Facebook App Playbook for Businesses during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) PandemicHow businesses can stay connected and expand their reach

1 “COVID-19: What do consumers expect from brands?” by Kantar, Feb 2020. The study is based on an online survey of 3,000 consumers between the ages of 18 and 60 across six countries in the region: Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Korea, Japan, Thailand. Fieldwork was conducted between 25 and 27 February 2020. Kantar’s panel data and social media analysis over the period between 18 Dec and 27 February 2020 complements the survey.

For more information from Facebook on building resilience for your business during the COVID-19 outbreak, visit our Business Resource Hub.

People, businesses, and communities can do more together. As members of the communities you serve, businesses like yours may be experiencing unexpected challenges due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, and we’re committed to providing as much support as possible.

The disruption caused by this pandemic has been felt far and wide from local businesses to global brands alike. However, it’s during difficult times that we have the opportunity to reimagine new ways of connecting with community using the tools already available to us. We’re seeing so many positive examples of brands and businesses turning to technology to support people during these times.

People expect brands and businesses to deliver real value, act responsibly, and do right by the community, including their employees.1 People will remember how brands and businesses responded. We launched this playbook to continue supporting businesses in staying connected to people and building resilience.

In this playbook, we cover ways for you to be purposeful during this time of physical distancing by highlighting our suite of tools within the Facebook app that can help your business stay connected and expand your reach. Let’s get started.

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Table of contents

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8

S E C T I O N 1

Taking action during the COVID-19 pandemic

Say

Act

Sell

S E C T I O N 2 “How to” instructional guides

Pages

Facebook Stories

Facebook Live

Groups

Marketplace

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10

11

12

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Taking action during the COVID-19 pandemic

The Facebook app can help you stay connected to your customers. As physical distancing has become the norm, staying connected is more important than ever. It’s critical that businesses maintain open lines of communication to help customers navigate the uncertainty. In an online multinational survey, almost 45% of people are devoting more time to social media and 45% of people are spending more time on messaging services.2 Whether taking part in community discussions or engaging with customers through interactive video experiences, you can use the Facebook app to help bring your communities together online and offline.

01. Say

Keep your audience up-to-date with PagesPosting on your business Page is a way to give your audience up-to-the-minute updates on how your business is doing. Whether you want to share measures that your business is taking to keep people safe, share updates regarding inventory and availability, provide a live video of your premises, post about an open job, or sell things on Marketplace, Pages can help tailor your customer’s online experience based on their needs. Consider cross posting to your Instagram account, boosting a post to expand the reach of important messages, or running ads if you want to reach a specific audience.

Here’s some inspiration:

y Kennay Farms Distilling, a sixth-generation, family-owned distillery in Rochelle, Illinois began producing hand sanitizer instead of bourbon and used their business Page to get the word out.

y The Museum of African Diaspora (MoAD) has made all of its programming virtual. From selling merchandise, hosting virtual drawing classes, open mics and Q&As, the MoAD uses its business Page to keep its audience informed and engaged.

T O O L S T O U S EPages Groups

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2 “Coronavirus: Insights From Our Multinational Study” by GWI, online survey of people in AU, BR, CN, DE, ES, FR, GB, IT, JP, PH, SG, US, ZA, Mar 16–20, 2020.

Announce new products with PagesWith disruptions, many brands are being pushed to rethink their business strategy. Listen to how your customers’ behaviors are shifting and lean in to how your business can adjust offerings based on needs and access.

Here’s some inspiration:

y Sugarsuckle is a custom cake and dessert studio in Hoboken, New Jersey that specializes in modern, one-of-a-kind designs. With shelter-in-place, Sugarsuckle had to close its doors, but the owners pivoted by creating a new at-home baking kit to give customers and the community something they would genuinely want to use at home. Sugarsuckle used Facebook to market this new at-home baking kit.

