Each year Facebook has it’s F8 conference for developers. It’s a week long event similar to Google’s I/O and Apple’s WWDC events. It’s about announcing new things and helping developers use the platform better! This year there are a few changes specficially affecting small businesses.
Messenger
The first thing coming to Messenger for Business is that you can now have
If you aren’t using any third party apps for your customer service, now Facebook is putting out apps for the desktop. This will be available on both MacOS and Windows systems.
Facebook’s main page is getting a total redesign. Gone is the blue bar at the top ad they are going to focus on groups and also stories. Stories haven’t really caught on with the public on Facebook as it has on Instagram. The redesign is a clean fresh look. I don’t know how this is going to affect pages as of yet.
Groups are becoming more important on the platform. This redesign will put them front and center. If you don’t have a group you may think of getting one. Some things they are doing are:
- Redesigning group tabs to make discovery easier
- Making it easier to participate in groups
- New features to support specific communities. (i.e. job groups, health groups and etc.)
Later this summer they are releasing a new events tab that will help users find a local event. This is great for smaller business hosting events at their stores.
The first big thing coming is the ability to directly by from the feeds of influencers. If you work with any this could definitely help your business. Currently businesses can tag their products but not check out in the app.
One that may or may not affect you is the camera is being redesigned in the app. There will be a new “Create Mode, which gives you an easy way to share without a photo or video. This new camera will make it easier to use popular creative tools like effects and interactive stickers, so you can express”
These are all the ones that I feel will affect smaller business. You can see all the changes on the Facebook Newsroom page!
