Workplace by Facebook

Workplace by Facebook is a new collaborative platform for businesses who want to harness social media technology within the office environment.

Workplace can be used to communicate via groups, to chat with colleagues and offers the features of Facebook but in a business focused package. Workplace is designed to be easy and familiar to use so it looks very much like regular Facebook.

Workplace can effectively replace a firm’s intranet. The familiarity of the platform provides instant benefits in terms of user experience. Most people already know how to use Facebook. Since most employees can use the platform, businesses won’t have to spend as much time and resources on training people.

Workplace is completely separate from personal Facebook accounts, meaning information shared between employees is only accessible within the Workplace platform. Workplace is designed to work in a similar way to a corporate email account. Employees are issued with an account when they join the company and should they leave the firm, they will lose their account.

From a privacy perspective, employers can not use a Workplace account to access information on an employee's private Facebook profile. Networks are isolated and only company-wide, which means only co-workers can see the information other employees post in Workplace.

On the security front, Workplace relies on Facebook's own infrastructure and tools for threat detection to safeguard data. The system also follows third-party industry security standards.

Workplace features a News Feed that displays articles, updates or comments relevant to certain teams or, perhaps, to the entire company. A version of the Facebook Live service can be used to broadcast corporate communications, such as a presentation by the managing director.

Teams can communicate in real time using a version of Messenger. It is also possible to create private groups for brainstorms or discussions where users can share files, photographs, etc.

Facebook Live

With latest figures showing 1.79 billion monthly active users, Facebook is a social media platform that has immense potential for business users. However, as with any large target audience, getting your message right is key.

Facebook Live is a new video streaming service which enables users to livestream video broadcasts from their mobile phone or other device. While this idea in itself isn’t new, Facebook’s huge audience means many more people can potentially tap in to the videos that you post. In addition, Facebook Live offers features such as the ability to watch again (unlike platforms such as SnapChat).

Facebook Live is designed to be interactive and allows users to comment on videos and share them. For business users, there is great potential here - customers can ask direct questions about the products or services that you feature in your live video, and this allows you to resolve queries. It may also provide valuable insights into what your customers actually want.

The key benefit of Facebook Live is that it offers your business the chance to engage directly with users and offer interesting live footage. The live element means that you can now draw people in as your news is happening. For example, you could stream the live launch of a new product or service to your customers and potential customers around the world.

Using the service is very straightforward. Users go to their Facebook page and when they are ready to start filming simply tap on the live stream icon. As soon as this is done, followers will get a notification, which will immediately request them to engage with the content. You can also write a description of what you’re filming. An important point to remember is that all live videos are archived. This means that if a user misses the video, they can go back, view comments and watch it after you’ve stopped recording. This offers a further extension of the platform for users to share their experiences of your product / service and gives you additional (free) marketing opportunities.

How To Have A Social Media Presence Without Being Present?

Running a social media strategy as well as being a business owner will only lead to stress and sleepless nights.  But everyone is on social media, right? Even the Pope.

You need to strike the balance between informative and annoying. Studies show the optimal postings for the two most popular networking sites are:

Twitter: 3 posts, daily
Facebook: 5 posts, weekly

Doesn’t require a lot of effort, does it? But finding free time is any business owner’s challenge, so you need a method of having active accounts, without it taking hours and feeling like a chore. 

Welcome to scheduling. It’s a strange thought that people can tweet without actually being behind the screen at the time, but it’s a time-saving approach to social media marketing.

Having a consistent online presence is a necessary part of marketing, but you don’t want to be doing it every day.

So which schedule tool should you use?

TWITTER

1. Tweetdeck

https://web.tweetdeck.com/

For Tweetdeck newbies, this is your new best friend when it comes to developing your Twitter presence.

You don’t have to create an account; just sign in with your Twitter logins and you’re off - no email confirmation required. And it’s free! Music to everyone’s ears.

You can plan posts into the far future. Ideal for those who have a lot to say. A huge pro is that Tweetdeck’s layout looks similar to Twitter (probably because Twitter bought it in 2011).

At any time, you can log back in and amend scheduled tweets or delete them. This is a great idea if something you have scheduled is no longer accurate or relevant. You can keep track of when your posts are, too, if you log in often.

HOW TO USE IT

1. Visit https://web.tweetdeck.com

2. Sign in using your Twitter login details

3. Click ‘New Tweet’

- Select your account

- Type your tweet you want scheduling

- Click ‘Schedule Tweet’

- Select the relevant date and time

- Once you’ve proofread, click ‘Tweet at…’-

TIPS

- Don’t be confused by all the columns. The beauty of Tweetdeck is that you can see your direct messages, timeline, notifications and messages all on one screen. Delete all the columns apart from ‘Scheduled’ to tidy up your dashboard.

- Scroll to the right of the page, so you can just focus on the Scheduled column. Here you will see all the tweets you have planned for the future.

- If you have multiple accounts, you can add them all. You can even post the same content across all accounts easily, by selecting all the accounts.

- Don’t forget to add an image with your text, too. Just select the ‘Add Image’ option, before submitting the tweet.

- Once you become an expert, utilise all the columns by monitoring what your followers are retweeting and your notifications.

FACEBOOK

1. Facebook

www.facebook.com

Even avid social media users don’t know you can use Facebook to schedule posts and many are paying for services that do no different.

Using Facebook to schedule is free and you can prepare a post using the same process as posting normally. You can only automate on a page, not a personal account. Again, you can see your scheduled posts and amend or delete them at any time.

HOW TO USE IT

1. Sign into your Facebook page.

2. Type the post you want scheduling. Do not click ‘Post’.

3. Click on the clock symbol.

4. Select the date from the calendar and choose the time you want the post scheduling.

5. Click on ‘Schedule’ once you’re happy with your post.

TIPS

- With a 63,000 character limit, utilise this space with detailed posts.

- You can schedule up to 6 months ahead, so plan time-relevant posts, such as Christmas.

- Be consistent with your postings. Aim for at least 5 a week.

- Avoid newsworthy content, because for the date you’ve scheduled it, it will no longer be news.

- Select your times wisely. People are more likely to see your post at 7am, when they are waking up, than 9pm on a Friday night. Target locations will also play a part. 

It’s tempting to rush scheduling, but your followers will notice if you’ve just posted anything. Interesting posts about the industry, links to your service and entertaining posts will vary your content and make your account interesting.

Be wary of posting at the same time and day across your accounts, because you want to mix it up a bit.

Scheduling makes life easier, but don’t neglect your accounts. Regularly checking notifications and interacting with your followers will further improve your social media marketing.

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