I can remember where I was when it happened. Sitting at my desk late Thursday afternoon, I got an email from Hyper Alerts that someone had commented on our sliceworks page. We had just signed up for this new service a week before and had shared a post about this missing feature on Facebook business pages. I was wrapping up my PPT for a presentation on Social Media the next day. I clicked on over to our page to reply and….aaarrrgh! Facebook was changing the rules and was asking if we wanted to switch our brand page to the new format!
It took me awhile to recover from the shock. Over the next few days, I found changes that I liked and some that I didn’t. Here’s my take on what they’ve done. I wonder if “big brother is watching?”
THE CONS
- The tabs are gone! Understanding that most people scan a page quickly to decide if they want to stay, I hated to see these go. By moving tabs to the left side, below the logo, these navigation links don’t create the same excitement or promote the serendipity common to the internet search experience.
- Wall postings are now tied more closely to the viewer’s social graph, rather than defaulting to recency. When a page owner looks at the wall, he/she is not seeing what a visitor will see. For each visitor, the content of the newsfeed defaults to the Edgerank—a secret sauce that mixes likes, posts, interactions and popularity, and boils it down into a customized feed based on who is viewing the wall. This creates more of a challenge for page administrators to determine what to post and how to engage their potential audience.
- Posting as a page seemed like a great option. However, it’s limited to posting on other business pages, rather than on personal profiles. As Mari Smith explained recently at a Facebook Marketing Webinar, the social etiquette of posting to a page as a business is tricky. Your motives could easily be mistaken as self-promotional rather than complimentary. And, if you like another business page as your business page, it doesn’t count towards their “like” count. Only people who like business pages count as likes to your page.
THE PROS
Being a person that looks at the glass half full, I do recognize many redeeming qualities to the improvements added to Facebook business pages.
- Page Choices: When Facebook business pages first became an option, I had our web guru reserve a page for the business. Unfortunately, he categorized us as a local business rather than a brand. Once we chose that category, there was no way to change. Now, all the options are easy to “try on” and easy to edit, making the appropriate choice easier to identify.
- More Options: It also seems as if they’ve added more options for categories and sub-categories. This can be huge when you think about the impact on search engines and the chances of your business being found. You want your page category to sync up with the way potential customers will search for you.
- Photo Strip: The photo strip at the top of the page is a major break through as well. These pictures are a subtle way to draw the viewer in to explore your page. These can be used as a way to add customized messages and calls-to-action to your audience. We’ll explore that in another post.
- Invites: Despite the limits of posting as a page to a page, there is the ability to invite friends to your facebook page. You can find this under Edit page > Marketing > Tell Your Fans. This would be especially helpful for someone who started one type of page, such as a groups page, and wanted to invite members to connect on a business page. Facebook even allows you to import LinkedIn contacts to invite. Of course, the disclaimer is to invite only people you know well and think would want to hear from you.
- Alerts: The “missing piece” to Facebook’s business page strategy has finally been added. It was a major gaffe that there was no way for page administrators to know if and when a visitor posted on a business page. Constant vigilance and check backs were necessary to make sure you didn’t miss an opportunity to engage with your readers. Admins now have the option of receiving emails to alert them to posts and comments. This is an important part for businesses just launching and building their Facebook community.
Despite the unscheduled “surprise” upgrades to the Facebook business page, many improvements benefit the greater good. What do you like/not like about the changes to Facebook business pages?
