successful art submission promotion.

Diane Farris Gallery Credits Facebook as Main Referrals for Art Submissions

I also visited the Diane Farris Gallery blog today and their stats prove that social media has a major impact on art, with Facebook as the major contributor to its traffic referrals!

“Submissions are now closed. Thank you everyone who visited and submitted artwork. Between February 8 and March 5, the site had 1,746 visitors from 27 countries. The majority of people visited twice and spent an average of 1.45 minutes per visit. Twice as many visitors used Firefox as Internet Explorer. 56 visitors used their iPhone and 3 used their Blackberries. Most people came directly to the site, with Facebook providing the greatest number of referrals, followed by Craigslist, Twitter, Akimbo, and Alliance for Arts.”

Here’s my own submission with links to social media sites for the upcoming show at Diane Farris Gallery:

Twitter/Art+Social Media Exhibit (April 1 to May 1, 2010)

Liza J. Lee (BA, English Literature) is a digital media arts specialist, internet marketer and social media strategist. She was born and raised in Quebec City, Canada and in 1980, emigrated to Vancouver, Canada with her family.

She has been creating and painting images since 2000 that reflect our online community. She researched metaphysical topics on the internet, which lead to a series of abstract sacred geometry paintings that tell the story of our electronic evolution from the static nature of paper-source communications to the inter-connectivity of the internet medium.

The submitted art to the Twitter/Art+Social Media show at Diane Farris Gallery contains her blog posts taken from Artistrun.org, a website she co-founded with Dr. Lycia Trouton (Doctorate in Creative Arts). She has been an online promoter for culturally-diverse audience development, such as One World Art Show & Haiti Fundraiser, Main Art Drift, New Forms Festival, ArtWalk and 2010 Winter Market, Vancouver on Artistrun.org.

Liza’s websites and social media links:

www.Art.Lizajlee.com
Artistrun.org
www.facebook.com/lizajlee
www.myspace.com/lizajlee
www.twitter.com/lizajlee
www.youtube.com/user/artistrun
www.flickr.com/photos/lizajlee/
www.examiner.com/x-26341-Vancouver-Contemporary-Art-Examiner
www.creativetechnology.org/profile/lizajlee
www.myartspace.com/artistInfo.do?populatinglist=home&subscriberid=uxhp0tpska2o0hl1
www.cafepress.ca/lizajlee

Community Artist Statement & Background:
Chalk Art Butterfly Symbolism of Private and Public Transformation

Click on image above to see and download desktop image.

New Year’s Day from “Soul Journey”, 2000, acrylic on canvas, 24″x24″, SOLD

Click on image above to see and download desktop image.

Artistrun Posts I, 2010, mixed media on canvas, 16″x16″, $480

See past blog posts about One World at Science World.

Liza J. Lee is the Co-founder and Blogger for Artistrun ArtConverge.

© 2010 ArtConverge (ISSN 1918-9273‏)