Everything You Should Know About Selling On Facebook

Facebook. We’ve all (or at least almost all) got it. But in terms of marketing, just how much potential does it have?

Well, with over 2 billion active users, Facebook is the biggest social networking site. According to Statista, 80.4% of social media e-commerce referrals in 2019 came from Facebook. That’s 69.7% higher than the next social media site, Instagram.

Utilizing Facebook’s marketing potential is critical for success. Commerce has been moving in an online direction for years. Among Generation Z, only 9.6% of purchases were in-store.

Running sales and marketing campaigns on Facebook is also very cost-effective. Just look at the numbers. Customers who like a business on Facebook are 79% more likely to make a purchase. The average cost per thousand impressions for Facebook ads is only around $7.29.

That’s much less than the $35 or more per thousand impressions you’d have to pay to get a television ad for your product.

Mind you, these are the cost of paid impressions. You can still just decide to post your products on the platform to sell them. In that case, you wouldn’t have to pay for anything (note though that this strategy is not as effective).

Convinced? If you’re one of those looking to use Facebook for selling, here are other facts you need to know:

Facebook is a Passive Media Platform

Facebook is a passive medium. You cannot simply insert your content from elsewhere. It needs to be tailored to the passive nature of the platform.

A passive audience isn’t looking for products. They find products by scrolling through their Facebook feed. So, your content needs to be compelling enough to catch the audience’s attention (more on this later).

It’s best if the content doesn’t immediately look like marketing. Remember, passive audiences generally aren’t looking to make a purchase.

Content Reigns Supreme

Social media is about content. Family photos, articles on current events, and cat videos are all content. We want to be entertained and informed. We don’t want a sales pitch.

Content needs to be the focus when you sell on Facebook. The content has to provide value to the audience, no advert-style posts. You need stunning visuals, gripping copy, and a great headline.

Your content is also competing with an endless stream of exciting content. That content is posted by friends, family, and other marketers. You need to stand out!

Make sure your content is informative and actionable, entertaining and fun. That way, it provides maximum value.

Check out this great example from Loot Crate.

The ad is a great example of Facebook marketing since the graphics pop and the sales copy is intriguing. The post adds value as the customer can ‘draft’ a team and engage with it. That creates interest and excitement for the product.

If you are struggling to produce valuable content, you might want to consider sales training to know what to highlight in your copy.

Simple Is Best

Simplicity is key when it comes to selling on Facebook. Complicated Facebook marketing is scrolled past without a second thought. So, keep your posts simple, both in terms of layout and content. Simple messaging is clear. The audience understands what is being sold or promoted without effort on their part.

On social media, no one wants to work out what a post is about. It is meant to be entertaining and informative, after all.

To find out if your content is simple enough, ask yourself this. Is the benefit of your content immediately clear? If so, your content is at the right level of simplicity.

This Facebook post by Prada is a great example.

It is simple, effective Facebook marketing. The benefit of the post (the tote bag) is immediately clear. The language is simple, concise, and conveys the message well.

But be aware, as much as customers love benefits, they hate being misled. So, make sure the simplicity doesn’t hide any crucial details of your product or service. There is such a thing as too simple, too. Certain information must be conveyed for an effective post.  

Ad Engagement Is Important

Sometimes, a Facebook ad gets lots of engagement, but it doesn’t convert into sales. Don’t worry. That can happen even with well-written content. Ad engagement is an important marketing metric.

Even if you don’t convert, users sharing your ad increases your audience size. Because it’s done organically, they are more likely to engage. That can lead to future sales if you run effective retargeting campaigns.

It also shows Facebook that your ads are popular. That decreases advertising costs and can boost the content in Facebook’s algorithm.

So, consider high ad engagement as a success in itself. Ad engagement is about thinking about long-term strategies, not instant conversions. If your ad isn’t popular, think about what gets engagement. Ads that ask for a response are a great way to boost engagement in a fun way.

Retargeting Works

Retargeting is advertising to your audience based on their online behavior.  It’s also known as retargeted advertising. With retargeted advertising, an ad targets a specific segment of your audience, for example, users who shared a post but didn’t buy anything. The idea is, you’re more likely to convert with customers familiar with the brand. It’s effective for selling on Facebook.

Retargeting tracks a user through a few lines of code called a ‘tracking pixel’ that can monitor a user’s online habits (particularly statistics that relate to e-commerce). Appropriate ads are then served based on the information received.

For example, a user browses car rental deals, but they don’t make a booking. To target them, first, you need to define the appropriate parameters using the ‘Custom Audiences’ feature. Then, use dynamic product ads to target your custom audience. Remember, retargeted ads that include discounts do especially well!

Boost Engagement & Traffic With Giveaways

Everyone loves free stuff. So, when you’re selling on Facebook, it’s a good idea to give away free products to attract customers and make sales. The advantages of running a giveaway include:

• Increased traffic to social media accounts and website
• Increased social media page ‘likes’ and followers
• Wider organic audience
• Increased sales because those who don’t win might still buy

Giveaways are exciting. It makes people take notice of your product. Customers are being advertised to in a way they like. Look at what kind of giveaways are popular in your niche. With the right giveaway, your engagements and conversions can go through the roof.

This Steelseries headset giveaway is a great example.

The post shows off the product and creates interest in the brand. The user interaction means the post will be more widely shared. Just make sure to use a desirable product for your giveaway.

Everything Should Be Monitored

As with most things, selling on Facebook is a game of trial and error. Don’t be disheartened if your Facebook marketing campaign doesn’t take off immediately. You need to be flexible and adaptable. There are many factors at play in an effective campaign. You might only have to tweak a small part (like which segment of your audience to target.)

Luckily, Facebook campaigns are relatively cheap. You don’t need a huge advertising budget to get results. So, tinkering with a campaign until you get it right is usually cost-effective. But to make changes, you need to know what’s going wrong. So, choosing the right metrics to monitor is important.

The best metrics to track Facebook selling are the following.

• Engagement rate
• Click-through rate
• Conversion rate

Using these metrics, it’s easy to tell the improvements needed. Once you’ve made the improvement, you need to see if it’s working.

‘A/B’ testing or split testing can be effective for this. It involves running two different versions of the same content to see which performs best. Variables that usually need attention include the call to action and the images. But you might be targeting the wrong audience, so testing helps figure out the issue.

Wrapping up

Now you know the basics about selling on Facebook. It is vital, then, for you to incorporate this into your marketing strategy. As commerce moves online (particularly to social media), you need to make the move, too. There’s huge upside potential, even on a modest budget. Facebook has great analytic tools to help you monitor your campaigns.

But you need the right content. It needs to be tailored for Facebook’s passive audience. Make sure your content is entertaining and adds value. Don’t worry if your posts don’t immediately convert. Engagement on Facebook adverts increases audience size.

Utilize retargeting and leverage giveaways. They work well on Facebook. Finally, keep it simple. Facebook lends itself to simple messaging. You’re competing with every other post in the feed, after all.

Incorporate these points into your Facebook selling strategy, and you’re bound to start converting. Remember, though, that marketing on Facebook isn’t just about converting. It’s also about long-term brand-building. So, stay on top of marketing trends, too, so you can cement your position on the world’s largest social network.

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