Big changes are afoot at Facebook. Yesterday, we announced the rollout of Promoted Posts on Facebook that allow marketers to extend the reach of their page content. Today, two new changes that marketers have been requesting for what seems like forever are finally rolled out: the ability to schedule posts, and the ability to assign roles to page admins.
Hooray!
First, let's take a look at the different admin roles and what permissions they'll have.
Creating Facebook Page Admins
Here's a matrix Facebook released in its Help Center that explains the 5 different roles a page admin can have, and what responsibilities those roles entail:
So a page manager is the ruler of the Facebook realm, and can do everything from create ads to moderate comments to promote and demote other page administrators. But not everyone should have that level of responsibility (or ability). You can limit some administrators to just content creation, some to just moderators, and some to simply analyzing your page Insights.
Why might you do this? Think of it this way -- ever had that boss that wakes up in the middle of the night curious about how your Facebook page is performing, takes a look at your Facebook page Insights, freaks out at some numbers he doesn't quite understand, and then starts posting updates every 15 minutes to "improve engagement?" That's the guy you'll demote to the 'Insight Analyst' role. Hey, that's a pretty sexy name if you ask me!
Or perhaps you have a new social media intern who hasn't quite mastered your social media strategy or brand voice, but you want to get her immersed in your social media presence so she can, you know, learn it. Maybe her role as a page administrator is 'Moderator' so she can do some social media monitoring, but doesn't start messing with the page's apps and status updates.
Sounds pretty handy, eh? To set these permissions on your own page, go to the top right corner of your screen and hit 'Manage,' then select 'Settings' in the drop-down. That will take you to this screen:
Under 'Admin Roles,' simply select the page administrator whose permissions you'd like to change, and select the role for which they're best suited. Voila! You've now edited the roles and permissions of your Facebook page administrators. And, bonus -- there is no limit to the number of admins a page can have!
Scheduling Facebook Posts
And now, for the other half of this exciting news ... the ability to schedule posts! Until now, you've probably made use of a third-party app (still a viable solution!) to schedule your Facebook posts in advance, or you've simply gotten used to logging in to your Facebook account every couple hours to post your next update. But now, you have options; take a look at how easy it is to schedule your posts right in Facebook:
To schedule your post, simply go to your page's sharing tool like you usually do, and select the type of post you want to add to your page. Once you've crafted your update, click the little blue clock icon in the lower left corner of the sharing tool, and select the year, month, day, hour, and minute at which you'd like your post to appear in the future. Then click 'Schedule'!
You can schedule a post up to 6 months in advance in 15-minute intervals. If you choose a date in the past, however, the post will appear immediately on your page's timeline. And no time zone calculations are needed, either -- Facebook will automatically correspond to the time zone you're in! Pretty easy, huh?
Facebook has made no mention of a timeline for when these two features will be rolled out to all pages, so just be on the lookout.
Are you excited for these new Facebook features? Are you promoting or demoting and page administrators? (Don't worry -- we won't tell).
Image credit: DafneCholet
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janet 12:10 PM on May 31, 2012
the pictures didn't come through for me. broken image icons. is it just me or is anyone else having same issue with this article?
Erin 12:22 PM on May 31, 2012
After you schedule a post, can you edit the post or review it?
Danusia 12:24 PM on May 31, 2012
Just you Janet ;-) I saw them fine!
Scheduling posts on FB - finally. I was beginning to wonder if it would ever happen, so used to this option on Twitter...
Jennifer 12:32 PM on May 31, 2012
I can't see the images either Janet, even after a shift+f5 to clear page cache.
Chrome for anybody trying to figure it out in the background.
anita 12:41 PM on May 31, 2012
Yes I would also like to know where you can view and edit your scheduled posts. Thanks for keeping us updated Hubspot!
Amanda MacFarland 12:57 PM on May 31, 2012
This is great news...however I just test scheduled a post to launch an hour from now and it all went smoothly...BUT where is this post hanging out while it is waiting to be posted? Let's say I needed to edit the post. I don't see any options to allow you to view/edit posts you have scheduled.
David 1:07 PM on May 31, 2012
I have the same question as Erin and Anita. Once I've scheduled a post, where can I view it? Edit it?
sikedestroya 1:46 PM on May 31, 2012
Facebook is getting more and more complex platform... I mean, that's good. It's good in case you are working for client, not just boss ( there is a lot of dummies out there who want to run their own business, and Facebook is almost synonym for internet for them )...
Sean Mitchell 2:24 PM on May 31, 2012
Glad to see this happening within the Facebook platform so we don't have to rely on 3rd party systems & coding to make this happen. Now if they'd only allow an easy way to auto or semi-auto publish from a wordpress driven website...that'd rock.
April Merrill 2:32 PM on May 31, 2012
After you've scheduled the post just go up to 'Manage' and then 'Use Activity Log'. You'll see your posts there. You can't edit a post once you've scheduled it but you can alter the time it posts, or you can cancel the post and start over if you need to change it. Hope this helps!
David 2:53 PM on May 31, 2012
Thanks, April! That was what I needed to know!
Clint Lenard 6:29 PM on May 31, 2012
This is the type of news I've been waiting for! Glad they've finally did this :)
Carolina Arevalo 7:20 PM on May 31, 2012
Great!!!
Good news for me and bad news for Hootsuite and others
Professional Courses 4:26 AM on June 01, 2012
Nice! We had such a tough time in posting during the weekends! It can be an absolute nightmare with limited resources! This will surely help small businesses like us to capitalize on our news and resources!
anita 5:02 AM on June 01, 2012
Thank you April!!!
Adam Lofting 6:25 AM on June 01, 2012
Chuckled at Facebook's priorities here...
A moderator isn't allowed to create posts on the page, but can create Ads that appear all over Facebook.
So restricting permissions to help organisations is a good idea, so long as everyone can still buy advertising! ;)
Luis 6:54 AM on June 01, 2012
Nice tool, however: how can you overview your entire scheduled posts? There is as always room for adjustments.
Karrie 12:11 PM on June 01, 2012
Wow, I can already see how this new facebook application will be helpful to me. Great stuff!
Addie 12:48 PM on June 01, 2012
I love the idea of scheduling posts! That way, in theory, I only have to remember periodically to post. No more only posting on Friday when other things occur that remind me to post.
Elizabeth 5:13 PM on June 01, 2012
Any idea on if posts scheduled WITHIN Facebook will be prioritized better by Edgerank than posts scheduled using a third party site like Hootsuite?
Paola | salon de eventos 11:54 PM on June 01, 2012
me gusta la idea de que la plataforma tenga esta inovacion y mas por que no dependera de 3 partes mas aunque creo que debemos esperar a ver que pasa mas adelante
Alex 2:02 AM on June 02, 2012
This should have been done from the start, it's always felt like a free for all with other admins on certain pages. Any time someone leaves the company must remove from admin before they get home.
Angela 8:06 AM on June 02, 2012
My big question is, will have the ability to tag in scheduled posts. This is important for us as we like to highlight our sponsors and partners this way. Anyone know? Thanks fot sharing!
Sam 10:36 PM on June 03, 2012
With regards the post scheduler, are other admins able to see scheduled posts?
Online Marketing Birmingham 10:28 PM on June 04, 2012
Pretty Awesome Tool!
We can say that Facebook is doing all their best to give more brilliant thing within their user-friendly-site. I’ll wait for more good review with this tool.
Cheers!