Facebook Graph Search, what does it mean for you?
For many, Graph Search is just a prettier looking bar at the top of their Facebook page with more tailored and personal results.
For online marketers, Facebook Graph Search is surprisingly useful in many ways. For your business or brand it’s an essential tool to hone in on your audience’s interests and competitors as it provides real and instant targeting data to inform your social media content and advertising efforts.
Before you just dive into the vast abyss that is Facebook Graph Search, let’s wade in the shallow end, put on our goggles and suit up with these helpful Facebook Graph Search guidelines:
Facebook Graph Search’s Search Functions
Although Facebook allows users to search directly on the web, we can search for the following things on Facebook too and even filter out things, such as time or my favorite, search only a given user’s Newsfeed.
- People
- Pages
- Places (location and distance)
- Check-ins of the user, friends, or where user or friends have been tagged
- Posts with location information. (The returned search results will be those where the user or friends have been tagged, or they are posts created by the user or friends.)
Facebook Graph Search: For Business Use
If you are the owner of a business Page, undoubtedly you are spending some time thinking about your audience.
Who are they? What do they like? What are their friends like? Do they think my business, product or service is cool or useful?
Previously, you would have had to do some major (perhaps expensive) market research. Maybe you’re DIYing it and hanging out at places you think your target customer hangs out at. Maybe you’re just guessing or assuming.
Well, stereotype no more business owners and marketers. Facebook’s Graph Search is a free tool to conduct your market research. Want to know what brands the friends of your Followers are into? Ask Graph Search. How about where Males aged 35-65 who live in New Orleans like to vacation? Graph Search knows. Graph Search knows all.
Graph Search is a window into the publicly available lives of your community, their friends and your competitors on Facebook. You have the ability to see exactly what the habits and behaviors are of your current audience as well as your desired audience.
Join groups that friends of your Fans Like to gain access to those Fans. Post content that is influenced by or gleaned from sources you know your audience already enjoys. Using the information Graph Search provides, you can tailor your Page’s content to boost your engagement as well as growth.
Facebook Graph Search and Ads
Graph Search is not just useful for developing successful content. It’s also a wonder for running targeted Ads.
Once you know who your audience is, exactly what they like on Facebook, and furthermore, who their friends are, you can choose the demographics of your Ads to fit that audience.
Are you trying to reach more married people but your current demographic is teens? Searching “Pages liked by married people who live in New Orleans” will tell you they like Drew Brees, Company Burger, and WWOZ (hey, me too!).
Knowing that tells you to target your Ads towards not only “married people” but people who are interested in “Football (American),” “Frequent Casual Diner,” and “Music (All).”
Facebook Graph Search: For Personal Use
For personal use this tool gets a little creepier. For example, one could type “My friends who like Ashley Madison” to see which of your buddies like the (apparently popular?) cheating-support website. Awkward! Granted, people had to input this information to be specifically available online so it’s not like you’re snooping through someone’s diary.
However, it can be useful in a non-creepy way, too! Are you tired of the music you’re listening to right now? See what music your friends like, what their friends like, or what their friends’ parents like, because why not!? Parents are cool, too.
Find out what Thai food places people your age living in the city you’re going to visit for vacation like, and what nightclubs they hit up after.
There are so many applications of Graph Search which can be very helpful, and not weird. Which brings us to…
How do I protect myself from prying eyes?
Firstly, make sure your privacy settings are up-to-date and correct.
Facebook is forever changing the privacy settings, sometimes without warning, and if you haven’t looked at them in a while they could be wildly different from how you originally set them (if you haven’t changed them since around 2009, you’re in for a real treat.)
Next, make sure the things, posts, and Pages you’ve Liked on Facebook are not embarrassing or potentially damaging. If you’re looking for a job, maybe refrain from Liking rude or obscene pages (duh?).
With that said, it’s not necessarily a bad thing for brands to be able to decipher your interests. This will allow them to provide you with information and new products that you actually want and care about.
At the end of the day, just be wise about the information you choose to provide online – which, really, you should have been doing anyway.
Happy Graph Searching!