Facebook Timeline rocked our world, now what?!
You’ve had the chance to update your cover and get used to this two column thing, so now we’re going to delve into the less visible ways you can keep your Facebook page rockin’!
First, make sure you’ve read and implemented ‘How Photographers Can Use Facebook Timeline,’ which covers a ton of basics, including how to utilize tabs, highlighting and pinning. Now that you’ve got the basics, here’s five Facebook Features every photographer should be using.
1) Reposition Photo: As photographers, we’re just plain picky when it comes to showcasing our images. Now that Facebook has a two-column layout, the left and right sides of images get chopped on preview. Did you know that you can actually adjust the preview to the left or right and then reposition the photo? It’s quick and easy; roll over the top right area of the post square and click on the ‘pencil’ icon. You’ll be given a few choices – pinning the photo to the top, hiding it from the page, deleting or even changing the date. The one you want to select is ‘reposition photo.’ Then, simply drag the image to the left or right and get the subjects exactly where you want them!
2) Facebook Insights: Insights has WAY improved over previous versions – Yay Facebook! You can now track more intelligently how far your posts are penetrating by reviewing the analytics data that Facebook includes in your admin area. Track each individual post’s reach (the number of unique people who have seen your post), engaged users (the number of people who have clicked anywhere on your post), talking about this (the number of people who have liked, commented or shared your post) and more.
Moreover, under each post, you now see the number of unique people who have viewed your post (either from their news feed, your wall or from a friend’s feed) and the percentage of that compared to your total fans. How does that help?
If you track what types of posts achieve the highest impact, you’ll be able to continue to create and distribute content that your readers enjoy. Plus, you’ll know when to post content to get the most likes! To quote Facebook, “your ultimate goal as a page owner is to publish content that will reach a large audience, and that your audience will engage and share content with friends. Now you can use Page Insights to better understand what your audience wants to hear about.”
3) Organize your Tabs: Since Facebook doesn’t offer welcome pages anymore, your tabs are the next best thing. Use the ‘down arrow’ to the right of your default four tabs to view the rest of the available tabs. If you have custom applications, links, or are using third party apps like Ripe Social, create a tab for each application and ‘swap’ the tabs to the order of your choosing. All of these are available by clicking on the plus or pencil icon on the top right of your tab. Choose the tab you want to swap icons with and choose, ‘swap position with’ and then the application of choice. Be sure to use calls to action in your tab titles and custom icon (optional) to grab attention from your potential clients.
4) Link To Tab: Did you know that you can link directly to a tab with one of your apps in it? One of the first things that clients see is our promo video and we love to send them a link to it via Facebook. We have an app that showcases the video embed from YouTube in a nice, branded format. From the ‘pencil’ option in the top right of the icon (view all your tabs if you are not seeing the pencil icon for your tabs, then roll over that top right area again), choose the option, ‘Link To This Tab.’ This way, they see our page as well as the video!
5) Optimize Your About Text: Just like your website, one of the most important things to prominently display in all your marketing materials is the simplest thing – your contact information. Make sure to take a second look at your ‘About ‘ section text and make sure your website, blog, descriptive text – especially your phone number – are all listed.
- Showed their clients that they’re looking out for them.
- Created scarcity, which in turn created urgency.
- Showed potential clients the special treatment they would get with Edwin and Nancy.
- Took no risk of overbooking or discounting their services.
About Wendy Roe
Wendy Roe has spent the last 10 years ingrained in all things web marketing – from design/development to search/social media. In May 2010, she decided to quit the corporate life and join forces with her husband, Byron Roe, to shoot full-time one of life’s ultimate highs – weddings. She now focuses on business development and being a second shooter for Bend, Oregon based wedding photographers, Byron Roe Photography.
She is the co-author of “55 Smart Web Ideas for Photographers” e-book, a 2-time speaker at WPPI Photographer’s Ignite and traveled through west coast PUG groups consulting photographers on web marketing. She’s known as an interpreter, changing technical language into easy information. Above all, she’s an educator at heart and believes: “Web marketing and wedding photography are two passions that drive bringing the best out of beauty and brands.”