Differences between Facebook and a Blog

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There seems to be a lot of overlap between what you might put on Facebook versus what you might put in a blog. They can both be personal. They can both contain your personal experiences and ideas, what you are doing and what you are interested in. In other words, they can both be like journals or diaries.

There are some obvious differences in the purpose behind each activity, however. Facebook is more interactive and the audience is, well, your friends. With a blog, the Web world is your potential audience, and your Facebook friends may never even know about or read your blog. Your blog can be interactive as well, as readers can comment on your posts and you can respond. But again, this interaction would probably be between you and a stranger rather than a friend. So there are, or can be, two distinct audiences.

There may be things that you would share with your friends on Facebook that you wouldn't want your blog audience to know. On the other hand, you may have thoughts or experiences that you are more comfortable sharing with strangers on your blog than you would be sharing it with your Facebook friends.

Finally, your blog should have a theme, a purpose. People should have a specific reason for wanting to visit and read your blog, whether it's informational, opinion, or promoting business. Your Facebook posts can be random, mundane, spontaneous, it doesn't really matter because you aren't trying to attract an audience - you are interacting with friends. So while there is the potential for overlap between Facebooking and blogging, it may be best to draw boundaries and let your audience be your audience and let your friends be your friends.

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 As marketers, writers and business owners know, finding the right niche and angle to write a Facebook and blog post is tricky. If it was easy, then people wouldn’t be paid write them. There are several aspects that should be considered when writing a Facebook marketing post:

• Will the post just be a link to your blog/website or will it be a unique post created just for Facebook? If it’s a unique post, then throw a really wide marketing net by talking about a wide range of topics
• If it is a link to your blog post, try to use an uploaded image of your blog. The image will be larger and more eye catching than the Facebook link image and we all know bigger pictures are easy to “read”
• Along with your blog link (and big image), write a short, creative post to entice your potential readers to click on your post, to get them to your website
  Here are three things to keep in mind when writing a blog post:
• What is the purpose of the post? If it is to update your readers, then a quick informative post is needed. If it is to talk about an important topic, then a more in-depth post is appropriate.
• Link your blog to support your topic – you’ll lose readers (and possibly money) if you can’t bring credence to your post.
• Unlike a Facebook post, a blog may be conversational. It is definitely longer and more in depth than a Facebook post and if it is on your website, then you’ll have your readers right where you can get them to act on your blog post.

These may sound like obvious differences, but it’s tempting to focus on just Facebook posts for online marketing. After all, our Facebook page is always open, so marketing is easy and accessible. While Facebook is fun, interesting and creative, it is not the end-all of marketing.
Your blog post is what reaches all your customers (especially if you use it in your newsletter), supporters and potential future members of your organization. Your blog post let’s your readers know that you are still there for them. Besides – believe it or not – not everyone is a member of Facebook.

You don’t have to log off of Facebook just to do some marketing writing, but you may want to give it some special thought as to what you will write about. Don’t forget about your blog post, as this is where you want your readers to be – near and dear to your organization. Treat Facebook and blog writing as apples and oranges – they’re both good for you, but the variety is what keeps it interesting.