If you are a small business owner you must keep looking for innovative ways to boost your sales to grow your business. Social media has exploded within the past decade, which has created an opportunity to boost brand awareness and also drive sales for existing and new products. Engaging on social media you can showcase your product within your customer’s news feeds.
Facebook Marketplace has created the opportunity to engage with customers and also sell your products.
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What is Facebook Marketplace?
Facebook launched its Marketplace in 2016 as a way to allow current Facebook users to buy and sell within their own community. There are hundreds of millions of people using Marketplace each month, and it is totally free to set up a listing within Marketplace. If you do not have a Facebook account for your business, you’ll need to create one, since you need a Facebook account to sell items.
What Are the Pros of Selling on Facebook Marketplace?
- Facebook has over 2.8 billion monthly active users making it one of the largest social media platforms. If you list your products on Facebook Marketplace, you’ll take advantage of its unparalleled reach.
- Facebook Marketplace has made it fast and easy to list items for sale. Whether you are using the desktop version or the mobile version, the UX (User Experience) is phenomenal.
- If you are unsure of the demand for your new product, Facebook Marketplace is a good option to test that demand.
What Are the Cons of Selling on Facebook Marketplace?
- If you would like to sell more than one of the same items, you will have to create individual listings for them. It can be time-consuming, especially if there are many of the same items you need to list.
- There are also selling fees, if you make a sale on Facebook, they will deduct 5% for selling fees or a flat fee of $.040 if the item is $8 or less.
- Facebook requires the seller to ship orders within 3 business days. You also need to update the shipping status of all your orders.
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- Before you list your product on Marketplace, do some research (Competitive Analysis) to see what the landscape of your product looks like. Ideally, you’ll want to price your products competitively or find key points on why your items are worth more.
- Most importantly, make sure you list your product in the right category. Also, you should use SEO Keywords in the title and description of your product. The search engine on Marketplace works similarly to Google. So having a strong SEO strategy will ensure your product comes up first when users search for them.
- Use high-quality, square photos. When you are shopping online, what is your reaction to a less-than-great photo? You most likely won’t buy that product, right? Well, the same goes for Facebook Marketplace. So make sure your photos showcase your product well.
- Facebook Messenger is built seamlessly into the buying and selling experience on Facebook Marketplace, make sure you use that as leverage. It is a super-easy way to communicate with potential buyers in real-time. For this reason, you should respond to messages as soon as possible. If they wait, they’ll lose interest and turn to a competitor.
- There are likely many Facebook Groups that you can share your listing on. Sharing your product listing to relevant Facebook Groups will increase how many people view your listing.
Conclusion: You should consider Facebook Marketplace for Your Business
If you are a business owner, you have nothing to lose by taking advantage of this great marketing tool. It is an effective, affordable platform that you can try out. If you find that you aren’t earning consistent sales, you can always move on to other marketing ideas in the future.