10 Handy Facebook Features Every Newbie Marketer Needs to Know
Facebook has undeniably become one of the most sought-after marketing platforms today. Maintaining a personal account on Facebook is a walk in the park, and the same is hoped for advertising in it. However, if you are a newbie marketer, a lot of things can start to be very confusing.
This guide can help newbies get in touch with some helpful features of Facebook that can help out in marketing in the social networking giant.
Here are ten handy Facebook features that you, as a newbie marketer, need to be acquainted with:
Table of Contents
- 1. Set a new target audience for each post
- 2. Spy on your competition with pages to watch
- 3. Turn Facebook posts likes into page fans
- 4. See the list of your Facebook page fans
- 5. Use a cover video instead of a cover image
- 6. Create carousel-format Facebook posts
- 7. Edit your posted link’s copy
- 8. Discover the best posting times
- 9. Schedule your Facebook Posts
- 10. Set up Facebook auto-optimization rules
- Maximize on Facebook’s Features for the Best Campaigns
1. Set a new target audience for each post
With the acknowledgment that campaigns may be created for different target audiences, Facebook gives you the ability to choose a specific set of audience for each of your posts. This allows your posts to tap the desired audience more effectively as opposed to blindly posting to everyone. Targeted posts will also help you achieve higher relevance score which encourages better organic reach.
It is your duty, however, to determine your target audience, and what campaign to come up with based on your target audience. So do your part in understanding your audience and what appeals to them the best so you can craft campaigns that can win them over.
2. Spy on your competition with pages to watch
In marketing, maintaining intelligence of your competitors and their strategies is vital. Facebook allows you to check out your competitors using the “Pages to Watch” tool. This reveals posts from your competitors, which you can analyze for you to create better campaigns than theirs.
The key is to be able to have a full understanding of your competitors’ marketing strategies through their campaigns and see how their audiences are reacting. You can simulate an approach that is similar to what their audiences are taking positively while avoiding those that are being taken negatively.
3. Turn Facebook posts likes into page fans
The number of likes is a common metric in telling whether a campaign is doing well. But do you know that there is something else you can do with those who liked your posts? Your content will be visible to people who have previously liked one of your posts, and you can easily invite them to like your pages. If you’re successful, then you will be able to gain followers.
Pages to Watch can help you do that. It specifically allows you to see the number of likes, the number of posts on a page, and the engagement count.
4. See the list of your Facebook page fans
Facebook can provide you with a list of people who have liked your Facebook page. Having a list of your likers grant you a lot of different opportunities. This also allows you to conduct further studies on your target audience.
It is also straightforward to do. Just go to Settings, then select “People and Other Pages,” where you can see all who have liked your page.
5. Use a cover video instead of a cover image
Owing to the need to be more engaging, videos can now be used in place of a cover photo. It’s a great way to make your page more exciting and helps improve the effectiveness of your Facebook page as a marketing tool in itself.
Some things to remember about using a cover video is that it should be between 20 and 90 seconds. It also has a recommended size is 820 pixels x 262 pixels.
6. Create carousel-format Facebook posts
While frequent posts in Facebook include only one image, you may also present a post in a carousel format to help you be able to convey a story better when a single image is insufficient.
You may choose to come up with a free post consisting of several photos or go for the paid carousel ads. If you opt for the free version, share the photos or videos in just one post.
7. Edit your posted link’s copy
By default, posting a link on Facebook automatically comes with a thumbnail and short description of the link. The description cannot be edited but there is a workaround: you may personalize what you say about the link, and you can choose the thumbnail image.
Do this by pasting the link, and after the description and thumbnail appear, click on the arrow box to choose your thumbnail image. You may also select the click on the “no thumbnail” option.
After that, delete the link. The thumbnail will remain, and you will have the ability to key in a new description. After you’re done, click on “okay” then you are successful in working around the inability to edit the thumbnail and description of your posts directly.
8. Discover the best posting times
They say that timing is critical, and this is very true for Facebook posts. Timing is a crucial factor in the success of a campaign. With that in mind, you should take advantage of the ability to find the time when your audience is most active, and post during this time.
Using the “Post” option in Page Insights allow you to see details as to what days and what times have the most potential to reach your target audience.
Aside from average timing, you may also see individual results by hovering over your followers.
9. Schedule your Facebook Posts
With the understanding that posting time is vital, you should ensure that you follow the schedule to have better chances of getting positive results from your campaigns. Facebook gives you the ability to schedule when a post will be published. With this, you would be spared from forgetting to publish your posts as scheduled.
This is especially helpful when you are traveling, or around the holidays when you might not be present in the office on a day that is that is supposed to be good for posting. This helps you achieve perfect timing regardless of circumstances. It is therefore just a challenge for you to come up with consistent content.
10. Set up Facebook auto-optimization rules
Finally, you may also set up rules that can alert you of your campaigns’ performance, especially when they are skewing away from expectations. Facebook has a free feature called Facebook Automated Rules that can help automatically optimize campaigns such as modifying the bids for paid ads depending on their performance.
This is especially important because your campaigns regularly fluctuate in effectivity. And to get the most out of your investment, you should be able to control your bids. With Automated Rules, you can do that in an automated manner so you would not have to observe the performance all the time.
Maximize on Facebook’s Features for the Best Campaigns
Facebook truly has revolutionized digital marketing. It has grown to be one of the most effective marketing platforms, and one of the reasons is that it offers numerous features that help you make use of helpful insights that can help you craft strategized campaigns.
As a newbie marketer, all these features may not be familiar for you, but take time to learn all of these so that you can be able to deliver the best results for your Facebook marketing campaigns.
Some of the link on this post may have affiliate links attached. Read the FTC Disclaimer.
Co-Authored With
Kevin Urrutia is the Founder of Voy Media, a Facebook Ads Agency in NYC. Voy Media is excellent in aiding businesses to unlock the potentials of Facebook Advertising in order to maximize their sales and conversions. Kevin crafts tailor-fit solutions for each client, effectively delivering game-changing outcomes.