• by Colin Kirkland , July 21, 2022

On Wednesday, Meta announced the launch of its Small Business Studios, a new project that aims to help small businesses optimize their marketing efforts on Facebook and Instagram via virtual and in-person trainings, workshops, and a U.S. tour of five major cities.

In a blog post, Meta says this new program was born out of the Good Ideas Exchange, an event it hosted alongside executive partners like Adobe and Vimeo in which small businesses named major challenges in their industries. 

The Small Business Studio has an online hub with preloaded creative resources and training, including:

- Build Your Brand workshop, an online workshop that “champions a customer mindset” and focuses on business branding, and how to build copy and creative in a post.

- Reels School, a course designed to help small businesses to utilize the Reels feature to expand their audiences and attract business.

- A virtual photography workshop that pairs small businesses with an expert to guide low-cost and low-lift images made for mobile.

- Live one-on-one, 30-minute virtual support sessions with experts to troubleshoot technical issues, help develop effective creative and digital marketing strategies.

In addition, there will be in-person training and peer networking as part of the U.S. tour, which kicked off in Detroit on July 20. The tour will run through September 15 across Columbus, Kansas City, Austin, and San Diego.