Facebook is preparing for the busy pre-Christmas shopping period with the rollout of several new tools designed to make it easier for brands to manage marketing campaigns and communicate with customers.
A joint study by the social media giant, Facebook, and Ipsos found that 50% of shoppers in the US begin their holiday shopping in November or earlier. So brands can get a head start on competitors and serve consumers’ needs by getting their festive strategies in place early.
The first change will see an ‘instant replies’ functionality added to Facebook Messenger and sister site, Instagram, over the next few days so that brands can deliver timely, curated responses to emails out of working hours or when they are not available.
Facebook started that “staying on top of customer communications is important”, so it has “created new messaging tools like labels, search and folders to help businesses stay organized”.
There will also be a ‘saved replies’ feature added in the coming weeks so that businesses can respond to frequently asked questions in a pinch.
Next up, ‘customizable story templates’ can streamline any ad campaigns, which can be run alongside content marketing in the run-up to Christmas.
These new templates will enable vertical, full-screen assets to be crafted in quick time and then posted across Facebook and Instagram.
Facebook also shared a few “holiday-ready” tips for marketers last week, which included a recommendation for creating personalised content in the form of gift ideas and guides and “holiday specific visuals” from standard images of products or services.
