eCommerce Support - Part 1 – Facebook

Social selling is one of trends that made its presence strongly known in 2021. The first predictions show that it will be no different in 2022. What does the era of social commerce mean for online store owners?

Organic activities and Facebook ad campaigns are a day-to-day reality for most modern stores - both stationary and eCommerce. To stand out, to reach new audiences, but also to strengthen the loyalty of regular users of your platform you need to take other formats. Live sales broadcasts, creating groups with loyalty benefits, competitions, chatbots taking over customer service - shopping driven by the power of social media is attractive to consumers, and as a result - more effective.

Data regularly collected from Facebook shows that selling on social media has never been easier. The new generation of consumers are impulse shoppers, and maximizing the number of points of contact between ads and users seems necessary to increase sales through new communication channels. Facebook, on the basis of experience from the introduction of its Marketplace message board aimed at local selling and buying between the portal's users, also saw an opportunity to implement a new eCommerce tool. By extending the functionality of its existing Marketplace sales platform, Facebook has entered the market with Facebook Shops designed to completely replace its predecessor. This Facebook initiative is designed to allow small and medium-sized businesses to create their own online stores directly on Facebook and Instagram for free. The new tool enables the entire shopping process without leaving the app. Moreover, Facebook e-shops not only serve to generate more purchases, but facilitate organic and paid communication with customers in all existing formats.

The potential of advertising on Facebook cannot be underestimated. Ads are created by practically everyone, so the key to staying ahead of the competition is effective ad optimization and well-fitted and distinctive content for your company.

The implementation and correct configuration of the Facebook Pixel is fundamental. This stage determines whether you will have access to information about customers and behavior on the eCommerce platform. Analysis of this data will allow you to plan new campaigns and update current ones on an ongoing basis.

Facebook's ads manager is a fairly intuitive tool. From an eCommerce perspective, you can use it to support every stage of the sales funnel - from building brand awareness and interest, decision-making, to purchase. In this context, it's important to understand your advertising objectives and allocate your budget proportionally across campaigns.

Social selling is an element of customer acquisition, allowing you to build even long-term relationships, commitment and loyalty. This can be achieved not only through advertising activities, but also through more direct contact with customers - via live sales broadcasts.

This format has grown strongly during the pandemic. Without the possibility to see and buy a product in stationary stores, Facebook live has become the only opportunity to see it live, as well as ask questions to a person conducting the live, exchange comments, doubts. The format itself is nothing new. Millenials, but also older viewers, remember very well the teleshopping that came to Poland from across the ocean. Live broadcasts work on a similar basis. The seller shows the product and talks about it, he can also check the comments of the viewers and answer their questions. "Is it possible to have as much fun while shopping without leaving home compared to a visit to the store? Now you can, because especially for you we have started a series of live programmes in which real shopping emotions meet expert knowledge" - announced the first IKEA live. This format, attractive for buyers, is worth continuing also during regular stationary store operations. It encourages more spontaneous purchases, and for digital nomads it will be an opportunity to confidently make a purchase through better product exposure.

How to further increase sales in online store through Facebook activities? Certainly the implementation of chatbot technology, which improves and accelerates customer service, is an action that may not directly, but nevertheless strongly improves the sales process itself.

Secondly, content marketing is key to all efforts. The content you share on Facebook, whether organic or promoted, needs to be attractive, but also give your customers some sort of benefit. An effective content marketing strategy best builds engagement and loyalty.

Third - image. Thanks to social media you can show what is the mission of your eCommerce, what values are important to you. So if you implement some CSR campaigns - Facebook is the perfect place to communicate it.