Facebook Now Offering Promoted Posts
Last week Facebook started rolling out its promoted posts feature to page administrators.
Here are the basics:
Promoted Posts let you amplify your status updates. For a fee, Facebook guarantees that your post will show up in the feeds of people who've 'liked' you.
You have access to this tool when you see a 'Promote' option next to your status update box. (The tool kicks in once you hit 400 'likes'). Clicking on it reveals a menu of pricing options. Oddly, pricing varies from user to user. For now, $15 might reach 900 or 1200 people. Facebook hasn't revealed the logic behind their pricing structure yet.
Once paid, analytics will appear at the post's bottom left, telling you how many people the post has reached so far. Clicking on the analytics link breaks down the numbers by organic, viral, and paid users.
How does this affect you? In most cases, not at all. Most apartment communities don't have the 400 'likes' you need to use this feature. Even if you do, Promoted Posts are probably not the best solution for you. Your posts will always be seen by people who 'like' your page — promoting them simply increases your potentials exposure. However, Promoted Posts could work well for other businesses. For example, a restaurant owner who wants to distribute a coupon might find promotion worthwhile.
We'll keep an eye on how the promoted post tool works. In the meantime, check out Facebook's video on the process.