EmailThe ever-changing social network has released new changes once again! But don’t fret, many of these changes are beneficial to businesses, which is great! A lot of these features were announced in early June, so I am a little behind in giving you the latest scoop.. but I thought I would share anyway just in case you missed a few.
Here are the most recent updates to Facebook (some you may have already started using):
Facebook Post Scheduling
Social dashboards like Hootsuite and Sprout Social were the only option for scheduling posts at a later time. Facebook has now integrated their own scheduling feature right within your business page so it’s nice to not have to deal with third-party applications if you don’t want to and I think they have made it pretty simple.
To learn more about how to schedule posts, visit the Facebook Help section.
Promoted Posts
Have a status update you would like to promote? Now if you have more than 400 likes on your page, you can get extra exposure for your posts by clicking the ‘promote’ button under your posts. Choose what budget you’d like to spend and Facebook will let you know the estimated reach you’ll get. This will get extra exposure for your post in your fans’ newsfeeds (not like Facebook Ads which show up on the right side).
Admin Roles
Very excited about this new feature especially since it adds additional security for business owners. No need to worry about someone taking over your page. Prior to this new feature, you could add Page Admins but they automatically had access to everything.
The new admin roles include Manager, Content Creator, Moderator, Advertiser and Insights Analyst. When you add a new admin, they are Managers by default so you need to go in to edit the admin settings to change their role. Here is a breakdown of the admin roles:
“Voice”
Did you notice a new toolbar above your admin panel?
You are posting, commenting, and liking as (Business Page Name) — Change to (Your Personal Profile)
This is a nice simple feature that will ease a lot of people’s confusion when switching between their personal profiles and their business pages.
People Reached
You can now see how your Facebook Page posts are doing in terms of the number of people who have seen them and also see the number in a percentage of your total fan-base. When you hover over the link (#) People Saw This Post, you can see how many Organic (your fans) vs. Viral (friends of your fans that saw the post) have seen the post.
Pages App
The new Facebook Page Manager looks just like the standard Facebook application but does not include personal details. You can post updates and photos directly onto the page, as well as respond to comments and any other posts from fans right from your smartphone. This is a wonderful new app for managing your Facebook page(s) on the go.
Right now this only available in the app store for iPhone users. (bummer….)
Edit Your Facebook Comments
Don’t you hate when you post a comment and you have a spelling error? You can now edit your comments at any time on both pages and personal profiles. Facebook does keep track of edits and you can view edits by clicking on the Edited link below the comment.
Reposition your Photo
I really like this feature since there have been times I upload a picture and it just doesn’t catch the right part of the image. You can click on the Edit or Remove icon within a post and click on Reposition Photo. Your image will be adjusted which is pretty cool!
And coming soon….
Social Shopping
Want to buy something? Just click the Want button and add it to your virtual wishlist in Facebook.
Obviously, Facebook is in big competition with social network Pinterest with the purchase of Instagram and now their Want button. Right now, this is currently being tested, however when released it will be a huge opportunity for merchants to have their products go viral. Users will be able to share their Wants, Purchases, and donations on their timeline.
That’s all folks…. for now.
Please be aware there have been additional changes that affect personal profiles, however I have focused on changes that relate to small businesses.
If at any time you need assistance with any of the new features,please email me! I am happy to help. I do recommend you spend time playing a bit in Facebook to get familiar with the new features. You may also want to consider how some of these features can benefit your current social marketing efforts.
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