Spread the festive cheer with Facebook

The shopping trends and needs of consumers are shifting, the desire to feel entertained, engaged, and inspired is affecting the way in which audiences respond to marketed content. Enter the Facebook Discovery Commerce! This system created by Facebook can help you effectively engage with customers, anticipating their needs, and providing a helping hand to your advert to get it to the appropriate audiences. Read on to discover how customers can use this system to find and shop for various brands such as your own.

Broaden your reach

Take advantage of opportunities that will expand your campaign reach. Don’t forget that just because someone isn’t your regular customer doesn’t mean they may not be purchasing for one of your customers. By letting the Facebook algorithm know what your products are and what your perceived audience is, it will be easier for Facebook ads to reach further afield. Without restrictions, you can target a much larger audience, gaining improved results in the process.

Facebook AI can do the heavy lifting for you. As already mentioned, a broad audience is the first step to letting the AI find the right audience. While selecting which platforms to advertise, don’t select a few which you think are the best performing. Use Automatic Placements, to leverage machine learning, discovering the right audience for your campaign, regardless of the platform they use. Dynamic ads are a great way to show your entire catalogue of products in a unified manner whilst remaining relevant.

Helps boost small businesses

Facebook is a buzzing hub of potential customers exploring various businesses and deciding who to engage with. For small companies this notion may be daunting, and you may be wondering how your business can benefit from Facebook marketing. The truth is Facebook marketing encourages engagement with smaller companies. Take holiday shoppers for example, reports show that 7 out of 10 shoppers completed at least one action to support local or independent businesses. Moreover, 36% of holiday shoppers stated that purchasing products from local businesses was one of the main priorities whilst shopping during their Christmas period.

Community of shoppers

Using Facebook systems will of course expand advertising reach and thus encourage positive purchase results. However, a potentially more important outcome is the creation of a community platform in which community-based conversations can be more beneficial than the product purchases itself, shifting the focus to building reputation and recognition.

Reports show that during the holiday shopping season in 2020, 58% of shoppers took to social media to share their purchases with friends, family, and followers. Therefore, whether a consumer has purchased directly from your brand or not, the platform can still help spread the word about products and services.

Share the sale
Everyone loves a bargain! We all know what dates such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday mean… huge savings! It is important to incorporate reminders for sales dates, don’t miss out on the opportunity to create a buzz amongst existing customers, open new conversations, and expand your reach to new customers. Remember that 8 out of 10 global customers said that being part of mega sale days (MSD) allows them to feel like part of a community.

In addition to MSD’s, singular events may also benefit smaller businesses, these include Giving Tuesday and Small Business Saturday. These days provide an opportunity for smaller businesses to steal the limelight.

Create a unique shopping experience

When looking to drive sales through online purchases, as opposed to shopping in store, it is important to understand that simply having good products won’t make you stand out from the crowd. Successful marketing campaigns are those that ensure their target audiences’ media and content preferences are always at the forefront of creations. Shopping has become a source of entertainment for consumers, with 82% of those who shop during peak shopping days admitting that they are more likely to take part in shopping experience days which are deemed entertaining and engaging. In 2021 alone $25 billion is expected to be generated from live shopping events.

Lastly it is also recommended that you set up both Facebook and Instagram shops, these can help bring your catalogue closer to your target audience. You can customize your shop on either platform, providing users with additional information in a fun, fast, and engaging format. Shops will show off your whole catalogue or just the products you chose to be shown.

Therefore, when thinking about this season, be fast, be early, be creative, and be smart about your campaign execution. A strong brand is one of the most important differentiating factors in the customer journey, including when people are buying gifts for their loved ones. This Christmas, start early and finish strong.