Visa Inc. has launched a b-to-b network on Facebook to help connect small businesses.
“Working with Facebook, Visa is breaking new ground by harnessing social networking to connect business owners,” said Antonio Lucio, CMO at Visa Inc., in a statement. “We are putting the power of the network in the users’ hands, and it will be fascinating to see how the community evolves.”
The Visa Business Network is designed to help small business owners network with other business owners for new business, best practices, advice or support, and to reach the more than 80 million active users worldwide and more than 80,000 small businesses on Facebook.
To help it accomplish these goals, the Visa Business Network provides small business owners with tool kits from content providers such as Google to help increase business efficiency. These include Google Docs, Google Calendar and Google Sites.
Additional partnerships provide small business owners with access to business experts, commentary and news feeds. The list of partners includes The Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, All Business, Forbes.com, Fast Company and Microsoft.
Visa will provide the first 20,000 US-based businesses that join the Visa Business Network with a $100 Facebook Ads credit. Facebook Ads allow businesses to deliver relevant advertising for users based on their interests and targeting categories such as location, age and gender.
