Facebook has created a new way for businesses and developers to target ads to users who have taken an action on Facebook or in an app within a more specific time range.

Using the “action spec” targeting capability, which allows advertisers to reach users by the actions they take in Open Graph apps and on Facebook directly, an advertiser could designate a time range shorter than 14 days. The default is still 14 days, but previously there was no option to set a shorter window.

This change gives advertisers more accuracy in reaching the most relevant users for a particular message. For instance, a local business might want to reach users who checked into their store within the past week. A developer might want to target users who installed their app in the past three days. A page owner might want to retarget users who viewed one of their page tabs the day before.

Action spec targeting is still a beta feature limited to advertisers working with Preferred Marketing Developers with the Ads API, so it isn’t widely known or understood. However, the feature offers developers unique opportunities to reach users who have taken specific in-app actions, including in their competitor’s apps. It also gives brands ways to segment and target their fans by the actions they take on their page or a competitor’s page.

Action spec targeting is also interesting in that advertisers can define a “negative action spec,” meaning users who have not taken a particular action. For example, a developer could reach users who have played a game, but not made an in-app purchase in the last 10 days. Advertisers can also reach friends of users who have taken a particular action.

More technical information about action spec targeting, including targeting by app activity in a time range is available here. A list of Facebook actions that advertisers can target against using action specs is available here. Businesses that are interested in this type of targeting should seek out an ads-qualified PMD.

A recent update to Pages Manager for iOS has returned detailed post insights to the product after a version earlier this month was released without them.

Facebook released version 2.0 of its Pages Manager app for iOS in early May to make the app faster and include new features like photo filters. However, it did not include the same level of per-post analytics as previous versions. Page owners could see how many people they reached but when they tapped the area that used to lead to more information, they were instead directed to a screen where they could buy Promoted Posts. Now, the additional metrics have been brought back.

Users can tap the “reach” metric to be taken to a new screen with an additional breakdown of how much of that reach was organic, paid or viral. They can swipe left to see details about engaged users, post clicks, link clicks and stories created. Another swipe will present People Talking About This, likes, comments and shares for the given post.

Page owners can still promote their posts from the app by tapping the “promote” button. Another feature that Facebook removed from Pages Manager a few weeks ago, but hasn’t brought back yet is the option to create an Offer post. Admins have to create those from Facebook.com.

Facebook also made some bug fixes and performance updates in the latest version of Pages Manager released this week.

Digital promotions platform Ifeelgoods today announced that it has been named a Facebook Preferred Marketing Developer with an Apps badge.

The company offers customizable white-labeled Facebook apps that deliver digital rewards to customers. For example, a retailer could incentivize people to make a large purchase by giving them a $10 iTunes gift card in return. After the user completes a transaction, the Ifeelgoods integration will allow him or her to connect with Facebook and claim the gift card. Users will also be prompted to share back to Facebook or on Twitter. Ifeelgoods says 60 percent of customers do this.

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Atlas view tags can now be used to measure Facebook ads targeted to custom audiences, partner categories and lookalike audiences, the social network informed its largest advertisers this week.

Those targeting types are relatively new to Facebook and weren’t previously supported in the Atlas platform, which advertisers and agencies use to plan, manage, track and optimize their digital marketing. Facebook recently bought Atlas from Microsoft. Now, the tool will enable advertisers to track Facebook’s new ad types the same as any other. This gives advertisers better view-through measurement on their campaigns that take advantage of the social network’s latest capabilities.

Custom audiences allows advertisers to retarget consumers by email addresses, phone numbers or user IDs they already have from previous marketing or sales interactions. “Lookalike audiences” helps advertisers target users similar to those in their custom audience databases, using algorithms to identify audience segments with the same customer profiles. Partner categories are audience segments created by third-party data providers that U.S. advertisers can use for targeting via Power Editor or the API. These categories are informed with transactional data, survey information and other online or offline behaviors. Collectively, these represent tremendous new opportunities for advertisers to target Facebook users by first-party or third-party data.

The social network agreed to acquire Atlas from Microsoft in February. The deal closed at the end of April, and the Atlas team in Seattle is now officially part of Facebook. The company says it bought Atlas to improve measurement capabilities for advertising both on Facebook and across other digital platforms. Atlas says it is working to update its user interface to be more intuitive and effective, as well as create “unique differentiators under Facebook.”

