On September 17, Facebook announced its plans to improve its current Business Manager application for small businesses. Introducing Facebook Business Suite; the complete toolkit for small businesses looking to thrive online in our new normal. 

As a champion for small businesses everywhere, H&C Inc. couldn’t wait to put this new platform to the test! Here is an inside look at Facebook’s latest one-stop shop for multi-platform management.

What is facebook business suite?

Facebook Business Suite is an all-new way of looking at your posting data, across Facebook and Instagram. From Messenger, to engagement and metrics, Facebook has definitely improved the user experience when it comes to managing a Business account.

Here’s how it works:

Step 1, link your accounts. Ensure that your business accounts on both Facebook and Instagram are linked. You may have completed this already, but if you’re unsure, check out Facebook’s super-easy tutorial.

Step 2, login. Login to business.facebook.com for desktop, or download the Pages Manager App on your Android or iOS device.

H&C Pro Tip: This app will be extremely useful when planning your next posts! 

Step 3, engage with your audience. Once inside the Business Suite, you’ll be able to effectively create, schedule and manage new posts, view critical alerts, engage with your followers - and our personal favourite tool - quickly respond to messages. 

Facebook has knocked it out of the park, by providing small businesses with the ability to set up personalized, saved replies, to answer common customer questions. This feature is great for:

• Saying “Hi” to someone after they first message you;
• Providing quick answers when someone asks for contact info or location details for your business;
• Automatically asking your customers for feedback.

Step 4, check out what’s working. Navigate over to the “Insights” tab to take a peek at your posting activity. Understand which posts are gaining the most reach, impressions and engagement, while learning more about your audiences at a glance.

By taking a more in-depth look at how your posts are performing, you’ll be able to optimize your efforts for both Facebook and Instagram.

Why Facebook Business Suite is important for small businesses

Earlier this year, Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg noted that “We’re trying to help businesses pay their employees but also shift their businesses online.” 

Designed and developed with small business owners in mind, they revealed that Facebook Business Suite ultimately hopes to improve the online experience for small businesses everywhere. In other words, it helps businesses find new ways to reach and sell to customers online, in light of the pandemic. 

While developing Facebook Business Suite, Facebook had researched the impact of Covid-19, to back up their earlier statement. With many North Americans working remotely and spending more time online as a whole, over 40% stated that they increased their social media use and used online messaging services for product recommendations.

Have you been reluctant to promote your business online, or find that you’re not using social media as effectively as you should be? Talk to us about making your social media an integral element of your growth, engagement and customer care strategies.

What's next for Facebook Business Suite?

Facebook Business Suite is currently only available for small businesses, and will continue to gradually roll out during the month of September. They also plan to include WhatsApp in its portfolio of connected social media platforms.

Eventually, a new & improved version of Facebook Business Suite will be available for businesses of all shapes and sizes, as Facebook continues to build out their toolkit in 2021.