5 New Facebook Features Marketers Should Be Using

It is important as a business and a marketer to keep up-to-date on the latest changes that happen in social networks. Did you know that Facebook has had some recent changes you should be aware of? If you know about them, are you taking advantage of the most recent features Facebook has?

  1. Create Multi-Product Ads: Before the changes Facebook ads included an image, a headline, post text, a description and a display URL. Each ad had a unique landing page.Now Facebook offers the ability to create multi-product (also known as carousel) ads, that allows you to rotate several products in one ad. Each product has its own title, image and even landing page. All products share the same text and social (like, comment and share) buttons.You can set up these new Facebook ads only using the API or Facebook’s Power Editor. A few tips for you to keep in mind when creating a multi-product ad is to keep the headline and description text short so they’ll fit the screen. For quality results, limit your headline to 25 characters and your link description to 30. As per other ads on Facebook, you can’t have more than 20% text in the image. Measurec your ratio using the Facebook Grid Tool. Remember, multi-product ads work on a square dimension of 600 x 600 pixels (both for desktop and mobile ads), so don’t use large, wide images. Multi-product ads only run on the news feed and are not allowed in the right column of Facebook.
  2. Add Featured Videos: We really love the new updates that allows people to upload a featured video. It shows prominently to people when they visit your Video tab. It’s super easy to set up a featured video. Simply click Videos in the tab below your page’s cover photo. Note: Your videos might be in the More section. Upload videos if you haven’t already done so. Then, click Add Featured Video. It is a huge benefit to use videos on your Facebook page as videos are very eye-catching and can bring more attention to your page.
  3. Craft Video Playlists: Facebook has also created new video playlists, which can help with engaging users to watch and share more content. Setting up your video playlist is easy. Just click Videos in the tab below your page’s cover photo (which you may find in the More section). Then select Create Playlist. Next you will need to add a title and description and click Next. Select the videos you want to add to your playlist and click Next. Finally, click and drag videos to order them and select Create Playlist.Your video tab will now display one section with your playlists and one section for all videos. This is a very efficient way to group and share themed video content.
  4. Customize Advanced Re-marketing Features: Custom audiences with Facebook have been around for a while. Now Facebook recently rolled out advanced features that allow you to customize re-marketing audiences even more for better results. Facebook added two preset options. These two options are designed to make it easy to build and create lists that exclude conversion pages or to try to bring people back to your page. One of the Facebook’s preset options is for people visiting specific web pages but not others. The other preset is for people who haven’t visited in a certain amount of time. There are certain ways that you can take advantage of these tools. You can create promotions to attract people who visited your site but did not buy or convert. Also, give visitors information that adds to what they already know; this may be the final push they need to create a conversion.Finally, set up list sizes that make sense for your business or organization. You need to be mindful of the timeline you must use to make the best impression. You know your customers best, so plan accordingly.
  5. Discover Dynamic Product Ads: What’s very exciting with Facebook is the introduction of dynamic product ads for advertising accounts. This feature is currently only available using the API. Dynamic Product Ads enables anyone to promote relevant products from their entire catalog on any device. This ad type will show items to Facebook users based on what products they have seen on your website or mobile app. You will be able to target your efforts and ensure you are using your money wisely. This approach is similar to re-marketing campaigns, but with a couple of added features. Facebook will show additional products that might be of interest to the user. Plus, you will be able to use lookalike audiences to expand your reach. Facebook can match people who are interested in a product with other Facebook users with similar profiles. Also, dynamic product ad campaigns are automated, so there will be no need to manually create ads for your products; talk about easy! Facebook dynamic product ads are available only to selected partners.

If you are running any ad on Facebook, you should take the time to test all of the newly available features on this social network. Find out what works best for you and your business/organization.

Let us know what you think and how they have worked for you.