Has your healthcare organization been using HootSuite or another third-party app to schedule your Facebook Page posts in advance? If so, you may longer need those apps since Facebook recently made some changes that allow you to schedule posts as well as dole out specific duties to multiple page administrators. You can also allot some of your practice’s marketing funds to promote some of these posts to make it appear more frequently in your followers’ newsfeeds.
But first, let’s discuss how you can schedule your posts weeks and even months in advance. Facebook has made it fairly simple to do this:
- From your Page, first choose the type of post you want to add to your page (status, photo/video, or event).
- Next choose the clock symbol in the lower-left of the sharing box, and select the year, month, date, hour, and minute, when you’d like your post to appear.
- Click schedule.
You can schedule a post up to six months in advance and at 15-minute intervals. Not only can you schedule a post to appear in the future, but you can also backdate any of your posts.
Another new change that you should be aware of is that Facebook now allows different roles for each of your Page administrators. There are now five roles you can assign each of your page administrator to: manager, content creator, moderator, advertiser, or insights analysis. Next you can assign these specific duties to the administrators: edit pages and add apps, create posts from the Page account, respond to and delete comments, send messages as the Page, create ads, and view insights.
To assign the role and specific duties:
- Open your Page’s administration panel and click “Edit Page.”
- From the left column menu, select “Admin Roles.”
- Type the names of other people from your practice that you’d like to add in the open field.
- Click Manager below the name to choose what kind of admin you want to add.
- Don’t forget to save the changes.
To change what kind of admin someone is, follow the same steps above and skip the third step. You’ll need to enter your password to confirm the change.
Finally, one other new change Facebook Page administrators should be aware of is the ability to promote your posts to reach a larger audience. Currently, your average Facebook update will reach 16% of your followers organically. If those fans interact with your post by liking it or sharing, it can increase your reach by another 16%. Promoting your post places it onto your follower’s newsfeeds more often to boost your views. But it will cost you some cash.
To promote a post:
- Click “Promote” to open a drop-down menu where you will see the denomination. Clicking on the denomination pulls up another drop-down menu.
- You can choose a budget of $5 to $20 and Facebook will let you know what the estimated number of views you can potentially receive with each dollar amount.
- After you enter the payment information, your post will then be pushed out to your follower’s newsfeeds for three days.
Let us know what you think of these new changes! What other changes would you like to see Facebook make? Email me at [email protected].
Daniel Casciato has his own business as a social media consultant, freelance copywriter, ghostwriter, and ghostblogger. The Pittsburgh native loves his Steelers, Penguins, and Pirates. Learn more at www.DanielCasciato.com.