In the upcoming weeks Facebook will fully introduce their new “Page Post Targeting Enhanced” feature, meaning that page administrators will be able to target their posts to people, using more specific demographics, allowing them to tailor their content.
Currently, the only criterion that Facebook page owners can use to target the posts of potential friends/likes is geographic region and language. These broad variables have now been narrowed to include more identifiable categories such as interests, age, relationship status, education and employment.
What exactly does this upgrade allow businesses to do?
The new targeting capabilities will allow Facebook pages to use demographics that are more specific and identifiable to target people who they feel will engage with their content the most. For example, Reebok may produce content about their new trainers aimed at men aged between 18 and 30. They will be able to use age and gender to target this group of people, and send their content specifically to them.
There are about 4,000,000 business pages on Facebook, so how will this affect social media marketing and how organisations approach it?
There are two contrasting sides to the argument over whether this new feature will actually have a substantial improvement in terms of providing better results for social media marketers.
Currently, organisations that manage and monitor their own online communities are not able to personalise their content to users unless they target geographic region or language, which is not specific enough for targeting to be effective. The spectrum is too big with variables such as those. Finding users to interact with by targeting page posts will increase levels of interaction between fans and pages as well as drive engagement with content.
If Facebook users are being sent content based on things that interest them, they are a lot more likely to engage and interact by commenting, liking and acting as ambassadors for a brand. It is clear that content strategies will be almost wholly altered to adapt to these new capabilities being provided.
Social media activity and behaviour is more easily recognised and exploited by organisations that are constantly looking for ways to increase the size of their online community and establish positive connections from their fans.
Is there a downside?
There are many who argue that although the new upgrade will undoubtedly improve targeting, it is unclear how quantifiable overall benefits really are to an organisation. In a time when the ROI of social media marketing is still an issue, some are questioning whether the increased time it will take to manage the social media presence, will actually produce better results than before.
The type of targeting that Facebook is looking to provide their users is similar to that of email marketing and the many variables in that medium. However, unlike email marketing, the feedback and results that social media marketing receives are not as detailed or quantifiable which begs the question; how much of a difference will the new upgrade offer?
Despite, the hesitation of some to get excited about the significance of this new upgrade, those who have witnessed the benefit that an effective social media strategy can have on a business, will truly appreciate the possibilities this will provide.