Unless you follow Facebook updates on a consistent basis, you are likely to miss the latest features that can save your business time and money. To keep you in the loop, we have narrowed down five of the most powerful Facebook
features for business you may be missing out on.
1. Facebook Custom Tabs
Did you know that you have some control over your Facebook tabs? Tabs are the links that run down the left-hand column of your business’s Facebook page.
They usually include things to help you learn more about the page you are on, like your Timeline, About, and Posts. While there are some mandatory tabs, Facebook has also given you the ability to create your own customized tabs.
Below is an example of a page that is taking advantage of custom tabs. The account owner has created links to her other assets, such as her website, other social channels, and even an email sign up. This makes it easy for visitors to get the information they are looking for.
The ease of setting up custom tabs depends on your web-development skill level. Facebook has made it relativity simple using their app tool, but there are still some cases where you may need to consult your web team to set things up correctly. For a detailed outline of how to create your first custom tab, visit HubSpot’s tutorial.
2. Simplify Facebook Contests
Have you considered running contests to help spread awareness of your page? If so, then you know that keeping track of entries and choosing a winner can take a chunk of time out of your day.
Agro Pulse offers a free Facebook integration option that manages your contests for you, making it easy to create, monitor, and select a winner. You can even choose from several different types of contests to create, including sweepstakes, quizzes, and photo contests.
Give it a try at https://contest.agorapulse.com/.
3. Keep an Eye on Your Competition with Facebook’s ‘Pages to Watch’
If your business page has 100+ followers, you will have access to a feature called ‘Pages to Watch’. Here you will be able to select Facebook accounts to monitor and follow to make informed decisions about your own posting schedule and content.
Note: You don’t have to “like” the page to get this information. You just have to select it as a page to watch.
To get started, click on the ‘Add Pages’ button and select five pages that you would like to keep an eye on. These can be competitors or other people in your industry. Facebook will compile a list of each of your watched pages’ top posts and share them with you.
You can use this information to adjust your posting content and schedule, see what is working or not working for your competitors, and gain a competitive advantage on Facebook. And the best part—it is valuable data that you can collect secretly for free!
4. Organic Post Audience Targeting
By now, most of us are aware of the significant targeting features that are available when paying for Facebook ads. The ability to choose your ideal audience and send targeted messages is powerful. But not many know that you have similar abilities with your organic posts.
Buried deep in your settings is an option that says ‘Audience Optimization for Posts.’ To turn on this feature, click edit, check the box that says ‘Allow news feed targeting and the ability to restrict the audience for your posts,’ and then save your changes.
Now, head over to create a post. You will notice at the bottom of the pop up that you can leave your post set to public, select a restricted audience, or choose ‘News Feed Targeting.’ The News Feed Targeting option will allow you to choose your audience based on their interests, demographics, and even location.
So, if you have a post that is meant for a specific viewer, you can now target them organically instead of paying for an ad.
5. Automatic Replies
Customers are increasingly turning to Facebook Messenger to chat with companies about their products or services, and they expect a timely response. While most businesses owners are well intentioned, they can easily leave customers waiting and wondering when their question will be answered.
To address this, Facebook has launched several messaging features that allow you to automate responses to popular questions posed by your audience.
For example, you may launch a job posting on Facebook and are starting to receive numerous applications. You can head over to your inbox and set up an automated response that is triggered by an application submission. The response will let them know their application was received and what to do next.
Or, you may want to greet visitors as they come to your page. With a simple toggle, you can turn on a greeting and guide your audience to key information on your page.
There are even advanced scheduling features that allow you to share your calendar or inform your customers about potential delays in responding.
These types of saved replies allow you to reduce the time you spend answering FAQs and improve your customers’ perception of your business by responding to their questions quickly.
Connect With Us for More Facebook Marketing Tips
Taking advantage of all the features mentioned in this post will enable you to provide a higher-level service for you customers, but keeping up with it all can be challenging. Be sure to subscribe to our blog using the form below or follow us on social in order to stay up to date on the latest Facebook marketing tips and tricks.
