First we saw the company go public and the stock perform with a thud. Then we get to see Mark Zuckerberg getting married and parading around on his honeymoon.

The impact that either of these stories will have on your business…probably around zero.

With any big media push, the prime time to roll out new changes seems to be when no one is looking.  With both of these stories taking precedence in the headlines, Facebook has quietly made changes to the functionality of Pages.  While changes can be negative, in this case the new updates are overwhelmingly positive and will make a drastic difference in how you market your business on Facebook.

Before we get into these updates, a word of caution.  These features are not currently available for all Facebook Pages.  Just like when Facebook slowly introduced its Timeline, these changes are also being introduced to certain segments one at a time rather than the whole of Facebook, all at once.  So if you don’t have these features now, keep an eye out for them as they may appear on your page, without warning, very soon!

Without further ado, here are the top 4 Facebook Page updates to check your account for and/or to look out for in the future:

1.  Offer, Event, Milestone, Question.  While the Event, Milestone and Question features are not new – the Offer option is.   Now, when you go to post a “Status Update” you have the option of clicking a button to post an offer. The offer can be a special discount, contest, or whatever you please.  You can upload an image and even add terms and conditions.  Not too shabby.  All of your status updates will be fed into the NewsFeed, so everyone who has “Liked” your page will see your offer.  Another feature of this enhanced posting mechanism is that you can easily post your Event, create a company “Milestone” or ask a Question without clicking around your page to get started.

2. Extended Analytics.  I’m sure you have noticed that your Facebook Page offers “Insights” to help you track different aspects related to the progress and performance of your Page.  Now Facebook has taken the next step and added detailed analytics to each and every post you add.  So if you are on your Facebook Page, look underneath your posts and see the ‘reach’ of the post (including the number of people reached and the percentage of your overall network who has seen it). This is great for tracking your posts to see what you works and what bombs with your audience.

3. Scheduling Posts.  This is a new feature of Facebook and one which will be enhanced over time.  Before this feature, you had to use a third-party tool to schedule future updates on your Facebook Page.  Now you are able to do this right from the status update box.  On the bottom left hand corner of the status update box, you will see a clock icon.  Click on this and schedule away!  My only advice?  Don’t substitute scheduling all your Facebook posts for logging in and engaging with your audience.

4.  Region Select.  This feature is most probably not on your Facebook Page as it is still in testing mode (if it is, lucky you)!  Why am I even bothering to tell you about it?  Because when it comes to targeting your posts directly to the appropriate market it could be a game changer.  As a broad example, this feature would allow you to target certain posts for certain areas/regions.  Say you have an international company with clients in the USA, Spain, and China.  You would be able to write updates in the native language, using local slang with information specifically targeted to the market you are most interested in.  What if you are based in one country?  Then you could post updates only in your store’s locations.  Whether you are large or small, everyone can benefit from this one.

Make sure to jog over to your own Facebook Page to check if these features are available now.  Try them out and see how your company can use them to market your business.

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