How Your District Can Benefit from Facebook Audience Optimization

If your district is like ours, Facebook drives much of your social media engagement and audience interaction.  CFBISD has a strong Twitter and Instagram following, but nothing compares to the engagement we receive from our Facebook posts.

Now Facebook has created a new tool to allow your district to select the parents, students, community members, or businesses most likely to interact with your post.

Here is a quick overview of Facebook’s newest feature called Audience Optimization. 

How to Get Started Using Audience Optimization

 

It's actually quite easy to use this tool.  When posting a status on Facebook, there is an option to select audience optimization (reach people who are more likely to engage with your post) before you publish your content.  Simply click on the icon that resembles a gun scope and it will open the optimization menu for your post.

Selecting Preferred Interests for Your Audience

This menu allows you to select certain categories or keywords your audience might be interested in.  For example, if your post is about an awesome Kindergarten program your district offers, you might select interests like "Early Childhood", "Elementary School", or "Preschool".  If it is a post about your football team winning state, you might select interests like "Football", "Athletics", or "High School".

Facebook helps in regard to selecting keywords. Simply type in the first letters of a keyword and Facebook populates a list of keyword ideas.  Once you select your first keyword, Facebook gives suggestions of other words you might use.   

Social Media Examiner makes note that your preferred audience selection will not limit the people who see your post, but rather will tell Facebook that this is your preferred audience to see the post.

Facebook also offers a browse feature that allows you to look at categories of keywords in case you might be stumped on what to include.  Here is a screenshot of that feature below.

 Setting Audience Restrictions for Your Post

The second feature of this new tool is awesome.  This allows you to narrow your audience even further by allow you to select AGE, GENDER, LOCATION and LANGUAGES.

For example, if you want to inform your community members in your of new voting policies, you would want to limit your audience to people over 18.  This feature allows you to post and not "SPAM" your fans who would have no interest in your post.

The Best Part of Audience Optimization

I am a big "Data Geek".  The best part for me about this feature is be able to track certain audiences reactions to your posts.  After using this for a couple months, you should have a better understanding of who interacts with your posts. Knowing this should allow you to target certain audiences that result in the biggest engagement for your posts.

Do you need a more in-depth look at audience optimization?

**Kristi Hines at Social Media Examiner posted an awesome in-depth look at this new tool: Facebook Audience Optimization: What Marketers Need to Know

Do you have any questions about Facebook or Audience Optimization? Leave your questions in the comment section below.