Not surprisingly, Facebook has made yet another change to their platform… this time, its to the layout and features of your Business page. You might have already received an email letting you know that the changes will automatically be implemented soon.

The layout changes are focused on the buttons at the top of the page, and the left-side tabs. Facebook claims the changes are intended to help both businesses and their customers by prioritizing important information and calls-to-action at the top of the page, and unlocking new features that may be relevant to your services/products. The good news is that you still have control over the customization of these elements, so you can cater the template to your preferences.

Here’s a breakdown of the template options and how they can actually help you :

• Standard– This template works for all page types and is the default option. It’s not as detailed as the other templates, but still provides all the basic information a customer needs.
• Services– If you provide multiple services, this template allows you to highlight and build them out, and the calls-to-action focus on getting customers to contact your business.
• Business– This template can help you manage your business by highlighting special offers and job postings.
• Venues– Specifically made for venues or event locations, this template focuses on your location, hours and upcoming events.
• Movies– This template highlights showtimes.
• Nonprofit– Nonprofits will significantly benefit from this template’s fundraising and donation features.
• Politician – This template fosters communication between a politician and their community by enouraging messaging and promoting their message.
• Restaurants & Cafes– Highlight your menu, hours, location, and photos of your culinary creations.
• Shopping– This is a good choice for businesses with e-commerce. You can showcase products and link them directly to shop those items on your website.
• Video page– If your business is focused on videography, this template does a nice job of presenting video content.

It is important to note that as Facebook makes strides (or takes baby steps) towards (insert air quotes here) advertising transparency,  all of the new templates feature a left-side tab called « Info and Ads » where everyone (including your competitors) can see your active ad campaigns.  Whether this is good for business or not remains to be seen, but we think the template options are a move in the right direction for those who felt that their business pages could use a little (air quote) tszuj-ing  https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tszuj

Slightly Mad is hard at work making the new changes work for our Synchronicity clients.  If you need a little help or guidance making these changes work for you give us a call at 800.279.2971 – training sessions start at $25/hour and ask us about our social media workshops, which can help your entire team get up to date on all the changes happening in the social landscape– tell them Beth sent you for a special discount.