Facebook is a social platform with many moving parts that franchises can utilize to grow their businesses and engage an audience. On the surface, the basic features may be recognizable. However, digging deeper reveals features within Facebook that can significantly change how one interacts with this social channel.
Here are three simple features to start using now.
1) Targeting:
If you’re a franchise that has multiple locations or serves customers in multiple cities, this is a phenomenal feature to tailor specific content or messages. Users can add targeting to page posts so that only the most relevant people will see them in their News Feeds.
To add targeting:
1) Click the symbol before publishing your post.
2) Click Add Targeting and select one or more filters:
- Gender
- Relationship Status
- Educational Status
- Interested In
- Age
- Location
- Language
3) Click the options on the right to select who to target the post to. For example, when you target by location, All Locations is automatically selected. Click the drop down arrow to select the Country, Region, State or City you would like to target.
As you add filters, the number of people your post is targeted to will update next to Targeted To. The more filters you add, the fewer people you will target. The minimum number of people you can target your post to is 20.
One very important thing to know is that by adding News Feed targeting, it does not affect who can see the post on your Page.
2) When Your Fans Are Online:
You may have read countless articles, ebooks, or case studies on the best time to post to your Facebook. However, nothing is more accurate than posting during the time your fans are online. By using the When Your Fans Are Online section in the Posts tab of your page, insights will be available showcasing graphs that show the time of day and days of the week when people who like your page are on Facebook.
This particular insight information is priceless because you can use this to post the exact time and day that most of your fans might see your message. This is more important now than ever, since only about four percent of your fans actually see your post. Knowing when your fan base is online can help increase that number and give more visibility to your most important messages and content.
3) Promoted Posts:
In December, Facebook stated:
“We expect organic distribution of an individual page’s posts to gradually decline over time as we continually work to make sure people have a meaningful experience on the site.”
This simply means that not all of your fans will see the message or content posted on your page. If you’ve already spent thousands of dollars to increase your likes/fan base, this will be a very touchy subject. In addition to creating relevant content for your page, you will need to invest in boosting your page’s content to continue reaching more people. An easy way to reach more people with your posts in news feed is by using Promoted Posts. Promoting your post increases the likelihood that people will see your message in their newsfeed.
– Promote An Important Post
On your page, add a budget to a new or existing post so more people like your page and their friends see your message.
– Get More Views In News Feed
Showing your posts to more people in desktop and mobile news feeds will encourage likes, comments and shares.
– Expand Your Audience
When people engage with your post, their friends may see it as a story in their own news feeds, which means you’ll reach more people.
Facebook is a free social network with billions of users and franchises using this channel to communicate, engage and interact with existing customers or to reach new ones. These simple features can help you to utilize Facebook in order to continue building, engaging and growing your business.
Andre Kay is CEO and Chief Marketing Officer of Sociallybuzz, which exists to help franchise owners grow their business using social media. By helping them reach relevant customers, build customer loyalty, mange reputation and increase revenue. We protect relationship with their customer, create effective campaigns, manage their social channels and online reputation 24/7.
For more information:
Website: www.sociallybuzz.wordpress.com