With the rise of over 80 million small businesses, Facebook has become an essential tool for local advertisers, helping them connect with customers and expand their businesses. 1.6 billion people rely on Facebook to engage with small businesses, with most visiting their favorite businesses’ Pages weekly.
Via Search Engine Land While platforms like Google Ads offer tools for business growth, Facebook has a unique edge: it allows direct communication with potential and existing customers. Now, responding to user demand, Facebook is enhancing its local business features with several updates. Let’s explore these changes in detail.
1. Simplifying Customer Actions on Your Page
A fundamental principle of online marketing, whether designing a landing page or a website, is minimizing customer effort. The easier it is for them, the better. This principle holds true for your business Page. Recognizing this, Facebook is streamlining the process for Page visitors to take action. Regardless of your business—pizza, massages, or even a combination—you can enable conversions directly from your Page.
Via Facebook Facebook is particularly focused on businesses selling event tickets. Each month, 700 million users utilize Events to find local activities. To boost sales, Facebook now allows direct ticket sales on the platform, preventing the loss of potential customers who wouldn’t navigate from your Event to your website.
2. Turning Customers into Advocates
When seeking recommendations for products or services, people often turn to friends and family. Facebook leveraged this social influence with its Recommendations feature. Initially, users could express their need for recommendations in status updates. When friends offered suggestions, Facebook would populate the comments with relevant local business details like names, locations, and reviews.
Via Facebook This feature remains, and now, users can post detailed Recommendations, including text, images, and tags, directly on your Page. This allows your most satisfied customers to share positive testimonials visible to potential customers.
Via Facebook Rest assured, the platform prevents competitors from posting negative reviews on your Page.
3. Offering a Glimpse Behind the Scenes
As seen in recent trends, social media is shifting towards Stories. Over half a billion users on Facebook and Instagram combined utilize Stories for immersive visual updates. Stories offer an excellent avenue for businesses to provide Page visitors with a behind-the-scenes look at their operations. Consumers appreciate local businesses for their contribution to community spirit. You can enhance this connection by using Stories to cultivate a relatable, community-focused brand. Furthermore, Stories are incredibly user-friendly: visitors can access your brand’s Story simply by clicking on your Page profile image.
4. Enhancing Discoverability
This is particularly exciting. Mobile Facebook users have a dedicated “Local” section in the app. This section provides nearby consumers with comprehensive information about your business: location, hours, ratings, reviews, and friend recommendations. Users can click through to your Page for further details.
Via Facebook Additionally, there’s a dedicated Facebook Local app. Based on location, users can discover local businesses, upcoming events, places frequented by friends, and more. 5. Facebook Local Ads Leverage the store traffic objective in Facebook Ads to run targeted ads within your geographical area. This campaign type is generally easier to set up than others. Learn more: How to Advertise Your Local Business on Facebook As consumers increase their mobile usage, particularly on social media, it’s crucial for businesses to maintain an engaging and welcoming Facebook Page. By utilizing Actions, sharing Stories, encouraging Recommendations, and establishing a strong presence in the Local section and app, you position your business for success in today’s digitally driven market.