Selling from a Facebook Page - Methods to Increase Sales

Todays post is about some methods you can use on your facebook page to increase the chances of you getting orders and sales.  After all this is what you are actually there for right? Obviously i can't guarantee these methods will work for everyone, but from my time running selling pages etc i have built up a good idea of what works and what doesn't in general terms.

Who are you selling to?

The first step to increasing your sales is to look at your audience. The first thing you learn in any marketing course is to identify your target audience, and its the first step for a very big reason - There is no point in advertising products to people who are not interested in them. You could offer the goods to people for free and if they are not interested in it to start with they still wouldn't care if they had that product or not.

So you need to think about who you are attracting people to your page - what kind of people are they? Are they people who would be interested in actually buying your products? If your page has a lot of 'false' likes you will basically need to work on attracting a new audience.

How to find people interested in your products is actually quite easy - you say this is what i sell, if you like it come like my page to see more....yep thats it - see fb does actually make some things easy for you! The trick is to make sure you are asking people who are interested in buying things in the first place, so make sure you are posting in a place where there are buyers and not just other sellers.  (Yes ok some sellers are buyers too BUT remember a lot of people are selling on fb or have set up a small business because they need an extra income - they often do not have money to spare).

What about people already on your page? 

Ok so what if you have already built up quite a lot of people on your page? Even if the people who have liked your page are not interested in buying your products they can still be useful contacts.  They might not be potential buyers BUT they can help you in a number of ways so all is not lost.

Firstly, with the new settings and restricted reach of many pages anyone who engages with you on your page will help to increase the reach (people who can see the post). So if your likers start to engage with you it will help other people to find your page and products.

People who have liked your page with no interest in buying from you are highly likely to be other small business people. IF you do manage to build a relationship with them they can be a good source of support, information, feedback and possibly referrals as well - this does tend to be based on a reciprocal relationship so remember to offer the same in return.

If you are really struggling to make any sales on your fb page the people already there can also be a useful sounding board - would they like to see a different range for example? are there competitors you aren't aware of? The people on your page MAY be a useful source for conducting market research.....

Look at your facebook page through the eyes of a potential customer....

There are certain things that simply put people off from buying on fb pages so try to make sure your page:

Is warm and inviting - don't just post pics of things you are selling and hope people will buy them.  You need to welcome people and make you page a nice place to visit.......think of it like it is your shop and treat people the way you would like to be treated as a customer (or potential customer).

Has clear information about how to purchase - what should someone do if they would like to buy something? Don't assume it is obvious.

Has prices and descriptions on everything for sale - This is one of the most common reasons people don't buy from a page.  Especially if you have to wait for replies etc the chances are high the buyer will see something else they like on another page where they don't have to ask.

Has information about payment methods accepted - The most common form of payment on fb is paypal.

Has information about returns/problems - Let people know what to do if they have a problem with a purchase.  Don't forget under the distance selling regulations you are obligated to have a returns policy.

Has decent quality photographs of products - Your photos should be clear, uncluttered and show the item from different angles.

Is updated regularly - show people that your page is managed and checked on a regular basis and you have new products being added.  Keep the range of goods interesting.

Offer discounts/give aways etc to customers but do so with caution - Be careful not to be discounting goods constantly - offers should be clear and time limited to meet fb terms and conditions.

Respond promptly - It is difficult sometimes to monitor your page all the time but do try to respond as quickly as possible to queries.


Create a Sales Campaign 

This one is about sitting down and actually planning what it is you are going to do in order to generate sales.  It doesn't always have to be about spending money on advertising, it could be posting an album of your goods in a local selling group, using a networking page, offering a discount etc etc.  For this type of campaign i would suggest focussing on just a few products rather than trying to sell your whole range.

Check your pricing

I have deliberately left this one to the end, because in my view you should know what your selling price is.  If you have done your research to begin with and used a system for working out your pricing then changing it should really only be a last resort.  I know craft people in particular find it difficult to price their goods, but you should know what it costs to make, and you should know what profit margin you are looking for.  If you decide to alter your prices it should be after you have sat down and done the calculations, not just because someone else is selling similar goods at a different price.

I hope you have found this post useful.....I could write more but don't want to turn this into a marketing and sales essay LOL! If you have any other tips you would like to share please do leave a comment.

If you would be interested in sharing your business story regarding selling on fb on this blog please contact me on thesellingcafe@gmail.com or on my facebook page.

