It's happening again. We've just gotten used to our Facebook pages and BAM they go and change everything!
NEW Facebook Pages Experience
The NEW Facebook/Meta Pages Experience will replace the Classic Experience and has been around a while, since October 2020 to be exact but over the last couple of weeks, pages are now being transitioned over with little choice and no going back.
So we thought we would do a quick guide on what's changing and what to expect when your page transitions over if it's not already.
Firstly... WHY?
Well, the initial idea behind the changes is to give more tools and more possibilities for professionals to manage their presence in a more secure way.
So what's different?
New and redesigned layout.
Dedicated newsfeed so you can interact with other businesses and join conversations and engage fans.
Updated admin roles.
Page Follows instead of Page Likes.
Pages will be completely separate from profiles. Easy switching between your Facebook page ( soon to be called your page profile ) and your personal profile. The jury is still out on this one for me as it doesn't feel easier at all but maybe it's just a 'getting used to' thing.
So what exactly will happen to your info when the big switch happens for you?
Well, many things will be staying the same, it's just how we access things will be a little different.
But it's safe to say there will be a few changes...
Info - Facebook has said that ALL info will transfer over and that includes page verification too - YAY
Likes - If someone ONLY LIKES your page but does not follow it, the likes will NOT transition to your new page. So if they have liked and then unfollowed, you will lose them as a 'like'. This isn't a bad thing as it gives an overinflated number of likes - if they have chosen to unfollow your page, it means they are not interested in your content.
Admins - Admins will have the same access when switching over however there will only be two types of admins. FULL AND PARTIAL.
Actionable insights and more relevant notifications. Not sure what this means exactly right now but it should be great if the whole thing is more meaningful.
Business Features eg Jobs, Appointments and Offers - It looks as though these are being removed according to the Meta article.
Reviews, Check - In's and Page Templates - Again it looks as though these may be going. It's not clear yet however, whether reviews will be replaced by something else or if they are being removed completely. I sense they may be going completely simply because of the headache of managing reviews and the difficulty around review validation.
What do I do now?
Have a read of the following article, direct from Meta itself...
If you have reviews, copy and paste or screenshot these, just in case they get removed.
If you have moved over, I would reconnect all existing platforms eg. Instagram, Streamyard etc.
And finally...
DON'T PANIC - Remember we have had changes like this before and it's simply a case of embracing the change and understanding that Facebook/Meta does this to improve their service not to make our life difficult.
Caveat - We are not Facebook/Meta and just like you, we are at the mercy of changes within the platform without notice. So while we have endeavoured to give up-to-date info, please do check directly with Facebook if you're not sure about something.
If you want any help and support with optimising your profiles with images, copy and more, schedule a discovery call with us and we can help you streamline your brand to help you get found and noticed