Facebook has made its way through the years from a college app to a SM giant and huge selling platform with enormous capacity. In terms of demographics, the number of Facebook active monthly users reaches a staggering number of 2.8 billion. 9.4% of the audience are women between 18 and 24 years, male users aged 25-34 are the biggest demographic group. Two-thirds of the total number visit the platform on a daily basis and they are aged under 35. These facts place Facebook as a top-1 advertising platform.
Selling is actually the top priority of any business, the more the better. With its e-commerce push, Facebook keeps launching more and more features to turn buying into a smooth, painless and even amusing process with easy checkout. But don’t get overwhelmed with the desire to sell everything right away. There are some DOs and DON’Ts you should know.
DOs you should be aware of
Do create a Facebook Business Page, it’s no secret that selling on the platform requires it. Your profile and cover pictures should look professionally and fully reflect your brand strategy. Fill out all the fields required – website, contact info, your business description, actual address, website, other communication channels like Instagram etc. Customize your Page and add all the necessary shortcuts as well as CTA.
Do set up a Facebook Shop if you sell physical products. Before doing so you need to make sure that they comply with Merchant Agreement and Commerce Policies. You might also consider creating Instagram business account and connecting it to Facebook. The most important thing, in that case, is connecting both Facebook Business Page and Instagram Business account to the same Business Manager Account.
Do set up a Commerce Manager and enable checkout. Having an online store on another platform or using Facebook for selling both require a Commerce Manager. That is the place where you set up your shop and connect eCommerce platform. There you’re given three options for checking out: check out on Facebook or Instagram, your website, messaging. If you choose to check out through messaging, buyers can be directed to FB Messenger or WhatsApp for payment completion.
Do use paid promotion wisely. Paid promotion campaigns are actually an issue for further discussion, but it works. You can run an Ads campaign by yourself, ask your SM Manager or delegate it to a third party.
Do reply to messages asap and react to comments to your posts. Remember that green badge that certifies you’re “very responsive”? Setting up a chatbot can significantly streamline your work. 90% of B2C communication can be handled without human being interaction. It meets customers’ needs and provides 24/7 customer support.
DON’Ts you should never try
Don’t try to sell everything at once. Remember that Social Media is the place for entertainment. Don’t post just products and all about it. Apart from it you should be posting helpful and entertaining content that people would like to share. In other words you should build an engaging community.
Don’t ever argue with your customers publicly. Your page is your brand’s reflection. To cut a long story short, you and your team should be ready and know how to solve the issue in case one of the customers’ posts a complaint. Try speaking to customers privately by providing a phone number or email.
Don’t buy likes. The Facebook algorithm relies on your page engagement rate, not on the total number of page likes. A big number of page likes compared to low engagement rate can play a dirty trick on you to prevent your content from being shown. Besides that, followers might question your credibility.
Don’t remain ‘silent’ for long. Maintaining a schedule for posting would be wise, since we’re building a community, remember? But, don’t get spammy, annoying. Deceiving is not an option either. Your products’ descriptions should match the reality.
Mostly, those tips are enough for beginners to launch a successful journey on Facebook. If you need more advice, reach out to us and will be delighted to help.