Things NOT to do on fb....a Business Page Guide to Avoid Restriction

Facebook has many rules and guidelines and breach of these can lead to all sorts of problems with your business page.  With a massive increase in the number of pages getting restricted or closed i thought a little guide might be useful. 

There are some simple things to avoid:

• Do not post the same link repeatedly across different groups or pages - it is very tempting to post a link to your page or an item in several places where you know you can advertise these.  This is the number 1 cause of getting your business page restricted.  Do not post the same link more than 4 or 5 times in quick succession. 

• Do not tag other people in posts or photographs without their express permission.

• Do not ask people to tag other pages without permission or to tag themselves in photographs if they are not in the photograph.

• Do not use a personal profile (a friend request one) for business purposes - doing this will result in the profile being closed with no warning.

• Do not buy fb likes from any source

There are also additional specific things you need to do if you are running competitions and promotions:

• Do not run a contest/giveaway without making sure you meet fb promotions guidelines:

The following is copied direct from fb guidelines (full guide linked at the bottom of this post)

E.    Promotions

1. If you use Facebook to communicate or administer a promotion (ex: a contest or sweepstakes), you are responsible for the lawful operation of that promotion, including:

a.   The official rules;

b.   Offer terms and eligibility requirements (ex: age and residency restrictions); and

c.   Compliance with applicable rules and regulations governing the promotion and all prizes offered (ex: registration and obtaining necessary regulatory approvals)

2. Promotions on Facebook must include the following:

a.   A complete release of Facebook by each entrant or participant.

b.   Acknowledgement that the promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.

3. Promotions may be administered on Pages or within apps on Facebook. Personal Timelines must not be used to administer promotions (ex: “share on your Timeline to enter” or “share on your friend's Timeline to get additional entries” is not permitted).

4. We will not assist you in the administration of your promotion, and you agree that if you use our service to administer your promotion, you do so at your own risk.

Some of the more complicated aspects of running a business page include requirements under the advertising guidelines

• All content posted to your fb page can be considered as advertising and therefore needs to meet the advertising guidelines. The main issue being breached by pages is this one:

The following is copied direct from fb advertising guidelines (full guide linked at the bottom of this post)

At Facebook, we believe that ads should contribute to and be consistent with the overall user experience. The best ads are those that are tailored to individuals based on how they and their friends interact and affiliate with the brands, artists, and businesses they care about.

So this statement means that your page can be restricted for consistently posting content that does not engage your likers, or by posting non relevant material (I personally believe this may include posting links to other pages but i am not 100% sure of that)

If you are unlucky enough to be placed in FB jail.......(have account restricted) these are the main reasons:

Information about Page Limits & Warnings

Again copied direct from fb guidelines (full guide linked at the bottom of this post)

The following are reasons your business page may be restricted or removed: 

Facebook's spam detection systems will automatically place limits on your Page if they register suspicious or deceptive activity that violates our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.

For example, your Page may get unpublished for promoting spam, or the Like button may get disabled for deceptively acquiring likes. These limits apply to activity coming from your Page, not for posts other people make on your Page.If you believe your Page received limits by mistake, please let us know by going to your Page's admin panel and clicking Appeal under the limit's description.

Spam

Spam can involve contacting people with unwanted content or requests. This includes sending bulk messages, excessively posting links or images to people's Timelines and sending friend requests to people you don't know personally. Spamming is a violation of Facebook's community standards.

It's a violation of the Facebook Terms to repeatedly send the same message or make the same post because this could be considered spam or harassment. We also ask that you respect our members by not contacting them for commercial purposes without their consent. 

If you are not sure about the meaning of anything included in this post please feel free to ask and i will do my best to explain it :)

Further information can be found by reading:

Facebook Principles

Statement of Rights and Responsibilities

Facebook Advertising Guidelines

Facebook Pages Terms

Facebook Community Standards

Another useful Guide is this one explaining how facebook advertising works.

How to Reduce the Impact of 'False' Likes on Facebook Pages

In my last post are-you-liking-road-to-disaster? I discussed some of the potential problems business pages who have used various methods to inflate their like figures may soon be facing.  It is clear that some action will need to be taken right now to prepare for the current and future changes that facebook are introducing.

So if you have been using methods to attract people to your page who are not actually interested in it what can you do to improve the situation? First of all there are lots of things you can do, so don't panic and read on :)

INTERACTION

First of all you need to know the key to changing things around on your page is interaction - you need to work on getting the people who can see your posts to actually engage with you.  Anyone who has a page where no-one engages with posts will tell you it is not easy to get people to engage with you.....but actually it is not as difficult as you might think.

