4 Ways to Set Up a Storefront on Facebook. This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business. With more than 500 million active users on Facebook, there are more potential customers using Facebook than there are logging into eBay and Amazon combined. Most of these users don't see the site as a purchasing platform, but more and more businesses are adding an option to use the social networking site to browse and buy their products. These four Facebook apps offer flexible options for adding a storefront to your business page. 1. Free beta app Payvment allows you to handle your entire e-commerce operation through Facebook.
Unless you disable the option, your products will also appear in searches people make on other Payvment storefronts when they choose to search “all of Facebook.” 2. Storefont Social creates a tab on your business’s Facebook page that allows you to showcase items in your online store. 3. 4. HOW TO: Start Marketing on Facebook. The Social Media 101 Series is supported by Global Strategic Management Institute. GSMI's Social Media Strategies Series are the leading educational events for organizations looking to advance their online capabilities.
Learn more. It's no secret: U.S. consumers continue to spend increasing amounts of time on Facebook. Consequently, marketers — lured by Facebook's suite of highly targeted marketing products and the site's smooth ability to spread information across networks of friends — are investing increasing amounts of capital in the platform. Facebook's proposition is especially attractive to small business owners, and not just because it enables them to hone in on potential customers through highly targeted, paid advertisements. "Ask [small business owners] how they get customers, and they'll tell you that someone walks in, has a great experience, walks out and tells a couple of their friends," says Emily White, senior director of local at Facebook. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Her advice? 6. 5 Best Practices for Fashion Retailers on Facebook. As U.S. consumers continue to spend increasing amounts of time on Facebook, and as brands amass larger followings than major women's magazines, fashion retailers are investing greater resources into the world's largest social network.
But how can retailers optimize their Facebook presence? Should they focus on entertainment and product, or is it best utilized as a customer service channel? How far should they engage? Is it too early to think of Facebook as a sales tool? We've taken these questions to some of the best and brightest minds in the business and gathered their thoughts for you below. 1.
Although some retailers, such as Express and ASOS, are opening up stores on Facebook, the time is not yet ripe for F-commerce, most fashion retailers agree. "In the same way that portals MSN and Yahoo and then search became the most powerful shopping engines in the world, social media will be the next big wave," Mullen believes. 2. 3. 4. 5. 5 Ways Facebook's New Features Will Fuel Social Shopping. Christian Taylor is founder and CEO of Payvment and developer of the number-one Facebook ecommerce platform for brands, agencies and merchants, and the world’s only Facebook Shopping Mall. Many of the new features introduced at Facebook’s f8 Developer Conference last Thursday, such as a customizable Open Graph and real-time news Ticker, will have a tremendous impact on social commerce and social shopping in the very near future. SEE ALSO: How Facebook Timeline Might Radically Change the Look of Brand Pages [PICS] Developers will now be able to build a Facebook commerce experience more relevant to shoppers and also offer more effective social discovery for sellers.
Sellers will be able to access new insights into shopper preferences and will use this data to better promote their products. These new opportunities will make the Facebook shopping experience richer and more social. Here are five ways Facebook’s new features will fuel social commerce and product discovery. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 9 Facebook Applications To Make You Money. Did you know you can sell things on your Facebook profile? Well, you can with the help of a couple handy applications. Whether it be your own music if you're a musician, a shirt you designed, or old junk you have laying around, there's probably an application out there that can help you earn some extra dough. CafePress - Pretty much everyone has heard of CafePress, and with this Facebook app you can start selling whatever you have on your store via your profile. e3buy Auction - Works with the e3buy auction site so you can add auctions to your profile as well as open a store. eBay - From the best known of the online auction houses, highlight anything you're selling on eBay to your friends on Facebook.
FlameTunes - Are you a musician? Garage Sale - In association with Buy.com, Garage Sale allows you to sell your items to your friends, like that box of old books, your bike, etc. Lemonade - Works just like it's parent site, Lemonade.com.