Facebook announces new tool to help SMEs

The tool will enable business owners to be more creative and efficent with marketing. Photo / 123RF

Facebook has announced a new tool to help small businesses get creative with their marketing strategy.

The tool, Facebook 'Mobile Studio', will allow business owners to create ads on their mobile devices, with the ability to "remix" - edit images and videos.

Spencer Bailey, Head of Facebook New Zealand, said the tool will equip Kiwi small businesses with the skills to promote products and services.

"As more people turn to their phones to discover new things, small businesses need a strong mobile strategy, so we've produced Facebook Mobile Studio, a free guide to creating ads on a mobile device, equipping Kiwi small business owners with the skills to promote products and services in a timely, authentic way to consumers locally and globally," Bailey said.

In New Zealand, 80 per cent of Facebook users are connected to at least one
SME on Facebook, with more than 50 million people worldwide connected to a New Zealand business on Facebook.

Steve Adams, founder of digital innovation agency About Us, which upskill New Zealand SMEs, believes small businesses need to up their online presence.

"Marketing is online and online is mobile, and small businesses have to be present in mobile channels not just for advertising, but to produce good-quality content to help you stand-out.

Eighty per cent of all New Zealand SMEs are owned by people over the age of 35, many of which who "weren't just born with these skills".

"The internet, or what we used to call the Internet, is now the mobile phone. There are so many small businesses that just don't get this stuff at all and they certainly don't understand the power of a mobile phone," Adams said.

"More often than not their customers are actually not even really using the internet, they're sitting on apps like Facebook and Instagram the whole time, and our small business communities need to be there."

There are millions on businesses that have Facebook pages, globally, and that's what New Zealanders are competing against.

Steve Adams, founder of digital agency About Us

Adams said Facebook's new tool could help with this.

"What I like about it is they have actually extended it beyond Facebook and to other apps, and I can imagine that will only grow. GIF makers for example; I've spent quite a lot of time trying to find a good one, so to have the core tools recommended to you, to take all of the endless searching and experimentation out of the picture - you can just straight into it," he said.

"There are millions on businesses that have Facebook pages, globally, and that's what New Zealanders are competing against. We need to lift our game and this is going to help small businesses lift their game."