Channels vs. Groups: Understanding the Differences for Segmentation in Your Gaggle

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If you’re viewing this knowledge base, it's likely that your program is growing. Maybe you're starting to segment your content or perhaps you need to group together sets of people. Whatever your end goal is, this article is designed to help you understand the differences between Channels and Groups and how to best implement them.

Locating Channels in Your Gaggle

Channels can be conveniently accessed from the main navigation in the Manager or Member Gaggle. 

Manager View:

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Member View:

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Once in your Channels, regardless if you are on the Member or Manager side, the display is largely the same. Cards are displayed with different topics. From these cards, you can see how many conversations are present (Member side only), the number of Members in the Channel, the ability to see details, and of course to follow the Channel.

Here is an example of a Channel card in our own Gaggle:

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Locating Groups in Your Gaggle

Groups can be accessed by the Gaggle Manager view by selecting ‘Members’ and then ‘View All’ from the main navigation. Once on the page, you’ll be presented with the ability to create Groups.

Gaggle Members cannot access Groups.

Manager View:

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From the Gaggle Manager View, you’ll see you can create Groups. To get in-depth details about how to create Groups, please review this knowledge base.

How Do I Know When to Create a Channel or a Group?

The easiest comparison to keep in mind is that Channels segment content and are more Member-centric whereas Groups segment people and are more Manager-centric.

With Channels segmenting content, Members can choose to opt-in or opt-out of the content shared here. The Manager segments content into these Channels to make it easier for Members to discover things they’d like to share.

With Groups segmenting people, the Manager has access and control over how people are grouped together but the Members cannot see how they, or their Managers, have grouped them. This helps Managers share specific Activities to the most relevant Groups of people.

What are the Benefits of Channels?

When thinking about using Channels, it’s good to consider how Channels operate.

Channels Are Content-Focused

Channels are designed to segment content. They allow you to create different streams of content that are relevant to specific segments within your organization.

Members Can Control Channels

Members have the ability to join or leave Channels as they wish. They can also filter the content within those Channels.

Members Have Visibility With Channels

Channels are visible on the Member Dashboard, allowing for greater transparency and control for Members.

Members Can Receive Notifications

Members can choose to be notified about specific content segments that are relevant to them within each Channel.

What Are the Benefits of Groups?

When thinking about using Groups, it’s good to consider how Groups operate.

Groups Are People-Focused

Groups are primarily a tool for Managers to segment Members within the organization. For example, Managers may create Groups for different departments like Sales or Customer Success.

Groups Provide Manager Control

All control over Groups lies with the Manager. They can add or remove Members, change the name of the Group, or delete the Group altogether.

Groups Have Limited Member Visibility

Members do not have visibility into which Groups they are part of. They simply receive email notifications based on the Group's settings.

Members Cannot Opt-Out of Groups

Unlike Channels, Members don't have the option to leave a Group since they aren't even aware they are part of one.

As a Gaggle Manager, just keep in mind that Channels segment content and Groups segment people. Once you have that concept set, it makes it much easier to grow your program.

 

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