What's Hot in Small Business – Chris Crum

Facebook Provides Free Online Courses to Help Businesses

Facebook Provides Free Online Courses to Help Businesses

Create Better Social Media Content

Each week, Facebook has been providing free online courses to help businesses with their social media strategies. Recently, the company launched three of these aimed at aiding in the creation of better social media content.

"Whether you’re inspiring action with post captions or engaging customers through Stories, what you share on social media should work to humanize your business and spark interest in your products or services," Facebook says, adding that these courses will help businesses create content that stands out from the competition.

The first of these three courses is called "Tips and Tools for Creating Social Media Content, " and features best practices for writing captions, capturing mobile-first content, and creating a consistent look and feel across content. The course prepares businesses to understand the primary elements of social media posts and actually create the content.

While this may be basic stuff for those with a lot of social media experience, others who have struggled to produce engaging content may find this information useful.

The second of the three courses is called "Facebook Stories: An Introduction for Content Creators," which walks businesses through the specific Facebook feature called Stories. The company says these are great for sharing "in-the-moment" content that highlights a business’s personality. As Facebook notes, there is less pressure with these posts because they only live for 24 hours. The course itself walks businesses through six ideas that can be used to guide their Stories content.

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The third course on social media content creation is called "Creative Ways to Use Instagram Stories for Your Business". As you may know, Instagram is part of the Facebook family of social media platforms, and it’s an especially popular one. It also provides businesses with a great opportunity to show off products and services in eye-catching ways.

"Despite their short lifespan, the effects of Stories on your customers can be long-term," Facebook says. "From announcing new products to audience Q&As, Stories can help you accomplish an array of business objectives."

The course features seven different ways to connect with audiences through Instagram Stories, including: sharing announcements, showing products in action, showing behind the scenes, showing a "day in the life," how-to’s and tutorials, Q&As, and recognizing fans and followers.

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Since releasing these three courses, Facebook has also released a trio of courses focused on how to plan your business’s social media content. These include courses on why you should use a content calendar, how to use a content calendar, and general tips for planning content.

If you are looking to improve your business’s social media presence, particularly with Facebook and Instagram, keep an eye on Facebook’s business blog, as these new courses have been coming out on a weekly basis.

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