We are excited to announce the release of the unpublished post filter in the Social Marketing Calendar. This feature is replacing the “dark post” filter, and has the added benefit of distinguishing between unpublished posts that have been automatically and manually created.
With the unpublished post filter, you will now be able to filter out and identify unpublished posts that have been automatically created by Facebook.
At the time of release, all auto-created items will be hidden, these items were previously included by default. If you would like to have them show on the calendar, you are able to check the “auto-created” box under “include unpublished posts.”
What is an Unpublished Post?
An unpublished post (also known as a dark post) is a method of sending content to the social networks without requiring it to be visible to everyone. This makes it ideal for targeted ads that are pushed directly into users' feeds.
Note that unpublished posts are sometimes referred to as “dark posts,” “dark content,” or “dark ads,” but dark is a term that is used inconsistently in the industry so we will avoid using it when possible in favor of the clearer term “unpublished.”
What is the difference between manually-created and auto-created?
Manually-created unpublished posts are those that are explicitly created by a user in the Khoros Social Marketing tool or on Facebook. Whereas, auto-created unpublished posts are made by Facebook in connection to certain types of ads. These are also known as ad relatives.
Examples of auto-created posts:
- Posts that are created as a by-product of Instant Experience Ads
- Posts that are created as a by-product of Dynamic Ads
- Posts that are named {{product.brand}}
When would I use this?
Facebook may create multiple copies of ads or copies of scheduled ads that have not gone out yet, creating a skewed view. This will help eliminate the noise of identical auto-imported posts on user’s calendars.
It is important to note that this filter is not available in analytics. One way to filter these posts out of your marketing dashboard is to bulk apply an “auto-created” label to the post. From there you can navigate to your dashboard and filter out the “auto-created” posts.
Filter options:
The unpublished posts filter gives users three different options to filter by: include unpublished posts, exclude unpublished posts, and show unpublished posts only.
Include unpublished posts:
Include unpublished posts: manually created
- This is the default option. When clicking on this option you will see your manually created unpublished posts along with other content. This option excludes any automatically created unpublished posts (the posts that Facebook automatically creates when an ad is created).
Include unpublished posts: auto-created
- This includes the automatically created unpublished posts along with published posts. When selecting this option, all manually-created unpublished posts will be excluded.
Include unpublished posts: manually created and automatically created.
- When selecting this option, you are asking to show both manually and auto-created unpublished posts along with published posts.
Exclude unpublished posts:
This option removes both manually and auto-created unpublished posts. In other words, by selecting this filter you are choosing to only show published posts.
Show unpublished posts only:
Show unpublished posts only: manually created.
- This is the default option when selecting the filter. This option will ONLY show you your unpublished manually created posts. It will exclude published posts along with auto-created posts created by Facebook.
Show unpublished posts only: auto-created.
- By selecting this option, you are asking to only see unpublished posts that have been automatically created by Facebook. It will exclude published posts along with manually created posts. These are the auto-created posts that are made by Facebook when an ad is created. They are also known as “ad relatives.”
Show unpublished posts only: manually created and automatically created.
- By selecting this option you are asking to only see unpublished posts that have been manually and automatically created. It will exclude all published posts.
Looking for help or need more information?
Sign up for a Product Coaching session to learn more about unpublished posts and Ads in the Calendar.
Thank you!
Your Social Marketing Ads Team
