Facebook has just rolled out it’s new look for Business Pages and we’re here for it.
Facebook is in the process of rolling out new templates for its business pages with the aim of increasing connectivity between the more than 80 million small businesses that rely on Facebook and their legions of online fans. Facebook’s overall goal is to streamline customer experiences when interacting with Facebook business pages while simultaneously making these interactions more valuable for businesses. From a business owner’s perspective, there are six important dimensions to be aware of when it comes to the new templates: recommendations, actions, visibility of your story, customized business information, events and jobs.
To begin, recommendations allow for a new type of interaction between businesses and users. They are similar to a traditional review but bring added value by allowing your fans to tag the services they appreciate most from your business. So, while people can recommend your business to others by simply answering “yes” or “no,” they can also add depth to their recommendations by tagging areas where they think you’re the best. For example, if people think your restaurant has fantastic desserts, they can tag their recommendation with ‘desserts,’ and the data will lead other users looking for the best desserts in town to your business!
Next, the new templates include a revamped suite of action buttons that appear at the top of your business page directly underneath your banner image. When selecting your new template, choose the category that most accurately describes your business: Standard, Restaurants & Cafes, Shopping, Business, Venues, Movies, Nonprofit, Politicians, Services, and Video Pages. The template you choose will add a set of simplified action buttons that customers can click on to do things like get directions, book appointments, send messages, write recommendations, or donate to a cause. This dimension of Facebook’s new templates will make it easier for your fans to quickly interact with your page. Pages have had a prominent CTA (Call to Action) button available for some time, but the new options expand on this, making it easier for users to take more specific actions direct from the page’s feed.
Facebook also is expanding the visibility of page stories. Pages have had the ability to create Facebook stories since late last year, but now, users will be able to view your page story simply by tapping on your page’s profile photo. Stories can be an effective way to communicate brand identity, as well as to promote new offers and services.