Mari Smith, social media extraordinaire, recently conducted what she called a ‘flash chat’ in order to crowdsource content for the second version of her highly successful book, Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day. Conducting live chat sessions or webinars through Facebook can do great things for a company’s image and database, and are easy to do.

Why it Works

Live events on Facebook can be executed in several easy ways. Companies can easily post questions on their wall with Facebook’s new Questions feature, and have fans answer in the comments section. Businesses can get fancy by utilizing services like Linqto, which allows presenters to be on a webcam and mic and take turns ‘on the floor’ while participants interact via chat. Talking with customers and answering their questions directly is very personal. Customers will feel valued and appreciated that a company is taking time to listen to them. It will develop relationships with customers who may have felt distance from or frustration with the company. Giving them the ability to voice their concerns, and then actually acting on it, will create repeat buyers and word-of-mouth publicity. Customers who have enjoyed extraordinary experiences with a company will always spread the word. You gain great visibility in fans newsfeeds. Every time fans write on your Page’s wall or discussion board during a live event it populates their wall and the newsfeed of their social network. The more they’re involved, the higher their posts will place in their social network’s newsfeed, and the more visibility your Page will enjoy. Live Facebook Q&A sessions garner great, raw feedback from a free focus group. Asking questions from your fans will give you direct reaction of how your customers feel about your products and your company. You can spend thousands of dollars to run focus groups. This gives you even better results as you are targeting your exact consumer base for their opinion, not just people off the street.

Bottom Line for Local Business

By spending a couple of hours on Facebook answering pertinent customer questions and getting feedback, retailers can garner a wealth of free knowledge and exposure. Small businesses no longer have to spend thousands on market research. They can do it themselves simply, and for free. See how to upload products to Facebook for free with Wishpond: https://www.wishpond.com/merchants/landing