Facebook has made some big changes to business Pages in order to better support small and local businesses.
Over 80 million businesses use Facebook Pages, with more than 1.6 billion people around the world are connected to them. And each week, two out of three people on Facebook visit a local business Page or an Event Page.
So it’s clear that business Pages are an incredibly important part of the Facebook ecosystem. However, as Page reach and engagement continues to dip for brands, Facebook has made some updates to help deliver value to businesses through Pages beyond just News Feed distribution.
Let’s dive in.
How Facebook is updating pages to battle declining reach and engagement
For years, Pages were essentially hubs for content that businesses wanted to distribute to the News Feed.
Now, though, as most content from Pages struggles to gain any traction in the News Feed, Facebook has taken steps to create additional value for business Pages by making it easier for people to interact with businesses and find the information they need the most.
Essentially, the Facebook Page is becoming more like a website for your business — a destination people will come to when they want information, or even make a purchase or booking, as well as a place to engage with great content.
Here are some more details on the updates…
Recommendations
Recommendations and reviews on sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor have become incredibly important to local businesses.
And when it comes to finding a spot to eat, drink or hiring a service like a plumber or a hairdresser, people often look for the recommendations of others — especially their friends and families.
With this update, Facebook has made it easier for people to recommend your business by bringing Recommendations to your Page. As shared by Facebook:
People will now be able to post a Recommendation for your business including text, photos and tags directly on your Page. And Recommendations will also help you reach people while they’re searching for or talking about your business.
Actions
A suite of action buttons are now featured prominently near the top of Pages. These buttons enable people to take actions like book an appointment for a haircut, order a pizza, send a message or write a Recommendation.
To make the most of this update, you can head over to your Facebook Page settings and choose the action buttons that are best suited to your business.
Business information
Businesses can now feature information such as hours, prices, Recommendations or a restaurant menu more prominently on Pages. Service businesses can also choose to highlight new content such as events and offers.
More visibility for stories
Since launching stories in 2017, Facebook has been experimenting with ways to make it easier for people to engage with your story and with this update, people can view your business story by tapping on the Page profile photo.
Events ticket sales
700 million people use Facebook Events each month and now businesses will be able to sell tickets directly through Facebook Pages. Facebook is also creating event-specific ads to help with promotion and marketing.
Job listings
Facebook began testing job listings on Pages back in 2017 and has now said that Jobs will be expanding to businesses across the world “in the next few months.”
Opinion: Reviews and customer support will be critical for Facebook success
Facebook continues to grow and evolve in tremendous ways, and as businesses or brands, our marketing strategies need to change with it if we want to continue to thrive on the platform.
The recent changes discussed above have huge implications for Pages moving forward. Businesses (particularly small and local businesses) should begin to think of Facebook as they would other platforms such as Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and more. Doing things such as keeping business hours up to date, completing profile information completely (location, description, contact information etc), listing prices, menus, and other pieces of information are critical for discoverability on Facebook. Business reviews and prompt customer support will also be a major factor in the success of Pages.
We recommend dedicated resources to ensuring that all customer inquiries via direct message, Messenger, or comment, are handled in a timely manner and that you care actively cultivating positive reviews for your business. This will help to actively surface your Page across Facebook when users are searching for services or answers to their questions.
Brian Peters
Digital Marketing Strategist
Over to you
What do you think about these latest Page updates from Facebook? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.