Meta has announced a raft of new measures that are designed to improve how small businesses interact with customers, identify leads and close deals.

According to its own data, 71% of people want to interact with companies in the same way they talk to their friends. Luckily for Meta, it owns several high-profile messaging platforms, including WhatsApp.

An easier life

Its new features will make it easier to manage messaging across different apps, create adverts in WhatsApp business manager and identify more profitable leads.

First of all, it will now be easier to create Facebook and Instagram ads that open in a WhatsApp chat.

Meta Announcements

“To make it easier to create these ads, starting soon we’ll make it possible to create the full ad directly from the WhatsApp Business app. This will make it faster for small businesses looking to find new customers and grow.”

The new tool will make it a lot easier for businesses to make these types of ads. Previously there was a lot of faffing about switching apps to complete and launch campaigns, but now that will be a thing of the past.

Business Tools upgrades

There are two new tools coming to Meta Business Suite:

• WhatsApp in Inbox.
• Marketing messages in Meta Business Suit.

Let’s deal with WhatsApp in Inbox first. The proposed move (it’s still being tested) will bring all your Meta communications methods under one roof, as you can also access Messenger and Instagram Direct from Meta Business Suite. 

The update will make it easier for small business owners, who may be juggling several roles at once, to access their different customer touchpoints in the same place. For someone who is CEO, marketing manager, head of sales and in charge of logistics all rolled into one, that could come as a serious relief.

Meta Announcements

“By centralizing communications and allowing multiple people at the business to manage messages in Inbox—from the same WhatsApp number on multiple devices—Inbox will save businesses time and increase productivity.”

Marketing messages in Meta Business Suite will let marketers send out promotional message campaigns via Messenger to customers. Meta says this will give brands a new tool to drive sales and improve customer loyalty.

“For example, a customer may opt in to receiving notifications about upcoming sales, allowing businesses to keep customers in the loop about future sales.”

What new Lead Generation and Customer Acquisition Tools has Meta launched?

Meta has also launched new lead generation and customer acquisition tools, designed to help small and medium businesses grow a customer base.

There are five new updates on this front, all made to provide SMBs with the tools to find new customers and foster relationships with them.

Here’s how they work:

• Quote request on Instagram. Businesses can apply a ‘get quote’ sticker on their Instagram profile and use a ‘get quote’ sticker in Stories. When customers press on this button, they will be asked to fill in a short questionnaire – which will streamline the customer quote process for business.
• Lead filtering with Instant Forms. Brands will be able to use lead filtering in Lead Ads Instant Forms to select promising leads and pursue them. 
• Gated content. Marketers will be able to offer exclusive content for people who complete the Leads Ads Instant Form. Businesses will also be able to offer additional resources directly from the form, without redirecting users to their website.
• Creative flexibility. A flexible and personalisable instant form is being tested. It will let brands add bespoke visuals and content in the form, and will be able to share interesting, compelling information about their business to grab customers’ interest.
• Partner integrations. Marketers can now download lead info into their own CRM, which will let them follow up on leads quickly.

Messenger marketing is a growth area – especially in emerging markets. As Meta looks to expand its capability in this area, it’s worth keeping an eye on how your business could reach customers and generate leads via Messenger.