Facebook’s Business Pages are Getting a Major Update

Facebook pages are making a comeback!

Not that they’ve ever left; Facebook has just introduced some major changes that will allow marketers to connect better to their customers in a way never experienced before until now.

On Tuesday, Facebook announced that it’s planning to modernize pages for the mobile world and feature dedicated areas that will allow companies sell products and services as well as connect to customers directly from the social networking site.

The site will display two new sections on all pages: Shopping and Services, which companies can use to feature products and services directly on Facebook pages.

In addition to this, Facebook is adding a few more call-to-action button options that will sit prominently at the top of pages for people to click to call, message a business through Facebook, or fill out a form for more information.

According to Facebook, there are currently 45 million active Facebook pages. With these brand new additions to businesses’ pages, retailers can showcase products and companies can feature professional services such as plumbing and construction; companies also have an opportunity to reach people they want directly and easily through a mobile device.

Facebook plans on adding more sections to their pages over time, but the initial list is limited to shopping and services. Businesses that have set up e-commerce shops using Shopify software can port their product catalogs to Facebook and sell directly there.

The social network first began testing the Shopping and Services sections in July and has been testing the call-to-action buttons for sometime; they plan to add a “Donate” call-to-action button for non-profits soon.

“The new features for Pages reflect our belief that no matter if you’re a plumbing company, a flower shop, a non-profit or a brand, your Page should house the information people are looking for, help you communicate with your customers, and support your unique goals,” Facebook wrote in a statement.

The idea is to provide companies with several options to create a more customized page based on the type of business and company goals.

Private Messages and Saved Replies

Facebook used Tuesday’s big announcement as an opportunity to introduce some other features businesses on Facebook will be happy about. Facebook will be letting businesses use pages to reply privately and create a list of saved replies that could be used as templates when responding to people’s messages.