The number 1 way to increase interaction on your page is simply to ask questions.  I recently advised a seller to ask people on her page for their opinion about her knitted goods - ask them for colour suggestions, ask if they would like to see a cat or a dog next, ask if something looks ok even.  People LOVE to give their opinion so just give them the chance to give it :) The seller i advised to do this found it started to work straight away!

DEVELOP THE INTEREST IN YOUR PAGE

Ok so lets imagine you have 1000 people who have liked your page, but they are not really all that interested in your products - thats ok, they are still an audience.  If you have a lot of people who have liked your page already you can help to get them interested in what you have to say.  How? - back to INTERACTION - ask them questions about something they are interested in - even just ask what they are interested in - the chances are you will get a few responses at least and that gives you something to build upon.

DON'T PANIC ABOUT LOOSING LIKES

If you do loose likes just don't worry about it, there is no point in having people 'like' your page if they don't actually like it.....With each unlike you get you are developing a more targeted audience - it actually helps with your overall stats to have less non active likes as fb will interpret this as your page being more interesting and that you are working with a more targeted audience.  This is what fb want to see.

STOP CHASING LIKES

As i said before, its good to see your business page growing, and it is difficult sometimes to stop focusing on that 'magic number'.  Certainly look at ways to increase the number of likes you have in a slow and natural way - attracting new people who do have an interest in your products is a good thing.  Chasing a high like figure however is equal to just cramming random people into a shop - it doesn't make a good experience for any of the people who have been crammed in and the most natural thing for them to do is try and get out as soon as possible......Focus instead on the people who are there already, make your 'shop' a pleasant place to be and they will stay, and even maybe tell their friends how good it is :)

Remember the old saying.......

Focus on quality and not quantity and you will be improving the situation for everyone, including yourself!


Next time i will be discussing how to improve the chances of getting orders and sales from your facebook page :) to make sure you don't miss out ask to get added to our blog subscription list or join us on our facebook page  :) 

Are you Liking the Road to Disaster?

Way back in 2012 i wrote my first blog post about liking ladders and boosting likes on facebook and the concerns i had about it (you can read that post here and the follow up to that post here).  Although i was running a different page back then, it was still related to selling and small businesses on facebook.

What i was witnessing back then was a massive use of so called liking ladders designed to boost the numbers of likes a facebook page has got.  I conducted an experiment back then on my own page and the results were startling and extremely significant.  Very basically after using like ladders to boost my own page likes I monitored my stats only to find there was a huge decrease in the reach of my page.

Back then i did get slated for suggesting such things by some people, but i also had many agree with my conclusions.  Fast forward now to 2014 and here i am again, preaching about chasing like figures.  The difference is this time the networking pages themselves are advising people not to like and run and using the pages just to boost likes is not a good idea.  I am extremely glad to see this as, apart from confirming i was on the right track in 2012, they are also trying to educate the page fans.

Despite all this education however i am still witnessing a huge amount of people searching for likes and celebrating their magic number.  Its difficult not to celebrate the fan base of your page growing, and indeed it is something worth celebrating - when a page is grown slowly and with care it is a very very good thing to celebrate.  In my humble opinion however when done too fast and with 'false' likes it is going to lead to disaster for that page.

Why on earth would i predict such a thing? Quite simply because i have been researching my stats yet again and conducting more experiments on the new page.  I have also armed myself with as much knowledge as i can cram into my head about the new facebook settings.

Everyone seems to be reeling about the how their reach is so low since the new changes, but i have to ask myself why these stats would be so low.  My conclusion is the important point in the equation is INTERACTION.  A useful explanation of this can be found here.



Since investigating the new facebook algorithms and doing all this research i have actually come to the conclusion that what facebook is doing is actually a good thing......(ducks to avoid things getting thrown at me lol).  No really, i do think its good because facebook is actually telling us how to improve our pages.  What they are doing with these new changes is to limit the reach of our posts to people who are genuinely interested in what we have to offer - what they are doing is actually screening out the 'false' likes.  They are teaching us we need to be more choosy about who we try to bring onto our pages and they want us to have real fans who are interested in our pages - its marketing 101 really - Identify your TARGET AUDIENCE!

So why would this lead to disaster for pages who use liking ladders etc? Well facebook will be giving pages which are deemed to be interesting by their own fans precedence over those deemed less interesting, and how they will be doing this is via a weighting system based on INTERACTION.  If a page has people who are not actually interested in the business the interaction is going to be minimal....but the more people you have on your page the more chance there is of grabbing some fans who will interact and thats a good thing right? Or is it????

