Getting Started Selling on Facebook

Getting Started Selling on Facebook
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Facebook has over 1.5 billion users and growing. It is becoming a good platform to sell your products because finding customers is easy with the right plan. People who may never stumble on your website may see your Facebook posts and ads. Besides your website, the more places you sell your products, the more you will sell? Taking full advantage of online marketplaces like Facebook, allows you to promote your own e-commerce website and make life-long customers by leveraging the power of social media. The nice perk about selling on Facebook is you don't have to leave the platform to make a purchase. Research shows this makes the customer inclined to buy from you.

Facebook rolled out a Buy Now button feature a few years ago. Businesses are beginning to take advantage of using it, which is good news for you! If you set up a Facebook store today you could give your sales a boost. Here are some steps for getting started selling on Facebook.

Start with Your Facebook Page
You won't be able to sell products on Facebook without setting up a Fan Page for your business, so if you don't yet have one, get one. Naturally, the more followers you have on your page, the more successful your selling efforts will be. So work on that first.

Get Your Store Set Up
Then, you'll want to set up a Shop on your page. If you use an e-commerce platform like Shopify, you can easily add on their Facebook Store service, which will integrate with your existing sales tools. Now, there are a few options for how you can reach people with your store. Anyone who visits and Likes your Facebook Page can buy from your store simply by clicking on the Store icon at the top of your feed. There are some apps you can use to direct sell on Facebook too.

  • SoldSie, If you don't want to create a separate store try the SoldSie app. It allows you to sell directly through your Facebook messages and posts. You just upload a photo, price and sale description and then schedule your event. At the specified time, the item will appear on your Facebook page as any message. Your follower's comment to buy, and them SoldSie manages inventory and billing. They fully integrate with Shopify.com
  • Beetailer, Connect your existing e-store to Beetailer to sell on Facebook. It offers a wizard will guide you through the process. You can customize the Facebook version of your store through an easy-to-use interface. For example, you can show only a certain subset of your products. It's free up to 30 products, and when customer want to check out they are directed back to your existing shopping cart. Pro account is40.00 per month.

Promoting Your Offerings

Facebook Ads: You can try Facebook Ads, which puts an ad with a "Buy Now" button into the feed (or on the side of it) of exactly the target audience you're trying to reach. It's a fairly cost-effective way to reach a wider, and specific target audience. The key to suggest is testing 3-5 ads for the first week of your campaign and using the click-thru rates to narrow your campaign to the best two ads. You may find that a modest investment in Facebook ads could really boost sales, as more people than would normally visit your Page see you landing page. When writing the copy for your ad, make sure it's descriptive of what you're trying to convey.

Make Your Store Appealing

The same rules apply here as they do on your e-commerce site: make your store appealing with well-written copy and professional high-resolution images.

Your Copy
Keywords matter here, so be sure to use them in writing your product descriptions. What would people search for to find this product? Use that and similar keywords. Also, be as descriptive as possible. You want to give people as much information as possible to make the decision to buy from your Facebook store.

Your Photos
You likely already have images of all your products that you use on your website. You can upload these for your Facebook store as well. Just make sure there are no distractions in the background and that your product is well-highlighted and in focus.

Final Tips on Selling on Facebook
Be sure to test a few of your products on Facebook to see if it generates sales or traffic to your website. It's a good idea to let your Facebook fans know that they can buy directly from your page. And share your other channels and email.

Be sure to integrate your Facebook Shop in your e-commerce inventory system. This will help you keep careful track of what you sell on Facebook and your website so you stay well stocked; especially if you make handcrafted items. Keeping track of your inventory helps you avoid canceling an order because the product is out-of-stock. There's nothing worse than losing sales and customers due to poor inventory tracking.

It's helpful to investigate other avenues that can bring revenue to your business. Try boosting your sales with Facebook!

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