Facebook announced some new updates to its Preferred Marketing Developer (PMD) program aimed at making it easier for marketers to find the right partners. Chief among those updates is a name change.

Starting early next year, the PMD program will be called “Facebook Marketing Partners”. Facebook will also be restructuring the program to make it easier to find partners based on specific needs. It will give partners a badge representing whether they meet or exceed partner standards, and the new structure is organized based on areas of expertise.

This includes the following labels: Ad Technology; Media Buying; Facebook Exchange(FBX); Community Management; Content Marketing; Small Business Solutions; Audience Onboarding; Audience Data Providers; and Measurement.

A Facebook spokesperson tells WebProNews, “After listening to both our advertisers and PMDs, we’re making a number of changes to help every member of this ecosystem thrive: More clarity: Facebook Marketing Partners is a one-badge program, and with vetting based on specialties, geographies, and verticals, marketers will be able to more easily find the partners that fit their needs; More choices: Advertisers will be able to choose from even more partners with a wider breadth of specialties (such as media buying); [and] More impact: These program updates will help marketers address the ever-expanding needs of their roles, allowing them to drive lift on the metrics that matter the most to their business.”

The new structure also enables businesses to find partners in specific countries and industries. There’s a revamped matching tool that lets you search by specialty, country, and industry, and then directly contact the partner.

Facebook says it’s also improving access to the Facebook Ads API so developers can build better tools to help marketers.

Businesses who are already using a PMD can continue working with them as usual. The changes are mainly just about the initial connection process. At the beginning of 2015, that’s going to change.

Image via Facebook