5 ways your boutique should be using Facebook

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Especially for small retail stores and boutiques, Facebook is still proving to be an important place for businesses to have a social presence. 1.59 billion people log in to the social platform every day. Here are a few ways your retail store should be taking advantage of Facebook, if you’re not already.

Add a Facebook Shop to your Business Page

Facebook Shop is a newer function for business pages, which lets administrators post and sell products directly through the social giant. Oh, and even process payment. Once activated, your followers can hit a “Shop” button directly from your business page.

Meaghan Brophy, Editorial Director of Independent Retailer, explains that Facebook Shop is best used to tease new products or move seasonal close-outs, as posting products is manual and can be time-consuming. “You’ll have to log into Facebook to process and manage orders one by one,” says Brophy. “You also have to manually mark orders as shipped.” However, the free tool can be very valuable for moving products and earning new shoppers.

Try Paid Ads

Paid Facebook ads are especially useful for raising local awareness and generating new customers who like similar stores to yours. When buying adds, you can run a targeted campaign that puts your boutique in front of customers based on their proximity to your business, or even target people who may have already visited your website. You can also control the frequency at which someone might see your ad on their timeline.

“Facebook is still the preferred place for 97% of marketers to run paid ads for a reason,” says Brent Barnhart, a Contributor for Sprout Social. “After all, Facebook boasts the largest user-base of any social network and one of the most engaged.”

Paid ads will help introduce your retail store to your local consumers. Whoever they may be, you can count on that they are scrolling, liking, and following retailers like you every day.

Create Facebook Events

When you create an event on Facebook, you make your company more reachable for customers who are looking for something close by and fun to do with friends this weekend. Even better, when you post an event on the social platform, people can post that they will be attending, and share the event with others.

Whether you’re hosting a Ladies’ Night at your store, or participating as a vendor in a local fair, create a Facebook event to easily spread the word and drum up excitement. “The first thing you should do is optimize your Page to showcase your events,” says Rachel Grate, a Contributor for Eventbrite. “First, make sure your ‘Events’ tab is one of the first tabs on your Page’s Timeline on desktop. This makes it easy for people to find your calendar and see a full list of your events.”

Of course, your Facebook business page is going to be the first place your followers to look to see what events are planned. “Be sure to check “Publish New Events to Timeline” within your “Event” tab, so people can find out when you create a new event,” says Grate.

Drive Engagement with a Call-To-Action

Having a Facebook for your business makes it much easier for customers to find directions to your store or call directly—especially if you don’t have an e-commerce store or website. Taking that a step further and adding a Call-To-Action button can make all the difference, especially for prospective customers that are on-the-fence about stopping by or placing an order.

Humanizing your Business

Lastly, if your business isn’t already using Facebook, you should be just to connect with your customers on a different level. Even though social media is a very public forum, your posts should still be friendly and convey the spirit of your brand.

“Some businesses excel at tying their brand back to the people behind it, making it relatable and memorable to the audience,” says Margot Whitney, a Contributor for WordStream. “But others restrict themselves to a faceless, cold, and corporate environment where one monotone branded voice is utilized across all channels.”

Instead, try posting pictures of real-life customers trying on your store’s new arrivals, which makes it easier for customers to see themselves in an outfit curated by you! Use emojis and other lingo that your customers use day-to-day when captioning your posts. If your brand voice sounds welcoming and familiar, why wouldn’t they feel comfortable stepping through your storefront?

For fashionable, and affordable apparel, footwear, and accessories your customers would love to discover on your social media business accounts, attend the upcoming OFFPRICE Show, February 3-6, 2020 in Las Vegas. Start shopping online today at www.offprice365.com.