3 Great Ways To Use Facebook for E-Commerce
by: Matt Blum
Are you taking full advantage of the social media marketing machine Facebook?
Not sure how to use Facebook for your E-Commerce Site?
Facebook allows E-commerce sites to leverage their customers and fans to engage, interact and send people directly to their e-commerce page (e.g.. www.voiyk.com).
Lets take a look at 3 ways to use Facebook in E-Commerce….
1. Discussion Boards (Link)
First, discussion boards enable your fans to get their thoughts and ideas out into the open. The boards also let you know what your customers and fans think and want. There are a number of things to remember when you use the discussion boards on Facebook:
- the discussion boards are your platform to tell your story to the community, sometimes good, sometimes bad
- the boards allow you to provide cohesive branding, matching up with your other branding efforts across the board, most importantly providing a consistent message
- the boards will allow you to participate in dialogue, again good and bad, you will elicit invaluable feedback through the discussion boards
- the boards will allow you to engage in peer to peer interactions, talk directly to your consumers, and possibly your competition… learn from every post!!
- Lastly, the boards will allow to convey a “call to action” from your consumers
2. Video Platforms (Link)
Online Video Marketing is the key business differentiator for e-commerce companies wanting to communicate their product profile and benefits in the shortest period of time.
Video Marketing is the best way to go for many reasons:
- today the average attention span of a consumer is seconds, not minutes, time and time again video is shown to be the most effective in garnering their attention
- the video platform is also picked up on major search engines work quickly than blog posts, etc…
- when an individual clicks on your video, they quickly see what you are trying to communicate, and they click on your product video, but importantly (if done well) they click into a relationship
3. Notes (Link)
The Facebook Notes Application has been recently overhauled with a new look and feel, including a revamped left side menu. The most notable new feature is the new text editor that includes standard formatting options that allow Facebook users to indent, bold, and italicize texts.
There are some things to remember so you can market effectively with Facebook Notes:
- Determine a controversial subject in your marketplace and take a personal stand, getting personal is the hardest thing to do in this situation, but if you reveal something personal and interesting about your product, you will begin to build bonds with your customers and friends
- Write a short article and end it with a question, this will certainly get people to respond, and always make sure the note ticks these four boxes (Enrich, Engage, Educate, and Entertain)
- Make it Short and Sweet and stick to the point, do not ramble or discuss multiple subjects, this will only confuse the individual reading it, remember you can always add more in the comments section
- Use The Share Button, this will allow you to people to vote up the best notes, and expose it to the widest audience possible. The note will also be posted to your profile page and all of your news-feeds. Always make sure it adds value to your customers and friends. Do not write notes just to write notes.
- Call them to Action, do invite your customers and friends to check out your blog or website, but do it in a “soft” way, similar to how your note was written, do not switch over to a hard sell, you will create disconnect.