The Internet is a great and awesome place. Unfortunately, it’s also a place that changes quite quickly. Because of this it’s almost impossible for the average small business owner to keep up with the latest technology driving their favorite websites.

Chances are, you are using Facebook as part of your small business social media presence. Because of that – and because it’s the social media platform with the most users – it’s important to know and understand these 5 things about Facebook.

5 Things you May Not Realize about Facebook

1. You’re Not Seeing Everything Sure, you know that business page posts aren’t shown to everyone. The reach posted on the page makes that pretty clear. However, your personal posts aren’t being shown to everyone either. And – perhaps the worst news of all – you aren’t seeing everything you want to. In fact, Facebook never showed me my good friend and co-worker Amanda‘s pregnancy announcement even though it received a lot of interaction from other users (and, thus, should have been even more likely to be put in my feed as a result). Thank goodness we talk regularly and she’d told me – but it’s proof that likely, you think you’re all caught up with all your friends and favorite brands. However, you’re not seeing everything they post – and they aren’t seeing everything you post either.
2. There are Three Separate Ad Tools with Various Pros and Cons So you want to run an ad on Facebook- great! Do you know what type of ad you’d like to run? Most people don’t realize how many options there are when it comes to Facebook ads. Each of them comes with their own set of benefits and drawbacks. This means certain ad products are better for one campaign than another. Because of this, if you manage your own ads, it’s really worth it to get some Facebook ads training.
3. Business Pages are Different than Personal Profiles Many businesses I encounter boast that they’re on Facebook. That’s awesome. Probably half of them have set up their businesses using a personal profile. Some people even do this knowingly, assuming that while business pages have limited reach their personal profile does not (not true, as listed above). Not only is using a personal profile for your business against Facebook’s Terms of Service, but it limits your ability to interact with your customers (not all people want to grant businesses the same privileges to their personal information like they do their Facebook friends). And, thank goodness, personal profiles don’t allow you to run ads. Otherwise, you’d get nothing but ads for your cross fit friends’ fundraising and the like. So, if you’re using a personal profile for your business page, you may get shut down and you will likely have trouble reaching new fans.
4. Not all “Young People” Know all its Ins and Outs Either People who grew up with the Internet often can use and adapt to its changes fairly quickly. That doesn’t mean they’re actively keeping up with all changes and how they apply to the business world. If you’re looking to outsource social media services, make sure you’re asking the right questions. Your expert should be someone who applies real business world savvy, not just someone who posts regularly.
5. It is Constantly Changing Next week, Facebook may announce that video ranks low in its algorithm and pictures are back in (the opposite of what’s true now). So whatever is working great for you now may not do so in a few weeks or months. It’s important to keep up with what works in order to get the most out of your presence.

Are there any questions you may have about Facebook? Give us a call and we’ll be happy to set up a consulting or training call to answer any and all questions you may have.