Social Management Feature

Social Management is a feature that allows you to manage and publish social posts directly from the Marqii dashboard to individual platforms such as Facebook, Google, Apple, and Instagram.

• In this article, we’ll focus specifically on Apple Showcase Posting.

Social Management Roles

The roles below will be able to access the Social Management features:

• Full Control - Not limited

• Location Managers - Can manage which pages can be published to and publish posts. Cannot manage publisher connections. 

• Social Manager (New) - Can manage which pages can be published to and publish posts. Cannot manage publisher connections.

• Social Contributor (New) - Can save post drafts. Cannot publish posts, manage which pages can be published to, or manage publisher connections.

Delegating Apple Business Connect

Apple Business Connect location profiles need to be delegated to Marqii in order to publish Posts from Marqii to Apple.
 

Follow the steps HERE to delegate your Apple Business profile location to Marqii.

• Once your location(s) have been delegated to Marqii in Apple Business Connect, please email us at support@marqii.com to let us know. This will allow our support team to complete the connection on the back-end and ensure your Apple listing is fully integrated with Marqii.

Creating Apple Showcases

Once the Apple Business Connect location(s) have been delegated to Marqii, and support has completed the back-end connection, you’ll be able to create a post.

Follow the steps below:

• Under the "Social Management" section on the Marqii Dashboard, a blank page will appear with two buttons "Manage Accounts" and "Create Post."

•  Click on the "Create Post" button. A blank page will appear with four buttons either Facebook, Google, Apple, or Manage Accounts. Select "Apple" to be taken to the "Create Showcase" screen.
   

• From here, you will be able to create your Showcase with the specific "Call to Action" 
   

Marqii Requirements:

• Post Name - This is the internal name for the post within Marqii. It is required to save Apple Showcase drafts. The content in this field will not be visible on live posts. There is a 250 maximum character limit.
   

Apple Requirements:

• Media - The image that corresponds to the update post. There is a 1 image limit, image must be JPG or PNG, with a 1:1 aspect ratio, a minimum 492 x 492 pixels, and a maximum 4864 x 4864 pixels.
   

• Headline - The short, attention-grabbing text that appears at the top of a Showcase post. It serves as the title or lead-in for the content you're promoting, such as a special offer, event, or update. There is a 38 maximum character limit.
   

• Body - The main text section that provides details about the promotion, offer, event, or update you're highlighting on the showcase. There is a 100 maximum character limit.
   

• Location - The specific business listing(s) where you want the Showcase to be published.
   

• Call To Action (CTA) - A clickable button that appears on the Showcase to prompt customers to take a specific action.

Note: For more information on Apple Business Connect's Photo & Content Standards, please click HERE

• "Publish your showcase to" refers to the location(s) where you would like the Showcase to appear. You can select more than one location at a time. Each location will have its own "Call to Actions." Click on "Choose Location"
   

•  One or multiple locations can be selected for the Showcase. Select the location(s) from the drop-down menu, then click "Save"

•   After your location(s) have been chosen, you can choose the appropriate CTA from the drop-down menu. Click on "Add Action" and select the option you would like to use. 

Note: Call to Action (CTA) options may vary by location. The CTAs available for a specific location are
determined by the location’s details and settings within your Apple Business Connect (ABC) account.

Note: You can assign a different CTA for each location within the same Showcase. However, there is a maximum of one CTA allowed per location.

•  What do you want to do? You can either schedule for later, or save as a draft if you're still awaiting more information.

Scheduling an Apple Showcase

To Schedule a Showcase: 

• Make sure all the required fields to schedule are filled out. Note that Apple Showcases have a 38 maximum character limit for the headline text, a 100 maximum character limit for the body text, and 1 image limit, image must be JPG or PNG, with a 1:1 aspect ratio, a minimum 492 x 492 pixels, and a maximum 4864 x 4864 pixels for the media. A minimum of 1 location must be assigned and a CTA must be selected from the "Add Action" drop-down for each location.
   
• Once your Showcase is ready to be scheduled, click on the "Start Date" field to select the first day the Showcase will go live.

Note: Apple may take up to 3 days to approve a Showcase. As a result, Showcases must be scheduled at least 3 days in advance of the intended start date.
 

•  Once the start date has been selected, click on the "End Date" field to select the last day the Showcase will be live.

Note: Showcases can be scheduled to expire up to 365 days after their start date. The minimum duration for a showcase is 24 hours. 
 

•  Once the Start and End Dates have been selected, click on "Save & Schedule"

Note: Once the Showcase has been scheduled, edits can no longer be made through the Marqii Dashboard. Any Showcase edits can be made directly on Apple Business Connect. 
 

Note:  Each location can have only one active Apple Showcase at a time. To schedule a new showcase, the current one must either expire or be removed. 
 

 

Scheduled Posts can be found under the "Scheduled" tab within the Social Management section.

Note: The scheduled post date is based on your browser's local time. This may vary for individuals in different time zones, as it is solely determined by the time set in their browser. Showcases begin at 12:00 AM on the start date and end at 11:59 PM on the end date.

Saving Drafts for Apple Showcases

Saving a Draft:

• If the post is not ready to be published, select "Save as a Draft." The only requirement to save a draft is to fill
  out the "Post Name" field. Scroll down to the bottom and select "Save as a Draft" there will be a "Save Draft"
  button.

• Saved drafts will appear on the "Drafts" tab and can be edited or deleted by clicking the 3 dots on the right of the draft.

Apple Showcases With A Failed Status 

If an Apple Showcase displays a "Failed" status, you can click on the showcase to view more details about the status and how to troubleshoot it. 
 

• In this instance, another Showcase is already scheduled for the same date. To comply with Apple’s rules, you can either delete the existing Showcase or recreate the failed Showcase and schedule it for a different date.

• To delete a failed showcase from the scheduled posts table, you can click on the 3 dots next to the failed showcase, and then click "Delete".

• To delete a failed showcase from the published posts table, you can click on the 3 dots next to the failed showcase, and then click "Delete".

• You can also delete a showcase from the post view drawer. Simply click on the post to open the drawer and then click the delete button. 

• You can also bulk delete multiple failed posts at once. To do this, go to the Published or Scheduled post tables, click the 3 dots next to the failed showcase, and select "Delete all failed"

Viewing Your Live Place Card

You can view your live Apple Place Card to see your currently active showcase.
 

• Go to the "Published" tab under the "Social Management" section, select the published showcase, and click on "View live place card"
   

• Clicking on "View live place card" will take you to your location’s listing on Apple Maps.

Note: Locations can only have one active showcase at a time. You may see a different showcase than the one you selected, or none at all if the most recent showcase for your location has already expired.

Conclusion to Apple Showcases

Apple Showcases streamlines the social management process into one dashboard for more convenience, allowing for easier drafting and scheduling of posts all in one place.

If you need any further assistance, feel free to contact support at support@marqii.com or 1 888-597-2939.