Announced yesterday, Facebook has made numerous updates to its Pages, Events and Jobs platforms, all intended to help connect local businesses with customers and cultivate better relationships. The updates include visual redesigns and new additions, as well as tweaks and improvements to current tools.
With over 80 million small businesses utilizing Facebook’s free tools, the company has continuously made strides to help such businesses expand their online portfolios and engage in more personal interactions with their customers.
According to Facebook, 1 in 3 users utilize the platform to look for recommendations and reviews. To meet those needs, the company converted its legacy reviews and star ratings to Recommendations on a Page. Here, users can designate whether or not they would recommend a business to others and expand on that recommendation with text and photos.
The company also updated its Page design by adding a series of action buttons that will allow customers to complete various tasks, such as booking appointments, making reservations or viewing photos and upcoming events. Additionally, Page Stories — which provide consumers with a unique outlook of a business and the components that make it unique — can now be viewed easily by clicking a Page’s profile photo.
Other additions include the ability to purchase tickets to an event directly from an Events Page with ticketing integrations and a “Local” section within the Facebook app that highlights surrounding businesses, as well as which places are most recommended. The company also plans to expand its job application tool to people all over the world.