Participate in community discussions with GroupsWhile you can keep customers informed about your business on Pages, Groups is where you’ll want to check-in with your community to foster connection through shared interests. You create your own Group or join an existing one from either a personal or business Page.

Groups can help reduce feelings of isolation during physical distancing. Your brand or business can use Groups to provide unique virtual offerings (e.g. Watch Parties, Facebook Live, etc), encourage members to start discussions, and create polls to learn more about your community’s interests and needs.

You can also create a group for your employees as a resource hub to stay connected.

Here’s some inspiration:

y The Group Marshal Delivers allows local restaurants and businesses still open during the pandemic the opportunity to post their menus and different specials and connect with customers.

y Tribe SF created a Group for their 120+ members where people could take virtual fitness classes together and share pictures of their home gyms to strengthen community.

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You want to ensure that your business is keeping your customers informed and reassured throughout any changes in circumstances. This presents the opportunity to either double-down, or reset and re-align on what you think your purpose is as a brand. What is your brand great at that you can continue and what are some areas of growth? During uncertain times, people gravitate towards brands and businesses that act with empathy.

Set up instant replies with MessengerQuick one-on-one responses with your customers can help foster trust and connection. Customers may come to your Page with questions in mind. You can use your instant reply message to let customers know that you’ll get back to them soon, or set up FAQs that will appear at the beginning of the conversation with your Page.

Here’s some inspiration:

y La Patisserie, a local bakery in Austin, TX, has set up FAQs in Messenger around their business so customers can quickly get what they need.

02. Act

T O O L S T O U S EMessengerGroups

StoriesFacebook Live

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Engage your audience with StoriesStories engage your audience and allow you to develop deeper connections in a more frequent, authentic and casual way. You can share pictures and short videos to bring your audience behind the scenes. Getting a timely message out to your audience can be helpful in sharing updates on business operating hours, inventory, and offers.

In addition to stickers, text, and effects, you can also take polls with Stories to learn about what your audience finds important. Adding a custom link or button that will prompt your audience to Shop Now, Call Now, or See Offer on your Story can also help your business quickly connect.

Here’s some inspiration

y The Cincinnati Zoo started hosting “Home Safari Facebook Live” each weekday where they highlight one of their animals and include an activity parents and kids can do from home. To increase engagement, the zoo uses Facebook Stories to spotlight the kids’ finished products.

Go Live with your audienceGoing Live creates a space for real-time experiences. People and businesses alike are using Facebook Live as an alternative to in-person events, hosting Q&As, or streaming in-store. You can go live on a Page, Group, or Event on Facebook with either your phone or external camera. This is your space to create.

Here’s some inspiration

y Planet Fitness created influencer-led 30-minute Facebook Live workout sessions via their business Page for all members and non-members to participate at home.

y When retailer Manic Mermaid of Tacoma, Washington had to close its shop because of shelter-in-place orders, it turned to Facebook Live to connect with its community and find alternate ways to showcase their products.

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Physical distancing measures have changed the way people typically consume goods and content. Globally, many people say they expect their behavior changes due the pandemic to become permanent.3 People are looking for ways to support the businesses that they love in their communities. Even if your business is already online, Facebook can help expand the reach of your business by offering additional ways to shop, educate your audience, or ask for help.

Get your products listed on MarketplaceYou can connect your products and services to your local community by listing things to Marketplace. If you have physical items, you can also add a shop with checkout to your business Page.

Set up online gift cardsIf your business is unable to open during this time, local gift cards on Facebook is another way that people can support your business. When you set up a digital gift card with one of our partners, people in your area will be able to discover it right on Facebook, and you can also share it on your Instagram profile. Follow these steps to set up your gift card.

Create a fundraiser Now you can create a personal fundraiser on Facebook for your business or a cause that’s important to the community and ask loyal customers for support during this critical time. You can also easily share the fundraiser to Stories on Facebook and Instagram to reach more supporters.

If you’re a bigger brand, you can also highlight or partner with local businesses and organizations in supporting relief efforts and front-line workers.

