Facebook Fan Page Notifications

June 7, 2010 at 12:51 pm (Facebook, LinkedIn, marketing, Nutshell Mail, social networking, twitter)

I serve as the administrator and provide support for several Facebook Fan Pages, and a major complaint is that we DO NOT receive notifications when there’s a post to our Fan Page. 

 It’s a problem when we’re missing stuff!   We risk appearing unresponsive to our Fans. 

There are several user-generated discussions regarding the topic in the Facebook Forums.  See:  Facebook Page Notifications, and How do I get Notifications… , but no response from Facebook as of yet.

There have been some workarounds offered by users.  Check out this suggestion from Robert Holland, who recommends that you “Like” all your posts, and enable your personal setting so that you receive notifications from posts that you “Like.”  This works well, but it doesn’t alert you (the administrator) to new, original posts from Page visitors. 

I recently came across NutshellMail,  acquired last month (May 2010) by Constant Contact, which provides a great solution.  You can connect your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, (and MySpace), and NutshellMail brings a summary of your updates to your email inbox.  Nutshell offers other services, including Ning integrations and email newsletters (thanks to Constant Contact).

It’s important to mention that you can modify your settings at any time.  Such as:

• Decide which Messaging Accounts to include: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace;
• Decide when to receive your messages from Nutshell (I have a client who wants to respond within the hour to fan posts, so he’s opted to receive NutshellMail hourly during business hours.);
• You can customize the settings for each individual Messaging Account. NutshellMail will show you all your new activity from your Messaging Accounts, and allows you to select which items you want to see in your email updates; and
• You can Suspend or Cancel your account at any time.

When I created my NutshellMail account, I was initially a bit overwhelmed, because I was receiving my email summary several times daily, and it included EVERYTHING, both personal, and the Fan Page Posts that I was seeking.  Social Media is my job, but even I know that there is a Time-Suck risk, so I try to only open the applications when I need them.  These initial NutshellMail summaries were distracting. 

I changed my settings so that I only receive updates from the Fan Pages that I administer.  I receiving notifications from Fans who respond to my posts, who comment on other posts, or who posts original content to my Fan Pages. 

It can be embarrassing when you’re not aware that a Fan posted a positive or negative review on your Fan Page, or when a Fan walks in and says: “you didn’t answer my question that I posted a couple of weeks ago.”

It’s a dialogue, not a monologue, and I hope this solution helps you too.

Contact me for help with your Social Media Strategy.  joannestarks@gmail.com | @joannestarks