Retargeting platform AdRoll announced today that it has added the option for advertisers to run self-serve Facebook Exchange retargeting ads in the News Feed. Facebook made this inventory available to Qualified DSPs, including AdRoll, earlier this month. Previously, AdRoll and other companies could only run FBX ads in the right hand sidebar of Facebook.com, but now they can bid on desktop News Feed placement. AdRoll says early tests show clickthrough rates in the single-digit percentages for News Feed, as opposed to fractions of percent in the sidebar. Unlike other retargeting ads, retargeted News Feed ads incorporate Facebook’s share, comment, and like functionalities, which leads to additional engagement and viral potential. An example of a News Feed FBX ad is below. AdRoll is actually running FBX ads retargeting visitors to its own site.

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Revitalized action series, “24,” tops this week’s list of top gaining tv show pages in the People Talking About This metric. Also among the top ten this week is reality series of former child actors, “Tia & Tamera” and upcoming “The Avengers” spin-off series, “Agents of the S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Of the top 10 pages, the top three are shows have yet to begin their season, while six have just aired their season finales last week.

This list of top gaining TV Show pages is compiled with PageData, which tracks page growth and engagement across Facebook.

#	Name	People Talking About		Weekly Growth
1	24	483,952		+474,978
2	Tia & Tamera	394,900		+258,790
3	Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.	261,039		+238,063
4	Grey’s Anatomy	1,083,155		+219,380
5	The Simpsons	532,328		+167,244
6	How I Met Your Mother	326,211		+155,120
7	Arrested Development	319,974		+125,860
8	Survivor	197,924		+110,691
9	Bones	134,922		+76,216
10	Family Guy	350,255		+75,586

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Facebook has a new “schedule gift” feature for its Gifts product, which allows users to buy something for a friend, but notify them at a later date. Previously, recipients would receive a notification immediately after the gift was purchased.

Now, when users get to the review page after selecting a gift and writing a card, there is a section where they can choose when to notify the recipient. The default is to notify the friend now, but users can also pick a day up to two weeks in advance. This option gives Facebook Gifts an additional convenience now that users can buy a birthday gift or something for another special occasion ahead of time, rather than having to complete the purchase the day of.

The social network used to offer scheduled gifts from its virtual Gift Shop in 2009, but it hadn’t brought the feature to its new Gifts product until now. The old Gift Shop was primarily a way to share virtual stickers on a friend’s Wall, until it was shut down in July 2010. The new Facebook Gifts, launched in September 2012, focuses on physical gifts, like food, wine, home goods and tchotchkes, as well as digital goods like gift cards and subscriptions to streaming services.

There is not a way to schedule the delivery of a gift for a particular day because Facebook Gifts asks the recipient for their address when they are first notified about the gift.

Facebook is testing a new way for page owners to create “unpublished posts” — those that intentionally do not appear to all fans of their page – directly from the composer on their page.

Unpublished posts do not appear on a page’s Timeline or in fans’ News Feeds, but they can be promoted with ads. This allows page owners to make posts that are tailored to a specific audience and ensure that they are only seen by that audience, not distributed to anyone who Likes the page. It also creates a way for advertisers to test different creative options for their page post ads without overwhelming their fans with multiple posts. Unpublished posts do not contribute to People Talking About This counts or appear in Page Insights.

Now page owners can make these kinds of posts directly from their page by clicking the clock icon used to schedule posts. After users select a year, a “hide from News Feed” option will appear. Checking that box will prevent the post from being distributed to fans’ feeds, though it will still appear on the page’s Timeline. Then a page could promote the post or use it as part of a page post ad in the mobile or desktop News Feed. Photo posts, link posts and video posts are eligible.
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Nimble

Social CRM company Nimble this today released a new version of its platform with more features for managing business contacts. A new “Today Screen” is an improved dashboard with a to-do list, milestones and key events among a user’s network. The “Signals Screen” gives users notifications from across their social networks, such as invitations, likes, shares and mentions. Nimble also made updates to its search feature and created a way for users to easily retrieve their last contacted connection. Nimble now connects with more than 100 other platforms so users can bring in all their contacts and audiences.

Crowdbabble

Toronto-based start-up Crowdbabble today announced its Real-Time Facebook Monitor, a tool for Facebook page admins to monitor their pages and keep track of competitors. Users can get real-time analytics or generate historical reports. It aims to help page owners understand when they should post and how often, along with how well their posts are performing and how they compare to others in the business.

References to hashtags in Facebook’s code suggest the social network could be working on bringing the feature — popular on Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr — to its own platform.

Developer Tom Waddington from Cut Out + Keep, who has discovered a number of unreleased Facebook features in the past, today pointed us to a mention of the word “hashtag” in Facebook’s Javascript SDK. He says this likely for an XFBML hashtag plugin, similar to the hashtag tracking widget Twitter offers developers and publishers.

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