Facebook Touts 'Good Ideas Festival' for Small Businesses
In the last week of June 2021, Facebook expanded its mission to help small companies recover from the pandemic's bad impacts. The social media company launched the "Facebook Good Ideas Festival," a seven-week virtual experience that provides free training and advice on how to use its platform to improve marketing tactics. On June 28, the festival opened in conjunction with the United Nations Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSME) Day. Facebook teamed up with the International Trade Center, a development organization founded by the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, to create material geared at assisting small businesses in their recovery.

In a blog post, Michelle Klein, vice president of global consumer marketing, wrote, "Throughout the festival, we've got both inspirational and instructional programming covered." “You'll have continuing access to free digital skills training and interactive workshops to help you learn innovative new methods to expand your networks, sell items online, and more.”
Facebook's virtual festival comes as the social network tries to diversify its earnings away from mobile advertising by becoming a greater centre for e-commerce. Last year, Facebook announced that it had ten million advertisers, the majority of whom are small and medium-sized enterprises who use the company's self-serve tools to run focused campaigns. Facebook postponed a proposal to take a commission on paid events and subscriptions created on its platforms this month as part of its ongoing support for small businesses.
The festival, which features stories of small-business success and training on Facebook and Instagram's commercial software tools, is hosted by Zoe Saldana, an actress best known for her roles in multiple Marvel Universe films. According to the festival's website, the festival's main week will be July 12-16 on Facebook for Business and Instagram.
The latest season of “Boost My Business,” a video series hosted by “Queer Eye” celebrity and fashion designer Tan France, is also part of the festival's lineup. Sistah SciFi, a Black-owned bookstore that specializes in books authored by Black and Native women, will be one of the businesses featured in the series. The purpose of this episode is to discuss what this business owner has learnt about increasing online exposure for his bookstore.
A Focus on the Hospitality Industry
The Good Ideas Festival is focusing on helping small businesses recover because the hospitality industry was hit hardest by the pandemic. According to a Facebook study, about a quarter of firms in the service and hospitality industries shuttered as a result of the pandemic.
The social network is spotlighting restaurateurs like PriaVanda in New York City in its new multimedia series "Found on Facebook". During the pandemic, her Indian restaurant, Desi Galli, maintained open by making food kits to mail across the country. She also taught people how to create Indian food at home using Instagram Reels, the photo-sharing app's TikTok clone.
In areas where businesses are reopening, Facebook will give a dedicated training session on "Getting Back to Business." Adobe, BigCommerce, Canva, Intuit, and the National Restaurant Association worked with the social network to deliver training on a number of topics. Developing a price plan, design advice, and content production are among them.
Comments