Facebook to Test New Feature That Adds Businesses to US News Feeds, Aims to Help Small Businesses

Sieeka Khan, Tech Times 15 April 2021, 12:04 pm

Facebook announced that it will start testing a new experience for discovering businesses in its News Feed in the US.

Once the new feature goes live, users can tap on topics that they are interested in underneath posts and ads in their News Feed in order to explore related content from businesses.

Facebook's new business feature

The change comes at a time when Facebook and Apple has been arguing about Apple's App Tracking Transparency update that is predicted to affect small business customers.

However, the claim is said to be dismissed as misleading.

Nevertheless, it led some small businesses to express concern about the impacts to their ad targeting capabilities.

This new test from Facebook is an example of how easily the social media giant can tweak its News Feed to build out more data on its users, if needed.

Also Read: 5 Facebook Marketing Tips for Small Businesses

The company suggests that users may see the change under posts and ads from businesses selling fitness products, beauty products, clothes, and other things.

The idea is that Facebook would direct users to related businesses through a News Feed feature, when they take a specific action to discover related content. This could help Facebook create a new set of data on its users, in terms of which users clicked to see more, and what sort of businesses they engaged with.

Over time, Facebook could turn this feature into an ad unit where businesses could pay for higher placement if desired.

Facebook noted in a brief statement that people already discover businesses while scrolling through their News Feed, and this new feature will make it easier to discover and consider new businesses that they might not have found on their own.

Facebook did not detail its further plans with the test, but said as it learned from how users interacted with the feature, it will expand the experience to more people and businesses.

More assistance for business owners

Along with news of the test, Facebook stated that it will roll out more tools for business owners this month. This will include the ability to create, publish and schedule Stories to both Facebook and Instagram.

Business owners can also make changes and edits to Schedule Posts, and create and manage Facebook Photos and Albums from Facebook's Business Suite. It will also soon add the ability to create and save Facebook and Instagram posts as drafts from the Business Suite mobile app.

Related to the businesses updates, Facebook updated features across ad products focused on connecting businesses with customer leads. This includes Lead Ads, Call Ads, and Click to Messenger Lead Generations.

Earlier this year, Facebook announced a new Facebook Page experience that gave businesses the ability to chat with customers on the platform using their business profile.

Business owners can also post, comment and like using their profiles. Facebook also removed the Like button to focus on Followers on business pages, according to Tech Crunch.

Facebook is adjusting and updating its tools for small businesses at a time when there is concern regarding whether the platform could be less useful to small business owners in the near future, when ad targeting capabilities becomes less precise as users vote "no" when Facebook's iOS app asks if the platform can track them.