A Guide To Facebook Business Suite For Marketers

Mar 10, 2022 11 min read

Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012. Then Mark Zuckerberg revealed its plans in 2019 to merge all their messaging apps into one tool.

During the global pandemic, in September 2020, Facebook launched its newest management platform, Facebook Business Suite. The idea of this tool was to make it faster and easier for small businesses to manage their Facebook and Instagram presence using a desktop version and a new app.

Get to know more about Facebook Business Suite in this article and how it can help to manage your Facebook Business Page and Instagram Business Page in one place.

You can directly jump to a section of your choice or keep scrolling.

What Is The Facebook Business Suite?

As a free tool, Facebook Business Suite centralizes Facebook, Instagram, and messaging tools in one place. This allows you to save time, create connections, and obtain better results. You can even manage them on iOS or Android devices!

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Here are a few instances of what you can do within the platform:

  • Post across platform
  • Track insights and trends
  • Create ads

After a string of updates in 2020, Facebook introduced Facebook Business Suite. This update was set to be "a Faster and Easier Way to Manage Your Business on Facebook and Instagram," as quoted by Facebook itself. Facebook Business Suite was initially built with small business owners in mind.

The main purpose of this new update seemed to be to smooth out the joint management of Instagram and Facebook. Businesses can easily monitor messages and comments for both platforms in the same place.

You can also post and schedule to both your Facebook and Instagram accounts at the same time now. Again, this was something possible before, but it is made simpler now.

The insights section is another tidy element of the new 'all-in-one' package. Insights allow you to see stats at a glimpse and with more in-depth insights by clicking through. This saves you from having to switch between multiple platforms to monitor key statistics such as followers' stats. It also allows you to compare factors like audience demographics in one place.

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Facebook Business Suite Vs. Business Manager Vs. Creator Studio

Several Facebook tools have different interfaces. But how do these tools differ from each other exactly, and when should you use which tool? Read below to find out.

Facebook Business Suite

Launched in late 2020, Facebook Business Suite aims to replace the popular 'Pages Manager' app.

Facebook Business Suite promises to simplify communication with your audience and manage your business on Facebook and Instagram.

Facebook Business Suite allows you to see insights about your Facebook and Instagram business pages, create and schedule crossposts to Facebook and Instagram at the same time, read and respond to messages, get notifications all in one place, create Ads and manage your business across Facebook and Instagram from a single platform.

There is a desktop version of Facebook Business Suite also. The Facebook Business Suite is the new place to go for everything related to your business on the Facebook Platform.

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Facebook Creator Studio

People often ask if Creator Studio is still useful? Will it also be replaced by the Facebook Business Suite? Most probably, the answer is yes. But when? There is no clarity on that. Creator Studio already is very similar to Facebook Business Suite.

Some of the features of Facebook Creator Studio includes viewing insights about your Facebook and Instagram Business pages, reading and responding to comments and messages from Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram Direct messages and creating, scheduling posts, and publishing to Facebook and Instagram.

But apart from these features, Facebook Creator Studio allows you to view and manage much more things:

You can create different content types such as standard posts, stories, videos to crosspost, playlists, series, clips, and instant articles, get in-depth insights about videos, stories, and instant articles, access Monetization options and Brand Collabs Manager and access Creative Tools: live dashboard and sound collection.

But what are the major differences between Facebook Business Suite and Facebook Creator Studio?

To put it short, Facebook Business Suite is a quick way to create and crosspost to Facebook and Instagram. It allows you to follow the basic performance of your pages. The tool also provides an easy-to-use interface to follow up on messages and connect with your audiences.

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If you are in search of more advanced post-setup options and more in-depth performance insights, the Creator Studio is the best tool to use.

The main difference between Facebook Business Suite & Facebook Creator studio lies in the focus with which they were developed.

Facebook Business Suite was developed to streamline business management & simplify communication across platforms. Facebook Creator Studio, on the other hand, was developed for creating and managing content across feed posts, stories, and videos.

There are certain limitations on creating content in Facebook Business Suite, but reading and responding to community interactions are made easy here.

More focus has been put on video analytics when talking about Facebook Creator Studio since videos attract more attention.