I have to wonder about how the amount of people a page has as fans will be taken into consideration in these algorithms......a page with 10 people as fans who are all interacting on a regular basis would mean this page has a 'score' of 100% - they have a very targeted audience despite being small.  On the other hand if the page has 1000 people as fans and only 10 people interacting regularly it has only got a 'score' of 1% and a rather un-targeted audience.

Take this further - the page with 1000 likes continues to add more and more people who are not actually interested in their page and the situation gets worse rather than better.  In my opinion (bearing in mind i am not an expert on this) facebook will be using a system like this to determine which of the business pages get space in the already packed newsfeeds of fans......I am guessing those pages with a wide non targeted audience will soon find themselves without any access  to those who have liked their page at all.  It is just a guess, but i'm usually quite good at predicting what is to come.

Next time i will be looking at what steps business pages in this situation can do to improve their page rank and hopefully avoid the problems i suspect they will face if no action is taken.

What a Difference a Month Makes

In my last post The Second Phase I had more or less just started to see some results from working on the interaction on The Selling Cafe Page  and the general page reach.  I had reached 605 likes and all was seeming like it was on track to where i wanted it to go.

Its now just over 1 month since those last statistics were published and definitely time for an update! Things have progressed extremely well i have to say.  Without looking at the stats i know the page is much more active and i have several developments underway - to be honest i'm quite surprised it has only actually been a month!!

So what do the stats say?

The number of likes today is 737 - up by over 200.

Last month interaction was up to a maximum of 200 from a maximum of 50 in month one.  This month the maximum is hitting almost 400.  There is a clear inactivity for a few days over Christmas but the rest of the month has a reasonable amount of activity going on and seems to be around the 100 level on average.

The post reach for December seems to be averaging out around 500-600 with a few higher peaks showing. Considering the likes are just over 700 i seem to be maintaining a reach that is not far off the mark on this right now.  I'm very pleased with this as many pages are struggling to hit even 50% of their likes level in reach terms right now.

Looking at the individual posts more closely the written posts are now hitting between 150 - 300 which is a decent enough increase from last month but the photos are still hovering around the 50 - 70 level.  This is not good news and i do need to do some more work on this ASAP.  The rest of the stats are showing things moving in the right direction though which is a relief. 

With regard to the sense of community - this is working very well.  There is a great sense of camaraderie with a group of around 20 people at the minute and i think this will really give us a good solid foundation.  The group is extremely supportive of each other and the general comments indicate there is a very big reduction in the feeling of isolation.  To be honest this side of things literally could not be better at this point.

Sales being generated from the page are extremely difficult to measure as often i am not privy to that information and its difficult to know where sales have come from specifically.  I do know for sure there have been several sales on the page though which i'm glad of.  At the minute i am considering changing part of the selling aspect on the page itself though - this issue of photos not being seen is forcing me to look at alternatives.  I have started to work on the blog now and have sorted links for Twitter from the fb pages.  Buy now buttons have been added to the blog and some of the sellers goods have been publicised on there so far.  I do want to get a basic introductory post completed for each seller and then it will be used for updates and announcements.  Another main development in regard to the blog is i have started a mailing list, so i am now actively capturing contact details.  

Overall i feel the foundations of The Selling Cafe have been set pretty well.  I am happy with the page progression and i have several additional themed pages working at bringing buyers into the loop.  There is now an auctions page and a £1 page.  The auctions page has just hit 300 likes and is proving popular, and the £1 page is just new with just 23 likes but again it is generating a good amount of interest from people who are there specifically to buy.  These pages will be used interconnectively to pull both sellers and buyers in and hopefully this will result in sales.  

So, it seems we are progressing well into phase 3 of the plan now - the selling part - the foundations of this are being laid down and i am reasonably confident of the multi-pronged approach being a good one.  

An additional aspect of providing advice and guidance has started to bud now as well.  This isn't something i deliberately aimed for, but with the changes happening on facebook pages right now it is becoming more and more obvious that pages are having to learn how to use their pages more effectively.  Luckily i have been developing my own knowledge about how the pages work for quite some time now, so my level of understanding is proving useful.  

Next steps? 

Obviously i need to continue adding to the group of members - the community needs to keep growing.  I am using a slow but steady growth model for this - i am adding to the group literally just a few members at a time, but i am now using a multi-level progression to membership.  

The main focus now will be on those activities which should lead to sales:  Overcoming the photo restrictions on fb has to be the top priority.  Luckily i do have a plan in mind!