Just recently, Facebook launched Place Tips – a new feature available on Facebook for iPhone that offers advice and information from a location’s Facebook Page and from people in your network who have been in that place. With location turned on, you will see Place Tips as a notification at the top of the News Feed. When you tap the notification, you will see a series of cards showing images, menu items, upcoming events, reviews, and your friends’ comments and posts related to that place. Users can also opt to hide Place Tips for certain locations.
Information about a business or location will be taken from that entity’s Facebook Page, one more reason why local businesses should regularly post and update their Facebook Pages. As more and more people are using social media on mobile devices and seeking locally-relevant information, this new feature from Facebook is able to offer its users exactly what they need from a social media platform which also serves as a major influencer in their buying decisions.
Another great thing about Place Tips is that it is entirely passive. Users can turn this feature off and enable it in their settings as they please. It is a feature that comes in handy when you are physically at a location and need location-relevant content. And best of all, Facebook Place Tips helps organically promote your local business information and content for free!
Here are some tips on how you can optimize your Facebook Page for organic reach:
Update Your Facebook Page
While this seems elementary, some business owners fail to update their information when they change location, rebranded, or decided to operate at different hours. So check your About page and make sure that it is up to date and all relevant information are provided. More importantly, pay particular attention to your location information.
Optimize Your Posts
Aside from posting relevant information for your target audience, add tags, images, location to your status updates to your posts to help widen your reach and their appeal to your market, consequently increasing engagement as well. You can also schedule your posts at specific times when your target audience are more active on Facebook, so there is greater chance of liking, commenting, or sharing these posts.
Update Your Page Regularly
When Place Tips kicks in and becomes selective of what content to offer users at busy locations, it will most likely feature businesses whose pages have fresh, relevant content. Ensure that your page is regularly updated with new and relevant content that will give value to users. Remember that you are not only feeding your followers what they want to see in their news feed, you are also creating content that Place Tips can give your followers when they visit your area.
Sponsor Regular In-store Events
Upcoming events are one of the categories that appear in Place Tips cards. Posting about these in-store activities on Facebook enables Place Tips to promote your page to users nearby. Plus, these events get to attract potential customers who happen to pass by your business location.
Promote Facebook Check Ins
Having more people checking in to your business on Facebook, would trigger Place Tips to feature your page more to users within your location. Encourage your customers to check in by posting a reminder or having your staff politely guide your customers to check in. You might also want to reward them for doing so, and give them extra rewards points or a discount on their next visit.
Inspire and Incentivize User Generated Content (UGC)
Considering how Facebook is able to push reviews and content about your business that is posted by users for free, it makes sense to motivate your fans to create such content. You can start campaigns that will drive users to create content about your business and reward them for their posts. Monitor your customers’ posts about your brand and share the best ones on your page. Your customers are your best endorsers. Ask happy customers to submit Facebook check in reviews or post about their favorite products from your brand or a photo showing them enjoying your services on their own timelines.
Promote Content with Facebook Promoted Posts
Apparently, Place Tips will not be able to show everything about every business, especially within a busy location. This makes it more important than ever to show Facebook that your business and your content matters to its users. Promoted Posts is one way that will help trigger the Place Tips algorithm in your favor as it boosts your exposure and results to more user engagements and actions. Using this advice, combined with timed marketing and an image moderation service, can make or break your business.
Michelle Rubio is an experienced SEO copywriter and blogger since 2010. She has been working with various businesses, big and small, in the United States, UK, Canada, and Australia. You can see more of her works and experiences in her LinkedIn profile.
