Facebook and Selling – A Good Combination…if used the Right Way!
Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms for making sales in a business because it uses referral marketing and the # of users there. Statistics shows that active (monthly) users almost reached as of June 2013, there are 1.11 billion Facebook users, with 665 million active daily. And further statistics report would depict the United States on top of the ranking in terms of Facebook users.
So how does the above information affect facebook and selling? It is good to know that we can reach a lot of people through Facebook. And more are seeing the benefit of this by selling their items online. This is great news for entrepreneur or business owner!
How do you make sales with facebook for your business?
Facebook and Selling Tip #1: Facebook Fan Page:
Many of you know this, but I thought I’d point it out for those that don’t. The Facebook Fan Page is set apart from your personal profile page. This has been designed in a way that rolls out to e-commerce. It is a good way to reach people while still being able to interact with them, as Facebook after all is social networking site. The more that your fan page is being talked about, the more people will be able to recognize your presence and higher chances of pulling in revenue. You can also sell products directly through your page with a custom app, like Heyo. Here is an example of a Facebook app I created with Heyo for a client of mine. He is an author that sells a book, so we added the options to buy his book directly on his page. View it here.
Facebook and Selling Tip #2: Direct Selling:
Who would have thought this is possible with social media – but it already has been happening and growing each day. Times have changed and people are more apt to logging online to shop from the comforts of their home than go about driving around and going to local retail stores. With Facebook, some retailers has tapped on their fan page with e-commerce apps to do just this. You can set up a direct buying link app right on your page too. Also, being that people are more likely to buy from a referral, facebook is the perfect place. BUT, be careful! Let’s not get spammy or push sales ALL the time. You have to do a large mixture of creative content and promotions in order to be perceived in the right way. People are not on Facebook to be sold to, they are on Facebook to socialize. 🙂
Facebook and Selling Tip #3: Advertising:
Facebook is first and foremost a social site, but their advertising space is powerful. You can narrow down direct to your target market, just through their ads. You can narrow an ad to men, women, ages, interests, locations, target only friends of fans and so much more. The cost is fairly inexpensive, especially compared to Google Adwords. You can choose to sell direct through these ads or you can sell indirectly by focusing on building your email list, then selling through the email. You can offer discount pricing on an item or service, then target that ad to interest parties. I find Facebook ads to be the most useful types of advertising out there. But, be careful, you should really know what you are doing when placing an ad and you need to monitor it closely. A great resource to learn about Facebook ads is JonLoomer.com. He has blogged about all things ‘Facebook ads’, so you will be able to learn a ton there!
Facebook and Selling Tip #4: Email List Building:
As mentioned in Tip #3, Facebook is great for building your email list. You should have a give-away app right on your page that collects emails. I suggest Heyo to build this app. This is something I have helped many businesses with doing, so if you are not the do-it-yourself type, feel free to contact me to set this up for you. You can also run ads right to that app or a squeeze page to increase the opt-ins. Being that the advertising is so targeted, this is a fantastic list-building technique. Then, once you have the email targeted audience, you can sell your product on then through that list.
Facebook has definitely gone a long way from posting pictures and updating statuses. It has moved to being able to reach a growing network and doing business with them. Selling is just a part of the whole picture, but Facebook and Selling do go hand-in-hand if done the right way!
