Facebook Marketplace
Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram have changed the way people are purchasing products online. Not only do people purchase more products buy reviews they see from their friends on Facebook and Instagram but it is now possible for shoppers to shop on Facebook without even leaving Facebook.
Before you can start selling art on Facebook you will need to create a Facebook business page dedicated to your art business. After you have created your Facebook Business page you can start uploading your products manually or integrate your e-commerce platform to Facebook.
There is more than just uploading an image of your art on your Facebook page to generate sales and in this post, we are going to cover the basics so you can start selling on Facebook today.
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How to Sell Products on Facebook
On September 3, 1995, eBay was launched and changed the way people sold and shopped for products.
eBay made it possible for collectors to purchase items they would never find in their local shops.
There have been many changes since 1995.
To put it in perspective, in 1995, there were almost 45,000,000 internet users and in 2014 there were almost 3 billion active internet users.
In 1995, artists had a chance to showcase their art to 45,000 people around the world. That is if they all visited eBay.
Today artists have a chance to reach over 1 billion people marketing their art on Facebook.
Would you like to have your art seen by 1 billion people?
It is very unlikely that your art will reach everyone on Facebook, but the opportunity to reach a tremendous number of people is there.
You have a better chance of more people seeing your art on Facebook than if your art was hanging in a local gallery.
How do you get your e-commerce store seen by more people on Facebook?
How to Attract Prospective Customers
Artists that succeed in selling art online are the artists who have mastered the art of marketing. They have taken the time to learn all the available marketing tools, and they put in the work.
There is some incredible art that we will never see, just because the artist has not learned how to promote their art or are unwilling to try.
Are you the type of artist that wants to sell art or hopes your art will sell?
If you want to sell your art online, you will need to put in the hard work.
Let’s go over some different tactics you can use to start attracting prospective customers on Facebook.
- Make it easy for people to find your Facebook Page. Post links to your Facebook Page on your artist website, artist blog, other social media networks, newsletters, and email signature.
- Offer coupons or discounts only available to your Facebook followers. This will encourage your followers to share your posts and visit your page more often to not miss out on a special deal.
- Engage with your followers and other Pages that relate to your niche. Engaging with your followers only takes a few seconds but is very beneficial for your business. Engaging with other Pages will take a little longer, and you might want to consider scheduling some time during the week to do so. You must be social on social media networks if you hope to be noticed.
- Like other Pages as your Business Page. This will help you to build brand awareness. When you comment on a Business Page, make sure you comment using your Business Page. Everyone who goes through the comments will see your Business name.
- Hashtags are not only for Twitter. You can use hashtags to make it easier for people to find your posts on Facebook. People can search for specific hashtags in Facebook’s search bar. Hashtags can originate from other services like Instagram and compose posts from the hashtag.
- Use Facebook Ads to generate traffic to Your Page or posts. You are still getting your monies worth with Facebook Ads and Facebook has made it easier for businesses to target their customers. You will not be spending money on people who will not be interested in your art. I predict Facebook Ads’ costFacebook Ads’ cost to rise as more businesses are taking advantage of Facebook’s low prices.
- Produce shareable content on your Facebook Timeline. Your posts will reach more people when your following shares them. When someone enjoys a post that you have created, they will share it with their friends. This will help you to build brand awareness.
- Produce content for your audience. You have a better chance of having your followers engage with your posts if you write content interesting to them.
Like we have mentioned earlier, the Facebook marketplace is booming, and there is more art being sold directly on Facebook than ever before.
Can you sell handmade items on the Facebook marketplace? You can, but you will have to be creative and build a following so people know you are selling on Facebook. You will not sell anything if people do not know your Facebook store exists. Start by sharing your Facebook Page with your closest family and friends, and they will help you get the word out when they like and share your posts.
Facebook Stores
After you have started building your Facebook following, you will want to make it easy for fans to purchase your art.
There are a couple of ways you can on Facebook, and you will want to be aware of both so you can make the best decision for your art business.
The first way is to upload an image of the art you want to sell and include a link to a site where they can make the purchase. The problem you will face is that Facebook wants people to stay on Facebook for as long as they can so they do not share posts with outside links on them too many people. You will be lucky if a linked post receives 2% of your following. The number can go up if your fans engage with the post, however, if they don’t your post will not be seen by many people.
Why does Facebook want you to stay on their platform?
Facebook is a business and they are there to make money. The longer people stay on Facebook, the more ads they will see. This is one way Facebook makes its money.
Facebook knows that online sales are increasing year to year. They are taking advantage of this and are now allowing businesses to build shops on their Business page.
A person can now purchase a product without leaving Facebook. This makes it convenient for people on Facebook and it benefits Facebook because people are not being redirected to a different site.
There are many apps available for you to have a professional-looking shop. These apps have made it easy for people who are not familiar with coding to customize a shop that is true to their brand.
You will have the options to add your logo, change the colors and arrange your products until it represents your art website.
Another benefit of building a Facebook shop is that most third-party tools include and install an SSL certificate. SSL certificates provide secure connections from a web server to a browser making it a safe transaction for your customers.
How To Open A Store On Facebook
Opening a store on Facebook is easy to do and will only take a few minutes to have your products available for purchase on your Facebook Page.
