Instagram and its parent company Facebook have rolled out new features on Monday aimed to support small businesses. The new features are specifically intended for small businesses to cope with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. In the recent official blog post, Facebook said, “As many stores remain closed and social media serves as an online Main Street, the shift to doing business online is more urgent than ever.”
To drive traffic to these small businesses, Facebook has introduced a new section titled Businesses Nearby. This feature will help people see the latest posts from nearby businesses. As per TechCrunch, the geographic radius can be varied from 1 mile to 500 miles. So users will be able to connect with business up to 500 miles away from them. People can see timings, delivery options, make bookings, or send messages to the business. Facebook describes it as a more quick way to find essential products and services.
Tools to Support Small Businesses
Facebook-owned Instagram also started a “Support Small Business” sticker that users can use in their Insta Stories to tag their favorite small businesses. This way other Instagram users will also be able to see who is using the sticker. This will raise awareness and visibility for those businesses. On the other hand, Facebook on its platform introduced the hashtag #SupportSmallBusiness using which users can show their support for small businesses.
Changes to Messenger
The social networking giant is also making it possible for businesses to access their business page inbox through messenger. This means that business owners will be able to see messages sent to their business page, right through their personal messenger. This way businesses will be able to communicate with customers very easily without even having to enter the page. Facebook is also allowing businesses to tag all their COVID-19-related posts from the Page composer.
In addition to this, Facebook is also posting COVID-19-related information, tools, and tips for small businesses. On both the Facebook and Instagram apps, the features are already live.
