Promoting Your Shop with Facebook
Facebook is the worlds largest social media channel with billions of monthly active users worldwide.
It’s an essential tool for selling online and we are going to explain how you can build your brand and customer base on Facebook.
The first thing you are going to have to do is set up a Facebook business page if you have not already.
Doing this will enable you to post your business updates, new products and shop links via a public business page and separate your personally Facebook account from your business.
This will make it easier for you to interact with your followers and customers as your brand.
If you have not set up a Facebook page as of yet you can do so by going to:
- Go to facebook.com/pages/create
- Click to choose a page type
- Fill out required information
- Click Continue and follow the on-screen instructions
Via your Facebook page you will be able to add your brand logo, a cover photo and create a “Shop Now” button which links to your website address or unique marketplace address.
Once you have set up your Facebook page it is a good idea to invite your friends to like your page and encourage your network to share your page to grow your following.
From your Facebook page you will be able to post like you do on your normal personal account but you will be doing so as your business.
It’s a great idea to ensure you post daily up to three times a day to engage your audience and followers.
Think about the type of content you like to see on Facebook and what makes you interact.
People like to see engaging and refreshing content. They do not want to be sold to.
It’s a great idea to “talk” to your audience and ask them a question.
For example if you make jewellery and it’s raining outside then why not make a post like “Horrible day outside means a creative day in the studio, what are you all doing today?” then have a photo of you working on making your product.
This will engage your audience as they will be aware it’s a horrible day weather wise and will connect with the post.
You should also add your shop link or product link at the end of the post so people can visit your shop and shop from you.
Creating content and posts like this on your page on a daily basis will really engage your audience and show how you are building your brand.
People will connect with it on a personal level and take notice as it will not read or come across as an “advert” but actually what you are doing is building your brand awareness for consideration in the future.
Another fantastic tool is the Facebook stories feature.
This would be a great place to do short videos showing you making the products or talking to your followers about what you are working on today or showing them your workspace for example.
Facebook stories should not be underestimated as they are a very powerful tool.
Having engaging video content in these and showing you as a person or you making your products and talking to them is very powerful.
It tells the story behind the brand and shows them the business is being ran by a real person and not a robot.
A little tip for increasing the number of people liking your page is to to click on who has liked your post.
If someone has liked the post who does not like your page already it will come up “Invite” and if you click on this it will send them an invitation to like your page.