Facebook has announced a collection of new tools designed to help businesses in their communications with prospective customers. From ads that encourage people to message them, to free access to QuickBooks and Canva Pro, there are a host of new tools to help small and large businesses.

Facebook has outlined what the tools are here, and we have summarised them below:

Start Conversations with a Business Across Our Apps

Start a WhatsApp chat from an Instagram Profile: It’s now possible for businesses globally to add a WhatsApp click-to-chat button to their Instagram profile — and, starting soon, the option to create ads that click to WhatsApp directly from the Instagram app — so people can start a chat with just one tap.

Lead Generation and Customer Acquisition

Quote Request on Messenger: This is currently being tested with select advertisers, it will allow businesses to select 4-5 questions to ask consumers prior to starting a conversation. Consumers are then able to easily and quickly request a quote from a business on Facebook by completing a short questionnaire on Messenger.

Lead Generation on Instagram: Facebook will begin testing paid and organic tools to help small businesses find and qualify leads directly within the Instagram app.

Updates to Facebook Business Suite

In addition to managing messages across Messenger and Instagram, Facebook will test the ability for businesses to manage emails through Inbox and send remarketing emails from Facebook Business Suite.

Facebook is also introducing File Manager, a new feature that allows businesses to easily create, manage and post content within Facebook Business Suite.

Post testing available in Facebook Business Suite to let businesses test and compare multiple versions of a post to see which one people are more likely to engage with.

Greater Control with Work Accounts

Facebook is testing Work Accounts, this will allow business users to log in and operate Business Manager without requiring a personal account. Businesses will be able to manage these accounts on behalf of their employees and have access to enterprise-grade features like single sign-on integrations, giving them more control over the security of their employees’ accounts. This will be tested through the remainder of the year with a small group of businesses, and is expected to expand availability in 2022.

Supporting Businesses with Cost Savings

Facebook will soon start to allow some small businesses to access a bundle that will include valuable tools and benefits, such as a Facebook ad coupon, along with free access to QuickBooks accounting software for three months or free access to creative tool Canva Pro for three months.

Helping People Discover Relevant Businesses

Facebook Business Explore will soon expand to people in the United States and internationally in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa and the United Kingdom. This will help connect people with new and relevant businesses — all in one, easy and centralized place. This will also help businesses reach new customers and drive deeper consideration that can lead to purchases.