Sophie Blake
Facebook announced Thursday that it is launching and testing new tools and features to help businesses deliver more personalized user experiences without targeted ads.
The announcement comes weeks after the social media giant announced that it would rebuild its ad businesses to minimize data collection with privacy enhancing technologies (PETs), as a result of Apple’s controversial privacy update which brought along radical changes to the advertising industry.
Although Facebook has been one of the most vocal companies against Apple’s App Tracking Transparency framework, which came into effect this April and now requires devs to get user consent to track their data to show personalized ads, Apple has been very determined to implement the privacy update, making it indispensable for companies in the ad world to take a more privacy-focused path.
The new tools and features the social media giant introduced are part of its efforts to adapt to the changing dynamics of the industry. Now, let’s take a look at what they are.
Facebook already allows businesses to buy ads that encourage users to send them messages via Messenger, Instagram DM and WhatsApp. The company announced that businesses will now be able to choose all the platforms they use to communicate with customers, and it will default the platform in their ads based on where a conversation is most likely to take place.
Instagram has quickly become a must for businesses of all sizes to market their services and products and reach their target audiences. While it serves more like a virtual storefront, WhatsApp is the counter to discuss products and complete sales, according to Facebook.
To help Instagram users contact sellers in WhatsApp more quickly, Facebook announced that businesses will now be able to add a WhatsApp click-to-chat button to their IG profiles. In addition, it will soon launch the ability to run Instagram ads that will direct users to WhatsApp.
The company also announced new features to help businesses with lead generation and customer acquisition. It said it’s now testing a new tool which will allow businesses to ask Facebook users to complete a short questionnaire to request a quote from them.
The company also introduced new updates to its Facebook Business Suite, including the ability to manage emails through Inbox, send remarketing emails, create, manage & share posts using the new File Manager, and run A&B tests to find out which version of a post performs the best.
In addition, ‘Work Accounts’ will soon allow business owners to log in Business Manager without having to use their personal account. Facebook is currently testing the feature with select businesses and plans to launch it globally in 2022.
Earlier in April, Facebook started testing a new feature in the United States that helps users discover topics and explore businesses under the posts they interact with in their News Feed. For example, when you see a post of a restaurant, a section pops up at the bottom of the post listing other restaurants you might be interested in.
The company announced that it will soon expand the feature, named ‘Facebook Business Explore’ to more users in the US and launch it in more markets including Australia, Canada, Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
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