#WebWeds: Facebook Introduces Paid Subscription Feature for Group Admins
Note: This was featured as part of our Web Wednesday segment on Charleston’s 105.5 The Bridge. You can catch us every Wednesday morning at 8:20 am ET for your dose of social media & digital marketing news. Listen to the segment below:
Back when Facebook was released in 2004, there wasn’t a lot to the site. College kids loved it, but at the time, all they could do was edit their own interests and view other people’s profiles. It has come a long way from what it used to be, and the features it has now may even be overwhelming for new users.
Among the updates over the past decade, one of the most popular features is groups. Groups were created in the early stages of Facebook to give users a place to discuss similar interests.
With over 1 billion users a part of groups on the social media site, the platform continues to look for ways to enhance their users’ experience. Admins have been asking for subscription groups, and Facebook is looking to deliver.
The new feature is currently being beta tested. Select group admins can create a paid subscription on their Facebook group page where members of the group can opt-in for exclusive content. Prices range from $4.99-$29.99 a month for a member to join a subgroup.
This is a great feature for admins who want to offer and produce higher quality content for the members of their group.
The paid subscription would become a new revenue stream for Facebook as well. Rather than taking a percentage of the profits, the company plans to keep 30 percent of the user’s first year of subscription, then 15 percent for the following years.
Members that wish to pay to join a subgroup can receive additional content like video tutorials and one-to-one support from the group admins. The advantage for admins is that Facebook has not provided any guidelines for what they should provide in subgroups. This means they have free reign over what they want to provide for members of their group.
However, the goal for this test isn’t to make a profit with the new feature, it's all about quality content. Facebook wants to figure out the kind of content admins want to provide, and then see how members react to this new content.
Facebook Groups Manager, Alex Deve, added, “The fact that there will be funds coming out of the activity helps them create higher quality content.”
Want to learn more about Facebook’s new features? Looking to improve your business with Facebook groups? Give us a call at (888) 632-4499 for a free, no-obligation consultation today. We’d love to help you out!