The hardest part will be to decide on what third-party service you will want to use or if you will use a Facebook shop.
For information on how to set up a Facebook shop visit, How To Add Products To A Facebook Shop.
The Facebook shop is easy to use and manage however if you are looking for something you can modify to match your brand you might want to consider using a third-party Facebook and Instagram shop platform.
Here are some of the most popular third-party services artists and businesses use to create a Facebook store.
Opening a store on Facebook is easy to do and will only take a few minutes to have your products available for purchase on your Facebook Page.
The hardest part will be to decide on what third-party service you will want to use or if you will use a Facebook shop.
For information on how to set up a Facebook shop visit, How To Add Products To A Facebook Shop.
The Facebook shop is easy to use and manage however if you are looking for something you can modify to match your brand you might want to consider using a third-party Facebook and Instagram shop platform.
Here are some of the most popular third-party services artists and businesses use to create a Facebook store.
Opening a store on Facebook is easy to do and will only take a few minutes to have your products available for purchase on your Facebook Page.
The hardest part will be to decide on what third-party service you will want to use or if you will use a Facebook shop.
For information on how to set up a Facebook shop visit, How To Add Products To A Facebook Shop.
The Facebook shop is easy to use and manage however if you are looking for something you can modify to match your brand you might want to consider using a third-party Facebook and Instagram shop platform.
Here are some of the most popular third-party services artists and businesses use to create a Facebook store.
Edwin
Ecwin has several payment options for you to choose from. You can start your shop for free to see if it something that will work for you.
If you are happy with the software, you can upgrade your account to get more features that will help you to build your art business on Facebook.
Features:
- Free plan available
- Set up shop on multiple social networks, multiple sites, and blogs
- Easy to install
- Responsive. Your shop will look great on any device
- SSL-certificates
- Server configuration and hosting
- Great shopping experience
- Easy checkout
- Language detection
- Smart shipping calculator
- Track inventory
- Manage products
- Sell digital goods
- Several payment options
One benefit you might find very helpful is that Ecwid allows you to sync your products between your website and your Facebook Page.
One common mistake I see artists make when they are selling with different platforms is the inconsistency of pricing. Ecwin makes it easy for you to have consistent prices online as well as an accurate inventory.
StoreYa
StoreYa offers a free plan as Ecwid does. The difference is that StoreYa offers 50 free product SKUs. Ecwid’s free plan only allows you to have 10 free product SKU’s.
One feature you might be interested in is the ability to import products from over 23 store platforms like WooCommerce, Shopify, and Amazon.
You will also have a set of marketing tools that can help you build your audience.
There are many apps available for small business owners to take advantage of Facebook’s audience.
More Storefront Apps
Here are a few more options for you to consider. I recommend spending some time researching what each app offers before you commit to one.
Promote Products with Facebook Cover Photo
As you already know, Facebook makes a lot of changes. In the past, Facebook didn’t allow Business Pages to have clickable Cover Photos.
You can now create a call-to-action on your Cover Photo to entice sales.
To keep up-to-date with Facebook’s Guidelines, visit Facebook Page Guidelines.
To create a Facebook cover photo go to Canva and select the Facebook cover photo template.
Canva has templates for all the most popular social media networks making it easy for you to keep up with the image dimensions.
All you have to do is click and drop, and you will have a beautiful image in minutes.
Cover Image Tips
Keep in mind that most people are using mobile devices to visit Facebook when creating your image or.
In most cases, the text on images is difficult to read on mobile devices. Use a large font with contrasting colors to make your font stand out.
Match the look and feel of your Cover Photo to your artist website, artist blog, and other social media networks you are on.
Marketing On Facebook
Selling products from a Facebook store is a numbers game. The more people who visit your Facebook page the higher the odds of landing a sale become.
How do you get more people to visit your Facebook page and engage with your posts?
Social media marketing is different than email marketing or content marketing. A successful social media marketing plan focuses on posting valuable information about the business or products not selling the product.
If you want to be successful in selling your art on Facebook, you will not want to sell on Facebook.
What does that mean?
People do not go on Facebook to shop. If someone wanted to find something unique to purchase, they would visit Pinterest.
People go on Facebook to socialize and be entertained.
Most of your posts should be entertaining stories that relate to your art business.
Yes, you can have a clickable Cover Photo and a nice Store, Front landing page to make it easy for someone to purchase from you if they choose to do so.
Your main goal for selling art on Facebook is to think about indirect sales. Take the time to build the trust of your audience. Provide them with content that interests them. Most importantly, respect their time.
The rule of thumb is the 80/20 social media marketing strategy. 80% of the posts should be information about your art business. 20% is for asking for a sale.
Final Thoughts On How To Sell Products On Facebook
Before you can sell your art on Facebook you need to spend time growing your fanbase. You can set up a Facebook shop while you are building your following but your main objective should be to build relationships with the people who follow you on your Facebook
As your audience grows and you continue to add products to your Facebook shop your sale will increase.
Using the Facebook shop might be best if you are new to selling art online. However, if you have a large following and you are looking to increase your art sale on Facebook you might be better off with a Facebook shop app.
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