Like all of us, I get a lot of emails. I try to answer them all even though general inquiries don’t get answered very fast.
Sometimes, however, an email question gives me an idea for a post – like this one.
I was asked if it was possible to send updates to Facebook fans based on their location. Since I am unable to store a lot of new information in my brain anymore, I tested it out and determined that, yes, it can be done.
So, here’s how to do it.
- Go to your Fan Page
- Click on Edit Page
- On the right click on the link that says Send an Update – it’s in the Promote Your Page section.
- Check the box that says Target this Update. You can select a country and then target by State/Region and City.
I wish more people would use this. I think it’s silly when I get updates for things occuring in Kansas and California – it’s highly unlikely I’ll be attending ;-) Take a couple of extra minutes and target the updates to those who will be most interested.
photo credit: Si1very
Unfortunately I think next to no-one actually sees those “Updates”. They’re buried in a subsection of the inbox and I don’t *think* they get delivered via email.
However you can customize a regular status update to the Page in a similar way. When writing your status update, click on the padlock next to the Share button and then click Custom. You then select a country and then a city. I think this is probably a more effective way to target fans since they are more likely to see this in their news stream.
.-= Lucy Beer´s last blog ..Social Media and Online Marketing News Roundup – Week of 8-23 =-.
Agreed on the updates/inbox snafu. I rarely see page updates and I know where they are!
.-= Ari Herzog´s last blog ..How I Produced an Online Movie =-.
Hi Ari – Agreed. I do check my inbox daily though because people contact me that way – I kind of wish they wouldn’t but the option is there.
Thanks Lucy – I didn’t know you could do that on Fan pages and that’s a much better solution. I don’t think I’ve ever actually sent an update ;-)
“I wish more people would use this. I think it’s silly when I get updates for things occuring in Kansas and California – it’s highly unlikely I’ll be attending ;-) Take a couple of extra minutes and target the updates to those who will be most interested.” –> I agree. I too get invited to events even though they’re on the East Coast and I’m in California.
.-= vered´s last blog ..“It’s Fun Killing People” =-.
Hi Vered – It’s gets annoying – just more clutter.
This is kinda off topic, but I admire some of your topics Kim. We rank well for some of our areas competitive keyphrases, however, according to hittail.com, close to 90% of our traffic is coming from longtail searches. You keep blogging about these how-to topics and if you are not now, you will certainly in the near future be benefiting from organic traffic for this stuff! :)
.-= Colleen´s last blog ..Kennewick On Top 10 List for Best City to Raise a Family =-.
Hi Colleen – Certain articles do well through searches – most of my traffic is from searches actually. I have certain articles that do really well and others that have been buried ;-) Thanks.
Page updates went the way of event invitations: useless. Moreover, targeting demographically is a lot of work and you need to determine if that’s really beneficial depending on your website and fan page. No pat answers.
Hi Jeff – With Facebook I’ve found that age and gender are more useful targets than location. Of course, for sites like restaurants location could be useful.
What’s a Fan page? (no, I’m not a real fan of Facebook) but I keep trying, then discover I can’t even spell Fan.) Incidentally, tho’, that’s a serious question. I look all over my browser, and I don’t see no Fan Page in Facebook. . .
Hi Bruce – A fan page is a page about a specific business or subject. For example, I have a personal profile on Facebook that is my name, Kim Woodbridge. I also have a fan page for this site that is called (Anti) Social Development.
I have finally decided to take the plunge into the world of Facebook and am expanding my knowledge so I can make the most of it.
I have virtually done nothing with it so far, yet am getting some pretty decent traffic from via Facebook. The potential upside seems amazing!
Hi William – You can get a good return on Facebook without too much investment. From some key articles I wrote about Facebook I get a decent amount of traffic from them.
Is it possible to do the same programatically? i.e using FaceBook APIs?
Hi Deepa – I don’t know. Possibly but that would require some research.
Is this something we can still do with the new changes in Facebook? If so, where do I find the “send an update” link? I look forward to hearing back from you :-)