The weather’s getting colder, there’s a distinctly orangeish tinge to the leaves (or some of them, anyway), and the other day I saw a non-ironic Christmas tree.

That’s right, it’s autumn, and change is in the air– and that goes for more than just the seasons. In the last few months, Facebook have given us a whole bevy of new developments to digest.

In case you missed any, here’s a recap of all the social media giant’s key recent announcements:

Customer Service

Our Community Manager Georgina recently put together a guide to the recent introduction of response-rate badges and what they mean for your business.

In brief, brands and businesses who respond to messages in under 5 minutes will be granted a prestigious green response-rate icon– great for customers looking for a quick answer, but potentially problematic for short-staffed or smaller businesses who can’t monitor their messages 24 hours a day.

As well as rewarding businesses who respond to direct messages within a particularly short time frame (no matter what time of day or night), Facebook have also announced that they prefer all direct messages to be signed off with a personal name, not a team signature.

All of this is part of Facebook’s ongoing mission to personalise interactions between brands and personal users.

Personalised interaction is something that small businesses in particular can really excel at on social media, so let’s hope that we’re able to embrace Facebook’s new approach to customer service.

Facebook Notes

A quick glance through my own ‘notes’ tab shows that the last time anyone of my acquaintance created a note was a good two years ago. All this could change, though, with Facebook’s recent redesign of their neglected notes function.

Currently only available to individual users, the reimagined notes will function as a Facebook-based blog platform, where users will be able to customise notes with header images, as well as share content with their friends in a variety of formats.

It doesn’t take a genius to work out that there could be huge possibilities here for brands in terms of sharing opinions, information and other blog-like activities– all within Facebook itself.

360º Video

Wondering what it would be like to speed across an alien desert? Thanks to Facebook’s introduction of 360º video, you’re one step closer to finding out.

Facebook are investing in continual expansion of their video offering– presumably to contend with Twitter’s runaway video successes, video clip site Vine and live-streaming giant Periscope.

Building on the demand for immersive video content, Facebook’s just-announced 360º offerings will allow users to choose any viewing angle on video with a drag and tap of the finger, or by adjusting the angle of their mobile phone.

Currently these new video options are only available on a limited scale, but Facebook envision making them available to everyone– individuals and brands alike.

“In the future, imagine watching 360 videos of a friend’s vacation to a small village in France or a festival in Brazil — you’ll be able to look around and experience it as if you were there. Along with updates from your friends and family, you will also be able to discover amazing new content on Facebook from media companies, organizations, and individual creators.”

– Facebook Newsroom

Facebook users on PC or on Android should be able to view 360º video ‘soon’, with iOs users seeing it rolled out in the coming months.

“It’s early days, but we’re excited about the possibilities for 360 video and hope it helps people explore the world in new, immersive ways.”

This comes on the heels of July’s launch of Facebook Mentions, a live-streaming offering currently available only for those with Facebook verified pages in the US.

They’re looking to roll this out on a wider scale, too, so keep your eyes peeled for that…

‘Empathy Button’

There was a great deal of murmuring and consternation from businesses in the wake of Facebook’s announcement that they will be responding to user requests for a ‘dislike button’. But don’t panic just yet– Facebook seem very aware of the risks involved in offering a means of negative feedback on content.

“We didn’t want to just build a Dislike button because we don’t want to turn Facebook into a forum where people are voting up or down on people’s posts. That doesn’t seem like the kind of community we want to create.”

– Mark Zuckerberg

Instead, they’re envisaging an ‘empathy button’– a functionality which will allow users to respond appropriately to tragedies and other content where a ‘like’ seems callous or just a bit inappropriate.

Even this will undoubtedly change the way that businesses interact with their audience on Facebook– and it remains to be seen whether, despite Facebook’s intentions, everyone uses the empathy button in the spirit in which it was created.

According to Zuckerberg, the new empathy button is nearly ready to test, and we’re excited to see how this chapter of the Facebook story unfolds!

Advertising Updates

Perhaps the biggest of all Facebook’s news this month is the long-awaited roll-out of Instagram advertising for UK businesses.

The subject of Instagram ads and what they could mean for businesses both large and small is an enormous one (and one which we’ll be covering in much greater detail soon!).

The essential information is that the ads will be created through Facebook, and will make use of Facebook’s powerful targeting options to allow businesses to effectively leverage their Instagram presence for website traffic or mobile app installs.

However great this sounds for business, though, a word of caution: Instagram’s users have been historically resistant to the idea of ads on their network. Businesses who want to make use of the power of Instagram ads will have to tread lightly, and ensure their content isn’t alienating the audience they’re trying to reach out to.

Other updates to Facebook’s ad offering includes the introduction of lead generation ads. In Facebook’s own words:

Lead ads provide a simpler way for people to fill out forms on their mobile devices. Lead ads can be used to collect sign-ups for newsletters, price estimates, follow-up calls and business information. You can fully customize your form with open-ended questions, multiple choice questions and contact fields to collect the information that matters most to your business.

There’s potential there for businesses of all descriptions to make the most of forms in Facebook, which will self-populate with the information the user has provided to the network in order to make joining a mailing list or sending a request for more information as easy as just clicking a button.

What do you think?

The way we as businesses use Facebook to engage our audience is always evolving.

How do you feel about Facebook’s recent changes? Are you planning to make use of any of these new features? We’d love to hear what you think!

By Moya Vaughan Evans

Social Media Manager