There are some other advantages that one can get with Facebook Creator Studio over Facebook Business Suite, such as access to Live Dashboard, Brand Collaboration tools, Sound Collection, and more.

There is no clarity on whether these features would be added to Facebook Business Suite anytime.

You can make use of Facebook Business Suite and Facebook Creator Studio together to create content and manage the notifications, thereby not missing any features of these.

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Facebook Business Manager

Facebook Business Manager is best known by business owners that want to advertise on the Facebook platform. Facebook Pages & Instagram accounts are linked to Facebook Business Manager from the moment you start advertising.

The main purpose of a Facebook Business Manager includes to anage all your assets in one place such as Facebook Pages / Instagram accounts / Whatsapp accounts, ad Accounts, catalogs, apps and properties. You can manage access to all your assets such as adding people, partners and system users. You can also create and manage performance, optimization, and data pixel events. You can even manage brand safety, registrations, integrations, payment options, business requests, notifications, and general business settings.

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But how does Facebook Business Manager mainly differs from Facebook Business Suite and Facebook Creator Studio? Facebook Business Manager is not focused on content creation and communication. Instead, Facebook Business Manager is meant to 'Manage' your assets to ensure your business is set up following best practices and is ready to advertise on the Facebook Family of Apps.

There is no update on whether Facebook Business Manager will shed away or it would be merged with Facebook Business Suite only.

However, Facebook Business Suite and Facebook Business Manager both were developed to help small businesses manage their Facebook and Instagram accounts with more ease using a simplified interface. You get additional benefits with Facebook Business Suite, though, such as a unified inbox.

The Key Features Of Facebook Business Suite

Desktop And Mobile Experience: With Facebook Business Suite desktop or Business Suite mobile app, you can manage your business presence wherever you go.

If you want your Facebook mobile app to run faster, use less data, and have a better display and graphics, try using Facebook Touch

New Home View: You can see new notifications for your Facebook Pages and Instagram accounts in Home. You will also see an overview of recent ads and insights from your posts here.

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Activity View: You can see who's liked and commented on your posts, updates on your ads, and other activity on your Facebook Page and Instagram account.

Unified Inbox: You can read new messages and comments from your Facebook Page, Instagram accounts, and Messenger. You can create Automated Responses to save time when responding to questions people commonly ask.

Ability To Post: You can schedule and publish new posts for your Facebook Page and Instagram Feed. You can also see all the activity and insights for posts you create.

New Ads Creation: You can create new ads, boost posts, and promote your Facebook Page. You can view metrics for ads you create directly in Facebook Business Suite. You will still have access to Facebook Ads Manager to see more details on your campaigns.

Updated Insights View: You can see how your organic and paid posts perform with data on trends and activity on the content you share. You will also find more information about your audience here.

Access More Tools: You can find other Facebook tools and settings you can use to manage your business presence in the More Tools section of the Facebook Business Suite desktop version. From here, you locate your Ads Manager, Account Settings, Audiences, Billing, Commerce Manager, Business Settings, Events Manager, and Page Settings.

How To Access Facebook Business Suite?

To avail of the benefits of Facebook Business Suite, you first need to access it.

To do so, log in to the Facebook page first. Now, when you visit Facebook Business on the desktop, you will automatically be redirected to Facebook Business Suite.

Getting Started With Facebook Business Suite

If you are on your desktop and have a Facebook Business Manager account, you will be automatically redirected to the Facebook Business Suite. Facebook recommends connecting your Instagram page to your Facebook account before getting started.

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Here are the steps to connect your Instagram page:

Step 1: Open your Facebook Page.
Step 2: Select 'Settings' from the left menu.
Step 3: Select 'Instagram' from the left menu.
Step 4: Select 'Connect Account' to add an Instagram account to your Page.
Step 5: Ensure the 'Allow access to Instagram messages in Inbox' is toggled on.
Step 6: Click Continue.
Step 7: Enter your Instagram account's Username and Password.
Step 8: Select 'Login'.

To remove an Instagram account, simply select 'Disconnect' from step 4 and confirm that you would like to remove the Instagram account.

Understanding The Facebook Business Suite Interface

Facebook Business Suite makes it easy to access every information you need from Facebook and Instagram and helps you build a stronger presence on both platforms simultaneously.

