With the Covid-19 pandemic forcing brands across the globe to adjust their business models and find new revenue streams, more businesses are looking to strengthen their digital presence and make the shift to online platforms. While the pandemic has disrupted businesses around the world, it has also opened doors to new opportunities. Take social media giant Facebook for instance. To ease the disruption caused by the pandemic, Facebook has put its foot forward into taking its next major step – launching Facebook Shops on both Facebook and Instagram in May 2020. The new feature aims to make shopping more seamless than ever for its users, and empower businesses to better connect with their consumers.
Why should you consider Facebook as an e-commerce platform you may ask. The answer is clear: Facebook’s potential reach for e-commerce is staggering. Among all the social media platforms, Facebook remains the largest social network. According to third-quarter 2019 results released by Facebook, it boasts over 2.45 billion monthly users worldwide. Taking a closer look at Facebook users in a local context, there were about 4.4 million Facebook users as of January 2020 – accounting for about 73.3 per cent of the population (Source: Napoleoncat).
So if you’re looking for a new avenue to sell your products, consider adding Facebook Shops to your Facebook Page!
Introducing Facebook Shops
Facebook Shops is a mobile-first shopping experience that allows brands to create an online store on both Facebook and Instagram easily. Brands can choose the items they wish to showcase, and sell them directly via their Facebook and Instagram profiles – taking customers from discovering products to purchasing them within only a few clicks. This can be done either through in-app purchases or by redirecting them to the brand’s website itself. What’s more, Facebook Shops is free for use so even small businesses with limited budgets can give this new platform a try.
Unlike Facebook Marketplace, this new feature caters more to businesses rather than consumers as it allows for a wider range of customisation.
Prospective consumers will be able to discover your products through the “View Shop” button on your business’ Facebook page or Instagram profile page, or by clicking on ads and swiping up in Stories. Moreover, just like in a brick-and-mortar store, you’ll be able to connect with consumers through Messenger, Whatsapp or Instagram Direct to answer queries and provide updates when necessary.
How to successfully brand your Facebook Shop?
Let’s take a closer look at how you can successfully set up a branded store for your business using this new tool. Here are some tips to keep in mind while branding your Shop so you can provide your customers with a seamless and on-brand experience.
1. Make It Visually Appealing
As Facebook Shops is driven heavily by images, it is crucial to use photographs that are not just visually appealing but also of high quality. Therefore, it’s a good idea to use professional-looking photos of your products that not only present your products in a tasteful manner while showcasing their important details and features. Besides photography, design also plays a huge role in setting your Shop’s visuals. The colours you choose for buttons and images should work harmoniously and the fonts you use should also reflect your brand’s identity. You can bring your brand to life using eye-catching imagery and design elements that build your brand identity. Not only that, it’s a good idea to create photos with a visual style in mind that ties them all together.
Hat shop Gigi Pip is one great example of strong Facebook Shop visuals as it utilises high-quality images and designs across Facebook and Instagram. If you take a look at its Facebook Shop, this is what you will see:
The shop is simple yet stylish and encompasses visual content that draws attention and interest and informs the customer. It does a fantastic job at sharing photos of their products from different angles simply on a plain background – helping customers see the hats styled on different models. Having that variation is so helpful to someone purchasing something online! This helps consumers feel comfortable purchasing a high-quality hat but also inspires them to wear it.
2. Customise To Reflect Your Brand
A huge advantage of Facebook Shops is that it allows you to customise your shop’s look and feel that actually suits your brand. After you’re done with setting up your shop, you can customise your shop’s layout and style to best reflect your business.
In the Shops tab of the Commerce Builder, the Shop Builder helps you customise your virtual shop front’s layout and style. You may also use collections to feature specific products in your Facebook Page shop and organise merchandise by category so your consumers can find specific items more easily.
3. Maintain Consistency Across Pages
Besides branding your Facebook Shop itself, it is important for you to provide a branded experience consistently across all your social media pages. Your images, style choices and brand voice all need to go hand in hand together to tell a coherent story for your brand. Being consistent in your brand helps your audience to recognise your brand – allowing you to potentially grow in audience engagement and reach. From your brand voice to your brand aesthetics, you need to be recognisable to gain traction among your target audience.
Homegrown clothing label The Closet Lover is an example of a brand that maintains consistency in the experience across their different social media platforms. If you take a look at their main website, Facebook and Instagram shops, you will notice that the tone and overall aesthetics are consistent across the different sites. Having a specific and consistent aesthetic not only makes your brand more recognisable, but also more memorable to your consumers.
Setting up a Facebook Shop is a good way to get some extra visibility and promotion for your products and services, as well as potentially increasing sales for your business. If you’re planning to set up your own Facebook Shop, always keep in mind that good branding is what sets your shop apart from your competition. If you need guidance on how to set up your Facebook Shop for your business, do drop us a message and we’ll be more than happy to help!
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Hero image: NeONBRAND, Unsplash