Wednesday 23 July 2014

How to Use Facebook to Increase eBay Sales

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit
Ebay.com is an online shopping site and auction house. It allows people and businesses to sell products to interested consumers. Ebay sellers get better sales figures if they promote to the right demographics, who then increase the number of bids on their items. Facebook and other social media sites are now great ways to advertise products and businesses. In February 2012, there were 845 million users on Facebook. Although the Facebook business accounts are free, Facebook can easily become integral to your marketing plan. You can promote your products to specific users or create targeted ads through Facebook's advertising system. Read more to find out how to use Facebook to increase eBay sales.

Steps

Setting up a Facebook Account
  1. Choose if you want to set up a personal Facebook account that also advertises occasional eBay sales, or if you want to set up a business website with the purpose of promoting and marketing your eBay sales. When you set up an account on Facebook.com, they will ask you to choose whether it is personal or if you are setting up an account for a business or organization.
    • You must already have a personal page in order to set up a business Fan page. Fan pages are run by administrators who have personal accounts. When you create a Fan page, you will be added as an administrator, and you can appoint others to be administrators and post to the page as well.
    • If you choose to combine your personal account with your eBay sales, it is a good idea to announce to your friends, family and acquaintances that you will be starting to showcase a few of your eBay sales online. You can ask them to please pass the item on to anyone who they think would like it. It is a good idea to only post sales occasionally, so that people do not get annoyed by constant posting and "unfriend" you.
    • If you create a Facebook Fan page, the term for a business page, then you should create a brand and personality before you start posting eBay sales. Ask a graphic designer to design an attractive profile picture and Timeline cover that boost your image as a professional, reliable business. Also, post professional pictures of yourself and welcoming information in your information and on your wall. In general, social media users do not like a "hard sell," so be ready to mix your eBay sales posts with interesting and fun information.
  2. Link your eBay account with your Facebook account. You can do this by clicking on the downward arrow next to your account and changing your account settings. Under the "General" tab, find the "Linked Accounts" section. Click on "OpenID" and add your eBay URL.
  3. Add eBay Facebook applications. Start by giving the popular app "eBay Items" access to your account. You should also consider adding eBay classifieds, eBay selling feed and eBay for iPhone.
    • Try out each eBay app and decide what best fits your selling style.
  4. Start sharing your page with friends, after you have posted approximately 20 times. They will be able to see what your focus is, and then share your page with people they think will be interested.
  5. Post a Facebook Fan page badge on your website and eBay account. Also, include a "Like us on Facebook" link in all your emails to clients. Cross-promotion through regular marketing, social media and eBay is the best way to increase brand awareness and sales.
  6. Hold contests and promotions on your Facebook page. Tell people that if they buy certain products they will receive something for free, or that you are giving away a product to the person with the best product tagline. Get people involved with sharing and visiting your page by giving them incentives.
  7. Talk with your fans and encourage them to post to your wall. As an administrator, you can remove any inappropriate comments. However, you should consider social media marketing as a conversation, so be friendly, deal positively with customer service problems and say "thank you" whenever possible.
Creating Facebook Ads
  1. Under "Insights" in the Fan Page section you can click "Create an Ad" to start a Facebook ad. On a personal account, look on the right hand column of your home page, and next to 1 or 2 ads it will say "Create an Ad." Choose 1 of your most popular items to experiment with Facebook's advertising system.
    • You can create a "Sponsored Story" or a "Facebook Ad." A sponsored story allows you to advertise content that was posted on Facebook, while a Facebook Ad will advertise a particular business or product.
  2. Post your item on your Facebook page with an attractive picture and short, but catchy, product title. Try to post your website name in your original post. Even if someone doesn't click on your ad, they may go to your website to find out more about similar products or visit your Facebook Fan page.
  3. Continue through the process of creating your ad by choosing the demographic, specific interests and ways that you would like your ad to be displayed. Facebook ads are advantageous because they allow you to target your ideal client. Facebook ads usually have you pay per click, and you can set a time frame to test your ad out.
  4. Test out a few different products and demographics with eBay Facebook ads. Study the results after a month or 2 to decide if Facebook ads work well for your products. If not, you have probably created some brand awareness, and you can open up that advertising money to use on other sites.

Things You'll Need

  • Personal Facebook Page
  • Facebook Fan Page
  • eBay Items app
  • Facebook ad
  • Product photos and other content

Sources and Citations

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Use Facebook to Increase eBay Sales. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.



Make Money With Facebook
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)