Facebook has redesigned its mobile Pages with a set of features to better help companies in reaching more people.
With it, Facebook is giving more prominence to Recommendations, and also include Stories that can be viewed by tapping on the business Pages profile photo. Businesses can also feature information on their Pages, like hours of service or price ranges, and highlight things like Events and Offers.
"More than 80 million businesses rely on Facebook to maintain an online presence, communicate with customers and drive transactions," said Facebook announcing the update.
"Each week, two out of three people on Facebook visit a local business Page or an Event Page. That's why we're updating Pages and expanding Events and Jobs to make these connections simpler and more valuable."
The update includes the following features:
- Recommendations: Facebook is making it easier for people to recommend businesses by bringing Recommendations to their Page. With it, people can post a Recommendation for businesses including text, photos and tags directly on the Page.
- Actions: Introduces simplified and prominently featured suite of action buttons to do things like book an appointment for a haircut, order a pizza, send a message or write a Recommendation.
- Increased visibility of Stories: Page Stories offer a way to connect with customers and communicate new offerings. With the update, people can view business Story by tapping on the Page profile photo.
- Customized business information: Businesses can feature information such as hours, price range, Recommendations or a restaurant menu more prominently on their Page.
- Events: Facebook is making it easier for businesses to sell tickets for Events, directly on Facebook with ticketing integrations. Facebook is also helping businesses to promote their Events though Event Ads.
- Jobs: To help more local businesses hire people, Facebook expands Jobs to all people and businesses across the world.
According to Facebook, small to medium-sized businesses that have their own Pages on the platform, are reaching more than 1.6 billion people around the world.
With the update, Facebook is making it easier for its users to connect with small businesses they need on the social network. And besides the expansion of the jobs tool, the social media giant has also introduced a ‘Local’ section within its app, as well as a standalone Facebook Local app, for users to browse businesses near them, see most recommended places, and check what events their friends are attending, among other changes.
"These are more steps we’re taking to make connecting with local businesses easier on Facebook. Because when businesses succeed, communities thrive," said Alex Himel, VP of local at Facebook