T O O L S T O U S EMarketplaceLocal gift cards

FundraisersJobs

03. Sell

Post about an open jobThough there’s uncertainty around work, many businesses still need to fill essential roles. To help keep your business running smoothly, You can post job opportunities from your business Page where people can see your listing in the Jobs bookmark on Facebook or on Marketplace. Like other posts, you can also boost your job post to reach a larger or more defined audience.

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3 “Coronavirus: Insights From the Second Wave of our Multinational Study” by GWI, Apr 6, 2020.

How-to guidesWe created these guides to help you make the most of our tools as you communicate, serve and connect with your customers.

Using Pages to update customersPages is your one-stop-shop for all things business. To reassure people that your brand or business is committed to helping them during these uncertain times, ensure that your business clearly communicates the measures it’s taking.

Within your Page settings, you can turn on or off various tabs to help people quickly find what they’re looking for. You can also drag and rearrange the tab order.

Tools to expand business:Messenger: It’s important that your customers have a clear way of contacting you. You can create unique experiences whether you want a simple live chat or an automated experience that’s managed by a third party developer.

y To enable messages, you can either click “+ Add a Button” and select “Send Message” or update your Messages Setting with Page Settings.

Offers: Offer a discount to attract customers, build brand awareness or get rid of inventory to make way for new products.

y When you publish an Offer, it will show up in both the Offers tab on your Page and the Offers bookmark, a place people go to find local deals and discounts.

Shop Tab: Showcase your products, group them by theme and make it easy for your customers to browse and check out right on Facebook.

y To set up your Shop Tab, click “Go to commerce manager” from the Shop tab. If you don’t see this, you can change your Page template to the Shopping template in your Page settings.

y Track what sells best on your Shop tab. Even if you have another online shop, the products that sell the best may not be the same.

Events: If you’re hosting an event for your business on Facebook Live or other video conferencing tools, use Facebook events to spread the word.

y You can connect your Eventbrite account to easily manage your events and free or paid tickets right on Facebook.

Tips and ideas

Offer a reassuring tone: Highlight how your brand or business is helping the community. Some examples could include helpful tips, recipes, hacks for working from home, partnering with local organizations on the frontline.

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During physical distancing, Stories can be a great way to show your customers what you’re doing. People love Stories because they’re a playful and authentic peek behind the curtain into your business. They last 24 hours, so while not real-time, they can be daily check-ins with your customers. Like Stories on Instagram, Stories on Facebook give people the opportunity to directly interact with your business with a quick emoji or message reply.

Getting started

From Facebook

y From your phone, go to your business Page and click on your profile picture and click “Create story.”

y You can choose multiple photos or videos from your camera or capture photos, video or Boomerangs in the moment by clicking on the camera icon.

y Using Story accessories is key to engagement. You want to interact with your audience. You can tag individual or business accounts, add music, use stickers, conduct polls and attach links to your Story.

From Instagram

y If you create an Instagram Story, you can cross-post directly to Facebook Stories.

y Ensure that your business Page and Instagram account are linked. Go to “Settings,” click “Account,” and tap “Linked Accounts” to share on Facebook.

y Create a Story as you normally would, click “Send To,” tap the “Sharing Options” drop-down and select whether you would like to “Share to Facebook Every Time” or “Share Once.”

y To automatically share to Facebook, scroll to the bottom of your Story Controls and enable “Share Your Story to Facebook.” Now you can keep both audiences updated.

Using Facebook Stories to creatively interact

Tips and ideas

y Reshare a post from your business Page to your Story to reach people where they are. Consider boosting your story to expand your reach.

y Use the Questions sticker to find out what people want to hear from you during this time.

y Provide daily reflections and tips for customers.

y Create fun challenges for people to reshare in their Stories and @mention their friends.

