If you think you know Facebook inside and out, we’re about to put your knowledge of the social media giant to the test. Using Facebook is arguably one of the most effective ways to grow your business, both from a brand awareness and engagement perspective.
With over 2.2 billion active monthly users, it’s simply a platform that you cannot afford to be leaving to one side. However, there may well be some Facebook features for business that you’re unaware of – some of which could give you an advantage against competitors who are also using Facebook.
Here are a few tips and features that you might not have heard of, or maybe you know about but you just aren’t using to their full capacity.
Facebook features for business that your business should start using
1. Watch other pages and compare their activity to yours
Call this a little R&D, if you like – with the “watch” feature, you’re able to follow up to 100 different brand pages. You’ll be able to quickly compare and contrast page activity with your own, including some basic performance figures, e.g., estimated views, engagement and audience growth.
This is a priceless way to gain valuable insight into your competitors and the way they’re using Facebook. Of course, they can also follow you as well.
2. Messenger chatbots make your life easier
Hey, we’re all human and we all have lives outside of our businesses. That’s when chatbots can be so helpful. If you’re on vacation, sleeping or just busy with other things, your chatbot can answer the basic questions that anyone who visits your business page might have.
There’s also an added benefit that is overlooked – it promotes a policy of proactive customer support, rather than reactive or passive. What does that mean? Well, with your Messenger chatbot you’ll be able to start a conversation with each customer at any time of the day.
In turn, you can expect higher engagement rates as you’re virtually saying “hello” to every user who lands on your page.
Oh, and we nearly forgot about the obvious financial benefit of using chatbots. By implementing a fully functioning chatbot, it’s cheaper and faster than creating a cross-platform app or hiring another employee.
3. Make use of the powerful audience insights
This slightly ties into the paid advertising side of things, but we couldn’t write this article without mentioning Facebook’s audience insights. They’re a fantastic way to gain valuable insight on your users (like the Google Analytics of Facebook).
The access to such detailed and relevant information about your users will ensure you’re in the best position possible to create content that resonates with those people the most.
4. Hashtags aren’t just for Twitter
The hashtag has risen from the dead to become one of the most used symbols on your keyboard. But it’s not just Twitter where they can be an effective tool – particularly for businesses. Yes, hashtags are most definitely a thing on Facebook… using them to start a conversation with a specific group or comment on a trending topic are the most common approaches.
While we’re talking about Twitter – pinning posts to the top of your feed is also a feature on Facebook. This is a great way to keep important or popular content at the top of your Facebook business page. For example, that might be a company announcement or a product launch.
5. Take your photos and imagery to the next dimension… literally
This is a bit of a bonus point, but it could help you set your business page apart from your competitors. 3D photos are now available – they’ll live in your news feed just like any other photos.
The exception occurs when you scroll across them, touch or click them, or tilt your phone. According to TechCrunch, “They’ll respond as if the photo is actually a window into a tiny diorama, with corresponding changes in perspective.”
In summary, help your company stand out from the crowd with these Facebook features for business:
- Watch other pages and learn from your competitors
- Make the most of chatbots in Messenger
- Dig through the audience insights to learn more about your users
- Start introducing hashtags where you can
- Add a little flare with 3D photos
