Facebook continues to add features at a rate of knots, including lots of new features for businesses.
There are now 1.5 billion people in the world on Facebook and more than 50 million businesses using Facebook. Love it or hate it, if you have a business, you need to be using Facebook. So, what are the latest Facebook updates that are going to impact you and your business?
1. Updated Security Checks [Announced June 2017]
These updates happen all the time, but basically, Facebook is constantly doing its best to ensure your Facebook account and details are not hacked.
Facebook is extremely diligent in informing users as to when security checks have been updated. You have probably seen a popup on the top of your newsfeed letting you know that Facebook is more secure.
How will this impact your business?
Increased security is always good! However, it is important to never save your password into your web browsers to avoid having your information hacked.
Always remember to record your Facebook interactions in another location, such as Google Docs or Microsoft Word.
Read more: https://www.facebook.com/security/
2. Growing GIF Popularity [Announced June 2017]
In 2016, nearly 16 million gifs were sent in messenger! That’s near 25,000 every minute!
As of this month, you can now comment gifs on Facebook posts.
This allows you to seem more interactive in your Facebook feed if you are responding to comments on your posts with a gif.
How will this impact your business?
You could seem like you are a much more hip business by dropping the odd gif to people commenting on your page or via messenger. Of course be careful in your gif selection so as not to cause offence. Ok so dropping in gifs to your Facebook Business page communication won’t increase your profit margin, but hey, gifs are funny and who doesn’t need a laugh now then!
READ MORE: https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2017/06/celebrating-30-years-of-the-gif/
3. Facebook Spaces [Announced April 2017]
Virtual Reality (VR) has finally reached the world of Facebook!
Create a VR version of yourself on Facebook and virtually hang out with your friends! It’s like the game Sims but you can play it with your friends anywhere in the world!
What does this mean for your business?
Use Facebook Spaces to interact with clients in a way that is much more memorable than email! Consider how you could use this new technology in marketing campaigns and gain awards for marketing innovation.
However, it is not recommended to use Facebook Spaces or Facebook Messenger as the sole communication channel, especially if you are selling a product!
Always remember to direct your clients to your website for any transactions or questions.
FIND OUT MORE: https://www.facebook.com/spaces
4. Create a Fundraiser on Facebook without a Crowdfunding Campaign [Announced March 2017]
Raising money online has previously been the domain of crowdfunding platforms, with Facebook playing more of a support role in terms of being a platform you can market your fundraising campaign. The announcement of their suite of fundraising tools should help a lot of worthy causes to raise the funds they need to continue the great work they do.
What does this mean for your business?
With so many people on Facebook already, and the ability to target by interest, geo-location and bunches of other stuff should make it easier for people needing to raise money for a cause to get the word out and get donations in. It should also increase the profile of your organisation or cause as the massive Facebook community will be able to easily see the great work you are doing!
FIND OUT MORE: https://nonprofits.fb.com/topic/fundraising-tools/
5. Business Pages Inbox [Announced January 2017]
Between texts, emails, faxes (if you’re still using them) and social media notifications, it can be difficult to keep up who is communicating with you where. And even more importantly, it can be hard to make sure you’ve caught all business opportunities and responded appropriately.
Within the improved Business Page Manager app (downloadable from the App Store or Google Play), you are now able to manage all of your Facebook notifications, Messenger AND Instagram communications for your business page/s within a single inbox…talk about streamlined! Another notable Facebook Messenger update is that it is now available for Android phones.
How will this impact your business?
No need to swap between apps to manage your communications anymore. In short, makes your life easier, and helps you respond to people interacting with you on your business page/s on Facebook.
FIND OUT MORE: https://en-gb.facebook.com/business/news/pages-inbox-update
6. Facebook Live and Stories [Announced January 2017]
When Facebook Live was announced at the start of the year, it pretty much killed off a bunch of other live streaming platforms such as Periscope and Meerkat. Since then, in the words of Will Ferrell on the movie Old School ‘everybody’s doing it’.
Not only does ‘going Live’ on Facebook notify your followers that you are live, but, it also it provides an insight into your life or business that you otherwise probably would not share. It’s great way to get your business messages across and build yours or other team members profiles.
Facebook stories is another thing…it is only available on your phone and definitely resembles Instagram and Snapchat stories and is yet another way you could be sharing your business messages.
How will this impact your business?
Providing live video footage about your business on social media will allow your clients to ‘connect’ with you, drawing on the senses of both sight and sound, and thus instilling greater trust in your business. After all, people do business with people they know, like and trust.
Plus, the more you are active on Facebook, the more Facebook shares your posts with a wider audience. And from what we’ve seen, video + in particular Facebook Live tends to perform really well for businesses.
FIND OUT MORE: https://live.fb.com/about/
7. Updates to Trending Topics and News Feed [Announced January 2017]
Gone are the days when Facebook was fed from what was last posted!
New Facebook algorithms mean that recent posts are scattered throughout the news feed and popular posts are pushed to the top.
Trending topics are another new feature on Facebook, meaning that, like a live news feed, you are aware of what your Facebook friends or businesses you like on Facebook is displayed on the side of the screen for everyone to see.
What does this mean for your business?
Get liking pages and people you want to be affiliated with! The more you are active online the more people will see you online!
Make sure your posts are getting the maximum amount of likes, shares and impressions possible so they are pushed to the top of the news feed!
FIND OUT MORE: https://www.facebook.com/WhatsTrending
8. Dynamic Ads for Travel (DAT) [Announced May 2016]
If you’re in the travel or tourism space you’ll love this. Dynamic adverts for travel let you automatically show adverts to people on Facebook, Instagram and Audience Network who have previously demonstrated interest in visiting your website or mobile app. Whether someone has browsed hotels, but didn’t book, or bought a flight, but didn’t make a hotel reservation, Facebook dynamic adverts for travel let you target that person with relevant adverts based on the specific dates, destination and other details about the trip.
How will this impact your business?
Unless you are a travel related business, chances are DAT will not impact your business activity on Facebook. On your personal Facebook all it means is that you may be more inclined to travel more because you will be seeing more travel advertisements!
This new feature is great for all businesses that are travel related, such as luggage, hotels, flights and tours.
FIND OUT MORE: https://www.facebook.com/business/learn/facebook-create-ad-dynamic-ads-travel
Conclusion
Facebook continues to be an amazing tool to use in business, in more ways than you probably ever imagined.What Facebook updates are your favourite? Let The Creative Collective know in the comments!