5 recent Facebook updates everyone should know about

Facebook updates provoke a huge spectrum of emotion, from delight to rage, but you have to give them one thing- they’re always regular. Facebook has made a point of keeping its interface fresh, and introducing new features, with regularity, and it’s a key part of what has kept the social media platform a staple in people’s minds. Today Zebra 360 Digital Marketing takes a closer look at recent Facebook changes every social media guru should know about- and how they will affect your business.

Shops now offers a discount feature
Let’s face it- 2020 hasn’t been a great one for commerce. The great news for those using Facebook Shops is that you can now add juicy discounts to your products. As buyers ‘tour’ your digital storefront, you’ll be able to entice them to buy with attractive offers.

The update is an interesting one, for sure. Not only can you put individual items on sale, you’ll be able to accommodate promo codes and even offer certain qualifying baskets automatic discounts. You’ll also be able to fly the flag high and proclaim your new discounts with a banner.

Unfortunately for us, it’s only rolled out in the U.S.A for the minute, but it’s sure to hit South African shores soon.

Facebook Messanger’s API integrated with Instagram
This probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise- but it will be a welcome relief to many businesses. You can now integrate Instagram messaging with several other apps, allowing you to work smarter, not harder. You can also bring in Facebook Shops messaging, if you wish.

With this new innovation in place, you can centralise what’s being sent to you from Stories, Insta-profiles, Shops and Facebook itself. The updated API to do this is still in Beta, so they’re only allowing a handful of business partners to try it out, but the early results are fantastic. You’ll have the chance to respond faster, resolve issues quicker and learn more about your audience. There’s a waitlist you can get on if you’re keen to hop on board.

Time to collaborate and listen
What’s better than bringing people together? Making sure your brand gets a profile boost by being the brand that supports them in unity! Facebook’s keen to expand its Brand Collabs Manager to do exactly this. The idea is for Facebook to connect willing brands with communities that could be looking for their services.

Brand Collabs has been around since 2018, but it’s mainly been focused on hooking up creators and public figures for paid product placement. This new development will allow public group admins the chance to earn money with branded content- though paid posts will still have to be labelled as such, under Facebook’s terms.

Facebook Forecast takes its first tentative steps
While this is currently only deploying in Canada and the U.S, it’s too interesting a feature not to mention. Looked at one way, Facebook is basically telling us it can predict the future!

Forecast is a ‘crowd-sourced prediction program’, and intended to run something like a mini stock market. People will use virtual points to trade against future outcomes. It’s supposed to foster conversation, but we can’t help but be a little pessimistic of that- this is the internet, after all!

While it’s currently aimed away from the business market, we’re fairly certain this will soon be changed to a more business-focused aim, and it’s probably worth keeping this one in the back of your mind.

Oversight Board is introduced
This one is a pretty major development across both social and business aspects of the platform. It’s a ‘real people’ board introduced to act as an’ appeals court’ for content you feel has been unfairly removed.  Anyone who’s been unfairly whacked by the sometimes arbitrary Facebook algorithms will be glad to hear there’s finally a chance to get actual humans to evaluate their content, but don’t expect to be able to access them quickly. You’ll need to make your way through all the other appeals options you have before you’ll be offered the chance.

Once you’ve done it, though, your support inbox will offer you an Oversight Board Reference ID you can take to the website and include with your statement. Will this shape up the sometimes controversial Facebook content decisions? Only time will tell

These 5 exciting updates to Facebook should be on every savvy marketer’s radar. From added utility to greater growth, they’re helping to keep the platform vibrant as well as deliver better results for business customers. Keen to join in on the action? The Zeba 360 Digital Marketing team is always on hand to help you make your social media marketing dreams come true.