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People are looking online for ways to be informed and entertained while spending time at home. Facebook Live is a platform that lets you speak directly with your community by broadcasting in real-time. By interacting with viewers, responding to feedback, and answering questions, you can create a real-time, authentic dialogue between you and your audience.

You can create even greater engagement with your audience by sharing longer videos around topics related to your business or your community’s interests.

Getting started y Mobile: Go to your business Page and click “Live”

next to “Create.”

y Live Producer: To go live using your computer’s camera or using higher-end production equipment and streaming software, go to your business Page and click “Live” in the “Create” bar.

‐ You can also “Schedule a Live Video” from the menu on the left to let your audience know about the upcoming Live. This will create a post on your Page that you can share to other Pages. This can get your viewers excited about an upcoming Live, set reminders and share on their feeds.

Using Facebook Live to engage customers

Tips and ideas

y Tag Location: Add your location to the Live on mobile so your audience can quickly reference your address.

y Your business story: Use Live to talk about how and why you started. What are your business’s unique offerings? The quiet sanctuary of your B&B, the best kept secret on your menu, your best selling product.

y Live Shopping: You can add the link to your shop or to specific products in the description of your live video. Follow these steps to enable Live Shopping.

y Meet Your Community: Coordinate with some of your most loyal customers or people in the community that are making the best of a difficult time. Use Live within the app, or with a 3rd party solution on Facebook to broadcast from more than 2 locations.

y Community Advocates: If you are supporting a charity, using Facebook Live with the donation feature is a great way to help. Share a personal story of what the organization means to you.

y Share: Once your Live is complete, crosspost the video to other Pages or Groups to expand reach.

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With physical distancing, people are looking for ways to connect with others around them. Groups bring people, businesses, and shared interests together to create meaningful conversations within communities.

Join an existing Group to share your expertise or connect over a common interest related to your business. Joining a Group is valuable when you’re not quite ready to create your own, but want to engage in relevant discussions outside of your Page.

For more tips and tools for starting, managing and growing your community, visit our Community Hub.

Getting started

Join a Group

y Find a Group to join.

y Click on “Join Group” button.

y From here, you can choose to join the Group as an individual person or business Page. Whichever Page you choose will be the face of how you interact in the Group.

y Once approved, post and engage with content as you would normally.

Create a Group

y Go to your business Page on either mobile or desktop.

y Click on the “Groups” tab within the menu tab.

y Click “Create Group.”

y If you already have an existing Group, you can link this to your business Page.

Using Groups to strengthen community

Tips and ideas

y Once you join a Group, try introducing yourself and your business, share why you joined the Group and offer your unique perspective.

y If you create a Group as a business Page, make sure to build a Group identity. Creating a nickname to refer to members as a whole is a great way to foster a sense of belonging in your Group.

y Promote your Group. Add a “Join Group” button on your business Page to raise awareness of the Group and encourage other members to invite others who might be interested.

y Organize Watch Parties within your Group.

y Create a safe space. Be sure to clearly articulate the Group description and rules up front so all members know what they can expect.

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With Marketplace, you can scale your business and empower people to discover your products and services. When you sell something on Marketplace, you create a public listing that can be seen by anyone on Marketplace and in News Feed, search and other places on or off Facebook. All listings on Marketplace must follow our Commerce Policies.

Getting started y You may list individual items directly to

Marketplace from the Marketplace tab by clicking “+Create New Listing.” However, it won’t be linked to your business Page.

y To get your items listed on Marketplace and associated with your brand or business Page, follow these steps to work with a Marketplace partner to help get your inventory listed.

Using Marketplace to boost discovery

Tips and ideas

y Photo quality matters. You want to catch people’s eyes as they scroll. Create a dynamic photo by placing your item in front of a contrasting background like neutrals, tiles or varying textures.

y Place your products in relevant categories that appeal to your target audience. You’ll also want to include keywords in the title and description so others can find your items.

y Customers will have questions. Create a list of FAQs that you can easily reference, or you can also set up these FAQs in the messages section of your business Page.

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