Facebook Adds Scheduling and Admin Roles

Happy June!  And with every new month comes new changes to the way we use Facebook for business.  On May 30, 2012, Facebook announced several changes to their business Pages, which will change the way we post to Facebook and the way we enable administrators of our pages.  Or, will it?  Let’s take a look at the two big changes: post scheduling and admin roles.
Post Scheduling
One of the most common tasks for any person managing or running a Facebook page is the ability to schedule posts to appear throughout the day and week.  This is so important, in fact, that a whole industry has been built around this one task.  Tools like HootSuite and TweetDeck make easy work of scheduling posts to appear on your timetable, not Facebook’s.  They provide a detailed calendar view of your post schedule for any of the accounts that you have linked to it.
And now, you can schedule your Facebook posts right within Facebook.  Just by clicking the little, grey “clock” icon in the lower right corner of the status box, you can schedule your post for anytime within the next 6 months.

But will you?  This is a great feature, and one that has been requested by many over the years.  But, it doesn’t go far enough.  In order for any scheduling of posts to be effective, there needs to be a calendar associated with it.  One of the best tools to help organize your activity on social networks is with a content calendar (I even wrote a post about it).  HootSuite and Tweetdeck offer that very thing (although only for posting to social media and not for content creation).  Facebook doesn’t.  Facebook has no mechanism for you to keep track of what has been scheduled (although it is listed in your activity log, which is found by going to “Manage” in your admin panel).  However, through Facebook, you are unable to edit your scheduled posts, and can only schedule posts every 10 minutes.  Both Hootsuite and Tweetdeck allow you to edit and change posts once scheduled.
Overall, this method is not very user friendly, and not something I’m giving up my Pro membership to HootSuite for.
Admin Roles
Until today, any Facebook Page admin was able to do anything they wanted to the page – post content, monitor conversations, create ads, view analytics, add and edit apps, and delete posts.
But no more.  Now, we are in control of who has access to each of these tasks.  Facebook has created five new levels of page admins, from Manager, who retains complete control over all aspects of the Facebook page (exactly the same as before) to Insights Analyst, who only has access to view Insights for their page.
Check out this handy chart for the different levels of permissions now available.

The five different levels of ability now granted to admins provides a safety net for companies unwilling to give over complete control of their Page to someone new to social media, or an outside vendor.
What do you think of these two new changes?  Will you use Facebook’s new scheduling option?  Are you giving up on HootSuite or Tweetdeck?
Will you change the access your admins have?
Author:
Craig E. Yaris is the owner of EsquireTech Solutions, which helps small business get found on the social web, whether through Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, he can both teach you the effective use of any social network or act as your social media manager, enabling you to reach your clients where they are and when they want to hear from you.  He can teach your organization the social media best practices that can help you use the tools of today to cost-effectively increase your bottom line.  EsquireTech Solutions brings the social web to your business.  Visit EsquireTech Solutions or call 516-495-9107.
Sources:

• Facebook Adds Five Levels of Page Administrators
• Facebook Help Center – Page Admins
• Facebook Finally Lets Page Admins Schedule Posts, Have Different Roles
• Facebook Help Center – Post Scheduling
• At Last! Facebook Allows Pages to Schedule Posts, Assign Admin Roles