Setting up an online store is one of the simplest ways to run a business these days. The costs are affordable for all entrepreneurs and it is extremely convenient for people to find and buy products they need quickly and easily from their smartphones or computer. However, being such a popular business model, the internet is swarming with ecommerce websites and many of them sell similar items.
So, how can you stand out, be visible to a large number of potential clients and persuade them to buy your products? The answer is simple: include social media – more precisely Facebook – in your online marketing strategy. Why Facebook? First of all because it is the most popular social media platform among young and middle-aged people – your most likely customers. It has matured from a teenage audience, and is now the virtual gathering place for people who want to keep in touch with family, friends and colleagues, and follow the latest news and promotions from their favourite brands.
Attracting followers on Facebook and directing them to your ecommerce website is an ongoing activity. You cannot slack in your efforts once you have become popular and built a traffic and sales funnel. The following tips are meant as helpful guidelines for your mid to long term social media marketing plan.
1. Filter Ads Audience
In terms of Facebook marketing, ads are the best tools to promote your products and services. You can no longer post status updates which look like ads because they will be deleted by Facebook, and you have to compete (bid) for your ads to be seen by people. One of the most typical forms of payment is cost per click (CPC). This is why you want to discourage curiosity clicks, i.e. clicks from people who are either unwilling to buy or cannot afford your products.
One way to discourage curiosity clicks is to include the price in your ads. In this way, people who click on your ad are already pre-qualified: they want the product, and they are willing to pay the price you ask.
2. Use Multi-Product Ads
People love to have the freedom of choice. Marketers understood this concept some decades ago, hence the catalogues and large billboards promoting complementary or seasonal products. “If not this then that” is a great way to limit the possibilities without appearing to restrict your customers’ freedom of choice.
You can achieve this by promoting two products in the same ad, combining them either complementarily, or by other things they have in common (best sellers, most discounted, etc.).
3. Do Not Forget about the AIDA Principle
Some marketing experts say it no longer works, but practice shows that building momentum towards a sale is still done following the path Attention-Interest-Desire-Acquisition (AIDA).
You can use your Facebook page, and the clever use of ads and shared content, to create the attention, interest and desire, followed by a traffic funnel to your ecommerce website to finalise the acquisition. Whenever you plan a social media marketing campaign, remember the AIDA principle in content creation and ad planning.
4. Use Trigger Words
Times may change, but human psychology does not. Whenever you plan a promotion, do not forget to include words which represent novelty, scarcity and exclusivity. Create customised promotions only for your Facebook fans, and promote clearances or pre-order discounts for new products weeks ahead of the actual launch.
However, remember to be honest in every promotion because it is very easy to be exposed on the internet – even large brands had to suffer the backlash of false clearance last-minute promotions.
These are just a few ways in which you can use Facebook’s large outreach to find people who are interested in your products, and convince them to visit your ecommerce website and complete a purchase. They are simple, effective and actionable things which you can do every day without investing too much time and effort.