Facebook Testing New Self-Service Ad Features, Revamping Check-in Numbers

Facebook is running a small test that’s aimed at improving its Marketplace Ads self-service platform.

“We’ve heard from self-service advertisers that they want more guidance on how to optimize their campaigns based on their marketing goals,” Facebook rep Annie Ta told ClickZ News. “For example, some advertisers may want to get more app installs while others may be more interested in likes. As a result, we’re testing out a new design and set of features in the self-service ads creation tool.”

The key features running in the test, according to the Menlo Park, CA-based digital giant, include:

• Flexible targeting options. Advertisers will be able to employ both precise interests and broad category targeting in the same campaign. In the current Marketplace Ads iteration, brands must choose between the two options.
• Goals-driven ads automation. Marketers will be able to specify upfront the key campaign objectives, such as app installs or gaining likes/fans. The system will optimize their ads based on these goals, Facebook says.
• A simpler interface.

Ta added, “Our overall goal is to make setting up ad campaigns easier and more tailored to achieving specific marketing objectives on Facebook.”

Here’s a screenshot of the workflow displayed in the test:

Updates to Facebook Check-in Numbers

Meanwhile, Facebook has sent the following email to Facebook admins, alerting them that numbers on Pages will be updated “in the next few weeks”:

We are revising check-in numbers on Facebook Pages to give you a more accurate picture of how people are visiting your business. Among these changes, previously, if an individual checked into your business multiple times, each check-in was counted into your Page’s total check-in number.

Now, if someone checks into your business multiple times within a 12-hour period, that action will be counted as one unique check-in.

In addition, when people tag their friends at a location and upload a photo, those photo tags will be counted more holistically. For example, if 20 photos were uploaded to an album at a specific location, we’ll now count that as a single check-in. If Jessica checks into a location and tags five friends in the photo she uploads with her check-in, the total check-ins number will be six — Jessica plus her five friends.

This article was originally published on ClickZ.