What’s new on Facebook?

I don’t know about you but things move so fast these days it seems a constant struggle to keep up! Social Media is no exception, in fact, it’s the rule. In an effort to keep you updated with the latest updates I’ve resolved to look at one platform per month (or more often!) starting with Facebook. So, here’s what’s new, great, handy etc about Facebook!

Facebook Best practices

Fully complete your bio!

• Complete your long and short descriptions with great content
• Ensure all your links, address info etc are 100% accurate
• Make sure you’ve used keywords specific to your business so your ideal clients can find you
• Craft your information with your ideal client in mind – what do they need from you and your business? Don’t overthink it – simple is best.

Branding and Engagement

• Be consistent with your tagline, colours, images, message – this way your fans will always recognise you when you pop up in their feed and want to hear what you have to say (it’s for them after all – not you!)
• Make it look professional with beautiful images and keep it fresh by changing your cover often. My favourite banner builder? Canva, it’s easy to use and amazing.
• Ensure your images are free to use. Here’s a list of Free Stock Photo sites.
• Video is a great way to quickly engage with your fans
• Take advantage of Facebook’s Call to Action options – at the moment these are

1. Book Now
2. Contact Us
3. Use App
4. Play Game
5. Shop Now
6. Sign Up
7. Watch Video

Facebook NEW and Great Features

Your Degree of Separation

Remember the famous Six Degrees of Separation (or Kevin Bacon)?! Well, apparently it’s less than that, Facebook has announced that “each person in the world” is separated from every other by “an average of three and a half other people.” Would you like to see yours? BTW mine is 3.47! Check it here

Hidden and Lesser known Fabulous Features

This article has some great information on Facebook features that you may or may have known about. These are some of my favourites

1. Save links for later

• Simply click the downward arrow on the top right-hand corner of the article in your feed, and choose the “Save” option. You can find these later in the L hand column when you’re viewing your inbound Feed

2. Find Targeted Conversations

• You can use keywords to search for old News Feed posts, both on desktop and mobile

3. Poll People

• Poll people in a group or event – although no longer available on business pages you can still poll users in groups and events

Some worthy tips from from Buffer and more….

4. Download ALL your Facebook Information

If you’d like a backup of all your Facebook data – including photos – you can download everything in a few simple steps:

1. Head over to your Facebook Settings page
2. Click Download a copy of your Facebook data below your General Account Settings
3. Select ‘Start My Archive’ to get your download going

5. Sync your Facebook Calendar with Google Calendar

• Here’s how

6. Watch your Competitors pages

• Under “Insights” – You’ll find the “Pages to Watch” tool – simply click “Add pages”, type the page you’re looking for and add it when it appears in the list

• Once you’ve added a brand page to your list, you’ll be able to see the following stats:

1. Their total page likes (and the % +/- change from the previous week)
2. How many times they’ve posted to Facebook this week
3. Their total engagement count for the week

7. ABC

• I just love the images in this article – and it’s a great and comprehensive Facebook roundup – a lovely read with some extra time on your hands.

8. Images posted via Instagram

• And finally did you know? Images posted via Instagram receive more engagement than native Facebook image posts? Yep – it’s true.
• And leave out the hashtags for now – Facebook posts that include them receive less engagement.

Look for my next round-up next month on Instagram.

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Read Our Kindle books. Social Media Savvy –  #1 Twitter and Facebook, #2 Google+ and LinkedIn Resources Canva 17 Sites with Breathtaking Free Stock Photos Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest Features Facebook tips from Buffer Facebook Marketing Techniques to Get your page seen Facebook Graph Search – Find Old Posts Six Degrees of Separation – Facebook finds a smaller number Three and a Half Degrees of Separation Create a Facebook Call to Action Favourite Facebook tool ABC’s of Facebook Marketing

 

Do you have any more Facebook tips? Please add them in the comments below!