Businesses trying to improve their online presence or run their operations are often at odds over which platform might help them do the job better. Whatever option you go with will have its pros, cons, and learning curve.

Let’s take a look at Google and Facebook to see how their business management tools can help you run your organisation and understand some of their disadvantages too.

Facebook Pages: How can they help your business?

Many businesses use a Facebook Page as a complement or even substitute for a web page. They’re free, just as easy to update as a Facebook personal profile and allow you to buy Facebook Ads if you choose.

Facebook Pages also have a lot of features that business owners rarely use to their full potential. Some of these are paid features, but others are free to use and can work wonders when used correctly.

Boosted posts: It makes sense that some posts are more important than others and can lead to more business transactions or increased interest in your products and services. Boosted posts lets you choose which ones to promote.

Not all boosted posts need to be an advertisement. A great blog post, informational content, or cool video can help spark conversations that lead to sales.
Messenger: As well as being easy to use, Messenger lets you add auto-responses whenever your business is closed. These can be tailored to specific needs and are a simple way to let customers know you’re there for them.

You can include a phone number or website where they can talk to someone or even order products online.

Coupons and job postings: Facebook Pages also allows you to offer coupons or coupon codes. You can also add job listings so you can reach qualified candidates without the hassle of creating profiles on other websites.

Other standard features include viewing data on audiences, assigning multiple administrators, moderators, or editors, and scheduling posts.

Facebook Business Suite

As you know, Facebook owns Instagram and has been working on tools to help users communicate via both apps for some time.

Facebook Business Suite allows you to manage your business pages and Instagram accounts. You can join using your computer or by downloading a separate app on your phone.

The tool was created to help small business owners who don’t usually use social media to promote their businesses, especially after the pandemic caused businesses to pivot to online or curbside-only models.

The app or its desktop equivalent shows you which Instagram users mention your page or business in their stories, keep track of paid ads, view important activity, and helps you keep on top of messages.

Business Suite also includes a few advanced tools, such as:

Appointment-setting
Instant Forms
Ads reporting, billing, and management tools.

Facebook announced plans to make Business Suite work with WhatsApp as well.

Before getting started with this platform, check out our handy guide on everything you need to know about Facebook Business Manager.

Google Business Manager

Another option for managing your organisation’s online presence is Google Business Manager, or Google My Business. Using a business manager from a search engine company is very different from using one from a social media site.

For one, Facebook helps you build a business using your personal relationships. Google Business Manager, on the other hand, helps promote your business to customers based on their geographic proximity.

If you have ever searched for a local restaurant, you may have noticed that they show up on Google Maps, and you can see store hours, reviews, and even a short description. Google also uses a person’s current location to help them find businesses, including yours.

That’s because one of the most common searches includes near me at the end. Instead of searching for “Italian restaurants in Akron, OH,” many people search for “Italian restaurants near me.” Nowadays, they don’t even need to write ‘near me’ — Google makes that assumption automatically.

To start using Google Business Manager, you can start a profile and create a listing for your business. Next, you need to verify your business using one of Google’s approved methods. Provide as much information as possible to make your listing informative:

Upload photos using Google’s specifications
Ask customers to add reviews
Update your hours
Include a small description

Like Facebook, Google Business Manager also allows you to post videos, pay for ads (such as pay per click, or PPC), create appointment scheduling, and add links to events. And yes, there’s an app version of Google Business Manager if you need to make changes using your phone instead.

In short

Both Google and Facebook have interesting things to offer business owners who want easy ways to let their customers get to know them. Tech giants certainly know how to keep updating their features, and though this may mean dealing with a few strange updates that don’t get traction, they’re easy enough to use.

Your small business will always benefit from some form of online presence, and you deserve an easy way to make sure this happens. If you have time to manage your presence on Google and Facebook, you’ll be sure to get the best of both worlds.