Your customers are on Facebook, but you already knew that.  What you may not know is how best to reach and engage with your customers through Facebook. This medium can be used for much more than just sharing pictures of your kids with your friends. Consumers are on their talking about and sharing everything; including their shopping habits and products that interest them. The following are four tips for the savvy and not-so-savvy merchant on how to best utilize Facebook to turn users into customers. 1) Monitor your Page’s wall on frequently: A scathing comment on a retailer’s wall left without a response will create resentment from its customers. Not only will the commenter be left without a solution, but those who see the comment will view the company as a faceless organization that doesn’t care about its customers. Being able to respond to complaints quickly will show customers you care. 2) Allow customers to view your products directly on your Facebook Page: You can now showcase your entire product inventory on your page for free with Wishpond. You can turn your fans into customers by allowing them to browse, discuss, and share your products right in Facebook. You can even post deals and promotions in real-time. Check out Moe’s Home Collection’s Page (pictures above) for a real, in-use example: 3) Post content on your page regularly: Businesses that post 8 times or more a week see 10.27 comments per day – a definite improvement over .02 comments averaged by once a week posters. Two main sources of good content are original content created by the company that gives interesting information about their products and user-generated content showing creative and every day ways customers use the products. Both will give viewers an inside look at your products and give the Web 2.0 consumer the information they need to make a buying decision: Background information on the product’s design and production and customer reviews. 4) Create a one-two punch by using Facebook Ads: As people voluntarily enter personal and professional information about themselves when signing-up for an account, Facebook has a wealth of data to make ads highly targeted. This is especially helpful for small businesses who do not have the resources to conduct large-scale research around consumer data and preferences. With Facebook ads small retailers are on a level playing field with the national chains. Facebook makes it even easier with best practices and previous examples right on their site.

Bottom Line for Local Business

Facebook is a medium that, utilized correctly, can create a level playing field for all. Monitoring your Page and creating discussions with customers and posting content regularly are two things that local retailers can do without major resources. Giving your Facebook wall the same kind of homely feel as you try to give your store with great customer service is easy. On Facebook it is especially effective because you don’t have to wait for the customer you helped to go out and tell their friends because they can simply view it now and forever right on the company Page. Customers especially love to hear thoughts and opinions from store owners and managers to know that they are real people who stand behind their products. Writing a 300 word blog article about a new product you’re selling is a very effective way to do this. It is also an easy way to create discussion as customers will want to lend their opinion when they know a decision-maker is listening.