Now that you have everything set up, it's time to get hold of the interface, so you can take complete advantage of the platform!

Let's have a look at the sections you can manage with Facebook Business Suite:

Home

You will see an overview of your Facebook and Instagram pages on the homepage. You can create ads, promote your business or gather insights here. On the right side of the screen, you will find an activities overview and insights.

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They display data on trends in engagement and audience insights. If you scroll down on the homepage, you can see your content calendar, audience growth, and recent ads sections.

Inbox

You can review and respond to all your messages and comments from Facebook and Instagram in the Inbox tab. The platform has it all in one place!

You can create automated responses to nurture your visitors and make them feel welcome. This feature can help you stay organized, build strong relationships with people who interact with your Facebook Page and Instagram account, and reach more potential customers. If you wish to create an automated response, click on "Automated Responses," which is located in the top right corner.

Facebook has a list of suggested auto-responses that can help you set up, which you can even edit as per your requirement. Choose the type of auto-response message you want, fill in the appropriate text, and any other settings you would like to add.

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Posts & Stories

You can create, publish, & schedule new posts to your Facebook page and Instagram feed in this section. You can get detailed insights for each post you publish by clicking on "View Insights." In the top right corner, click on "Create post" to create one.

Now, you will see a window pop-up where you can write and create your post. You can type out your post's text, add a photo or video, and set up a location for your post. Also, add a call-to-action for your Facebook post. Once you create the post here, you can either publish it now or schedule it for later publishing.

The window is designed to be intuitive.

Ads

The ad section will take you back to the Ad Manager option. You can design ads, boost posts, & check out ad metrics here.

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Insights

You can get an overview of your performance in the "Insight" tab, including a summary of your reach, Instagram insights, audience stats, and recent post-performance.

Click on "Results," and an overview of your reach for connected Facebook Pages and Instagram profiles will appear.

Click on "Content," and you will get a list of your posts and performance data like your comments, shares, and likes.

Lastly, click on "Audience," and you will get a breakdown of your current audience demographics and a snapshot of your potential audience.

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More Tools

A lot more tools that the platform offers can be accessed by clicking on "All Tools," located on the left side. Here you can see many tools which are separated into different categories like Engage customers, Advertise, Manage business, and so on.

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How To Manage Other Social Platforms?

There are high chances that you are not just using Facebook and Instagram for social media marketing. In such a scenario, you would want a platform that can help you to manage several of your social media accounts from one place.

The best way to manage all your social media accounts in one place is with a social media management tool like Statusbrew. It's a robust tool that helps you save time and streamline your social media management processes. Statusbrew offers integration with LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest, and even Google My Business, apart from Facebook and Instagram.

Here's what it offers:

Content Scheduling: Schedule content up to months in advance.

Social Media Monitoring: Keep track of what people are saying about your brand online and where your audience is hanging out.

Approval-only Posting: Set user permissions. Only allow some users to directly publish or schedule content while others have to go through the approval process.

Content Calendar: Get an overview of what content is in the pipeline.

Bulk Scheduling: Automation lets you bulk schedule your content in one place.

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And there's a lot more. If you are interested, then try out with a 14-day free trial.

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Conclusion

We hope this blog post has shown you the usefulness of the Facebook Business Suite – a tool that offers business owners and marketers an overview of their Facebook and Instagram presences. It is the secret sauce that every business must know, and it acts as an all-in-one marketing tool for all your marketing needs! Making use of it in your marketing strategy saves time and helps you focus on more important aspects of your business.

Remember that the Facebook Business Suite is still relatively new. This means that more updates are yet to come out. However, right now isn't a bad time to set up your account and start familiarizing yourself with the platform, so you can take full advantage of future updates.

As the tool is free to use, you can streamline your social marketing strategy for Facebook and Instagram. And if you are using other social media platforms apart from Facebook and Instagram in your social media marketing strategy, to manage your accounts, we recommend you to switch to a social media management tool such as Statusbrew that will help you manage several social accounts from a single dashboard.

Sounds interesting? Book a free demo today ?

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Statusbrew is an all in one social media management tool that supports Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube, and even Google My Business.

Rushali Das

Rushali is a content writer at Statusbrew. She is fond of writing content that compels people to slow down and look more closely to discover the unknown stories.

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