Christmas is now only a few weeks away, so if you don't have your holiday campaigns locked in, it's time to get moving.
Indeed, Facebook says that nearly half of shoppers start shopping for the holidays in November or earlier. If you're not mapping out your connection strategy, you're going to start missing out on opportunities very soon.
To help with this, Facebook has launched two new features which are designed to help businesses make the most of their holiday push.
The first element is a new set of customizable Stories templates for use across Facebook, Instagram and Messenger.
As you can see here, the new templates provide simple, visually effective Stories presentation options which brands can use to showcase their offerings.
And given the rising popularity of Stories, they'll no doubt prove popular. If you've been looking for a way to branch into Stories, these templates could be a good point to start from.
You can access the new Stories templates via Facebook Ads Manager - Facebook has provided a step-by-step overview here, but the key steps are:
Create your image ad at the Ads level,
Choose 'Select a placement to customize' then select Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories or Messenger Stories,
A pop up will open (you can also reach the pop up by choosing the Edit button above Ad Preview),
Choose 'Change Template' to choose a template. Preview your ad on the right.
There's a range of additional customization options to choose from within the creation flow, including background color, music and call to action effects.
That does, of course, mean that you need to use them within paid promotions, but you can also download them for re-use as organic stories.
Facebook does note that the feature is being rolled out gradually, so if you're not seeing it yet, you will soon.
Facebook's also looking to provide more ways for brands to shift into private messaging, this time via Instagram Direct.
Adding on to the capability to manage your Messenger and Instagram Direct messages from your Facebook Page, Facebook is also adding Instagram Direct functionality which will enable businesses to:
Add labels to contacts, including 'VIP' and 'New Customer' in order to provide more context about each.
Search through contacts to find what and who you're after faster.
Used saved replies in Direct to streamline responses for common queries.
Set up instant replies and away messages, which you can set to respond at different times.
Sort Direct messages into dedicated folders to better manage response .
More customers are looking to engage with brands via messaging, and messaging use is clearly rising on Instagram, as evident by the recent addition of its separate 'Threads' app. Worth noting too that Instagram is working on adding Direct capabilities to its desktop version, which could make it easier for brands to manage their messaging workflow, incorporating Instagram DMs.
Article adapted from Social Media Today - written by Andrew Hutchinson.
As one of the leading digital marketing agencies in Windhoek, Namibia, V5 Digital can help you craft your Social Media Strategy in time for the holiday and Christmas season.
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