Real Business interviewed Facebook’s SMB regional director, Ciaran Quilty, at the end of January. The meeting took place at the company’s debut SME Bootcamp in London, which marked the start of a focus on the 30m small to medium-sized business using Facebook.
The social giant has now introduced new tools, Learn How and Blueprint, to support the 2m businesses currently advertising on the network, as well as those yet to do so.
“Were committed to helping businesses of all sizes succeed with Facebook, and that means providing outstanding education, service and support. Were continuing to develop more resources along these lines, and will share more about our work here in the months ahead,” Facebook said.
Learn How will target small businesses and marketers specifically, serving as an online learning centre that will guide new users on the best approach towards management of Facebook pages and ads.
Instructions will come in video, image and step-by-step formats, adopting a flexible learning approach so topics can be researched in-depth or at a glance. In keeping with the company’s connectivity everywhere mantra, it will run in 14 languages on desktop and mobile.
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Meanwhile, Blueprint will look to reach agencies and large brands with an education programme that provides training on how campaign results can be improved to achieve better business results.
In addition to the 35 online courses the firm is planning to offer, users will also have access to in-person training and certification, covering topics such as optimisation and video measurement. Unlike Learn How, however, Blueprint will only support English at launch, though expansion to other languages is coming later this year.
Both programmes are accessible on the Facebook for Business site, which has also been given an update to showcase the companies using Facebook to achieve business growth and development, alongside news alerts.
