Facebook is changing and evolving all the time. Outdated features are being removed and new and more exciting features are added regularly.
These updates are added to make Facebook better and more convenient for its users.
If you want to succeed with using Facebook, you need to evolve along with it and learn how to manage it better. If you can use it better you will be able to take advantage of these changes and promote yourself better with it.
Three of the most important Facebook changes and how to make the most of them have been listed below.
Update 1. Subscriptions
Before, the only way users could get the latest updates from you or your company was through your Facebook page. People needed to like your page to get your latest updates. But now with the subscribe feature, people can just subscribe to your facebook profile. It’s like your profile has been made into a page. With this feature, your subscribers can check out all the public updates you post.
People actually like subscribing to public updates because a profile has a face and a personality, which is different from a page which sounds too official and salesy. When they subscribe to a profile it feels like they’re making contact with a proper human and not a brand. You need to take advantage of this and use your profile accordingly to form closer relationships with your subscribers.
So How do you use your Profile Effectively?
1. Promote your Profile
Promote your profile and encourage people to subscribe to your updates. Try and get as many subscribers as you can and increase your reach.
A good place to promote your profiles is on your website or blog. Facebook has introduced the subscribe button which can be placed on websites and blogs. This button displays the number of subscribes you have got too – all people have to do is click on the button to subscribe.
Another way to promote your profile is by displaying the owner of the Facebook page at the bottom of the facebook page. This will make it easy for people to locate the profile and subscribe to it. This can instantly increase the number of subscribers you have got, especially if your page has got a lot of “likes” already and is well managed.
The page owner can be displayed on the page by clicking on edit page which is located on the top right hand corner of your page.
Then visiting the “Featured” section and clicking on “Edit featured page owners.”
Here you can choose the page owners you would like to display on your Facebook page – choose the owners and save your changes.
You could also actively take part on Facebook to get more subscriptions – this can be done by “liking” or commenting on popular pages or on the updates of people you have subscribed to.
2. Share Different Kinds of Content:
When people “Like” a page they usually do it because they like something about it or because they want to receive updates from that page. Normally on your page, you share relevant content from your own blog and from other blogs. It’s the same with profiles you have to share useful content too, as people expect to see these updates – this is one of the main reasons why they subscribe to your profile, and when someone comments on these updates make sure you respond to them with comments and “Likes”.
Another important point you need to keep in mind, is to share anything interesting you come across. This could be funny pictures, interesting articles, etc. Your profile is different from your page and as it’s on Facebook, people will want some insight into your personal life. So make it a point to share some personal pictures, views, articles and images you come across.
Always make sure you use the public option when you want your subscribers to see what you share, as they can only see it when you share it with the public.
A great example of someone who uses their profile effectively is Mari Smith. If you visit her profile you will see that she not only shares her content and other’s content relating to facebook and social media marketing, which she is an expert in, but also all other kinds of interesting articles and pictures. She also subscribes to other users and pages and actively “Likes” and comments on their updates. This is one of the reasons why she has more than 124,000 subscribers who actively “Like” and comment on her updates.
Update 2. Posting Facebook Updates
Before the posts that appeared in your news feed were the popular updates. These were the ones which received the most number of shares, “likes” and comments. The more the number of “likes,” shares and comments the updates received; the higher the updates were positioned, in your feed. This meant that the popular updates received the most attention. So if your post received many accolades it stayed at the top and received more and more attention. But with the recent facebook updates only the latest updates stay on top.
It doesn’t matter how many likes, shares or comments your updates get, they will still be moved down, as more new updates are posted.
So how can you take advantage of this new feature?
The best way to take advantage of this feature is to post more often. Normally people post updates only one or two times a day, but with this new feature you can actually post more often, maybe three to five times a day. You shouldn’t worry about people unsubscribing, as people will unlike your page only if your content isn’t helpful. If you share good, helpful content, more often, everyday, more and more people will subscribe to your profile or your page.
The best thing to do would be to share content from your blog once, content from another blog another time and ask your followers one or more questions which don’t lead to any link. People like being asked about their life and when you share an update which doesn’t lead to a link people will love commenting on it or liking it, it’s just like tweeting something without a link. When you tweet something like a quote or question which has no links, on Twitter, you will notice that many people will either retweet it or reply to it.
An e.g. of a Facebook page that does this right is the Social Media Examiner Facebook page. If you observe their Facebook page you will find that they not only share content from their blog every day, but also content from other blogs. They also post one or two questions each day. Questions like asking fans; how their day was, how effective is their social media campaign, etc. These questions receive responses through many comments and likes. All these updates by Social Media Examiner are interspaced by comments from their fans who appreciate all the great content they produce and asking more questions about Social Media which Social Media Examiner happily clear, making this a really good and interactive Facebook page.
So if you want to take advantage of the new feature, make it a point to post several updates each day.
Update 3. Tagging People
Now on Facebook you can tag your friends. When you type [email protected] and follow it with the name of the user they are automatically tagged. When you do this the person you have tagged is informed and they can check out why their name has been mentioned.
This might seem like something that’s not important and redundant, but it’s actually more important than you think. In the first webinar of Mari Smith’s latest webinar series, she mentions that relationship marketing is all about making people feel special. When you tag someone and write their name in full, people will feel special about it and will treat you better or want to work with you. They will know that you took the extra effort to tag their name.
Even Leo Widrich of Buffer mentions this in his post “7 Twitter Habits to Adopt in 2012 to Double Your Followers”. In this post, he writes that on twitter when you tweet someone else’s post make sure you mention them and add a comment along with it – this will not only help you make a special connection with the user you mentioned, but will also help you get many twitter followers. This could apply to facebook too – when you mention someone’s name on facebook along with a good comment, you will not only make a special connection, but also increase your page’s likes or the number of subscribers you have got.
So at every opportunity you get make sure you mention your friend’s or your subscriber’s facebook name.
If you follow the above tips you will evolve along with Facebook and use it better to get more subscribers and build stronger relationships, which will prove helpful in the long run. Also make an effort to find out more and more about the latest facebook updates and use them to your advantage.
How About You?
What do you think about the latest Facebook updates?
Are there any other ways you can use these features effectively? What are your favourite updates?
Please leave your comments in the comments box below.
Guest Author: Mitt Ray is the founder of Social Marketing Writing, where you can download 100 Free Social Media Background Images.
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