Facebook Community Boost launches as 30

Mark Zuckerberg will no longer be the only Facebook employee touring America.

Facebook is launching a 30-stop U.S. tour in 2018 to educate small business owners on how to use the product, Zuckerberg announced Thursday while visiting St. Louis. Called Facebook Community Boost, the program will include IRL training on how to get started or further take advantage of digital tools like Facebook.

For Facebook, the return is obvious. More business owners using Facebook inspires more activity on the site, and business owners can easily become Facebook advertisers. The effort also aligns with Facebook's new Community mission.

"Business owners tell you time is money. Our case studies are really popular. There’s something very human of seeing another business's story," Facebook VP of Small Business Dan Levy told Mashable. "What we would like to get to is an even more personalized session."

Facebook has offered training through the site Facebook For Business and an online program called Blueprint for years. But this will be its first big tour to educate business owners and potential advertisers in person.

Facebook said small business owners suggested the idea. The cities include Houston, St. Louis, Albuquerque, Des Moines and Greenville, South Carolina.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said in a statement Thursday he was grateful for Facebook choosing Houston as one of the 30 stops.

“We’re happy to welcome Facebook to Houston to boost our residents’ digital skills and make sure our vibrant community of entrepreneurs and small businesses gets more out of the internet. I’m glad that Facebook recognized that one of the first five cities to benefit from this program should be Houston," Turner said in a statement.

For many business owners, the importance of using Facebook to grow their business isn't a new realization. One in three U.S. small and medium-sized businesses on Facebook reported they "built their business" on the site, and 42 percent said they hired more people due to growth via Facebook, according to a survey by Morning Consult and co-sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Facebook

“Facebook is proud that 40 percent of small businesses in the U.S. are growing their business and hiring more people because they’ve used the platform. Our teams want to invest more to help the other 60 percent of businesses add more jobs," Levy said.

The idea that Facebook helped swing the U.S. presidential election via Russian-bought ads is actually a useful case study of how great Facebook and its ads are. Of course, Facebook doesn't want to be known for that.

"There’s no part of Facebook that wants to take money or help any of these fake accounts or people who are interfering with the U.S. presidential election. There’s no place for that on Facebook. We have zero tolerance whatsoever for that," Levy said.

Levy noted that the public perception ads has often swung in different directions for Facebook. When Levy joined in 2012, a big concern from small business clients was that General Motors was pulling out of advertising and therefore should they as well.

"I think the place we’re at today is we have improved the measurement so much for business owners that they have a really good understanding that when they put a dollar or a euro or a pound in they understand the return they’re going to get for their business, and that’s what we’re here to do," Levy said.

"They have a choice everyday of where they can spend their time and they can spend their money. I always tell them, ‘We sign no long-term contracts with you,'" Levy continued. "Because we want to be able to earn your time, your money, and your trust every day."

While some lawmakers have scrutinized Facebook for its unchecked power, business owners have reported favorable views of the company. According to the Morning Consult survey, 8 in 10 businesses said they had a favorable view of Facebook, and two-thirds said it had a positive impact on the local community.

Levy's job is to make sure Facebook does more to support communities via local businesses. In addition to the 30-city tour, Facebook is working to build more products to help business owners. For example, Facebook noticed that business owners are a part of Facebook Groups, and Levy said they want to look for ways to better support those.

"Everything that’s happening there is completely organic ... What can we do to help enhance that. Are there features in the Group we can add?" Levy said. "At the end of the day Facebook, from my perspective, for our small business clients, needs to be the best minute and the best dollar that they spend to grow their business."