When talking about digital marketing for SMEs (small-medium enterprises), our first instinct is to get on social media, create a page and promote it. With a sufficient budget, a business can invest in paid ads, website development, email marketing, online campaigns etc. However, small businesses who have limited budgets can only rely on free resources. This blog will dive into two Facebook Business features that allow SMEs to build a conversion-driven sales process for free.
WHATSAPP BUSINESS CATALOG
With Whatsapp Business Catalog, businesses can now move on from spamming customers with product information in the chat. Instead, it can be organised in a systematic and time-saving manner. Here’s how.
To access the business catalog feature on Whatsapp, you will need a Whatsapp Business account. Simply install the Whatsapp Business app on your device and register your business phone number. You will be asked to enter your business name, category and description, then you are all set!
Whatsapp Business Catalog is designed to be straightforward to use. Go to “catalog” in settings and start listing your products by adding images, name, price and description. Every image uploaded to the catalog will be reviewed before the product goes live.
Instead of spamming long messages, businesses can now send catalogues to customers to view product descriptions and images. On the other hand, customers may also view them by clicking on the “catalog” icon from the upper right corner of the chat. From there, they can add products to cart or send messages to businesses with the product link attached for enquiry.
Besides, potential customers from Facebook and Instagram can also send you messages or view catalog on Whatsapp in just one click when you add the “Whatsapp” button on your Facebook Business Page or Facebook advertisement.
If your WhatsApp Business account is linked to Facebook Shop as a sales channel, your catalog will be replaced by Facebook Shop by default. However, this won’t delete your WhatsApp catalog as it is temporarily hidden only. To revert back to the Whatsapp catalog, switch off Whatsapp as a sales channel for your Facebook Shop.
Next, we will look further into Facebook Shop as the second feature every SME must use in order to increase sales.
FACEBOOK SHOP
Facebook Shop can be easily activated from the “shop” tab on the Facebook Business Page. Then, Facebook will direct you to the Commerce Manager for store setup and product listing.
Don’t have the “shop” tab? You can activate it in page settings under “templates and tab”. Alternatively, go to Commerce Manager to get started right away.
Facebook Shop works just like any e-commerce platform where we can add product variants, shipping info, brand, condition etc. However, it does not require subscriptions. A business that already owns an e-commerce store can integrate it with Facebook Shop and sync products across two platforms. Check out Facebook Shop partner platforms here.
There are three ways customers can place their order on your Facebook Shop:
Checkout on another website: Customers will browse products on Facebook Shop and they will be directed to your website for checkout and payment.
Checkout with Facebook or Instagram: Customers make payments directly from Facebook or Instagram. This option is currently available only in the US.
Checkout with messaging: Customers will be directed to Messenger or Whatsapp during checkout. This method allows businesses to set up their own method to process payments and fulfil orders. (Note: Whatsapp Business Account is required to fulfil orders on Whatsapp)
Convenience always plays a critical role for both shoppers and sellers; Facebook Shop provides great convenience where product media and information are unified across your Facebook and Instagram accounts. Businesses can tag products on the image and video posted on both platforms, so customers can click and redirect to the product page instantly. Unlike the old method - commenting or messaging to check on the product which is time-consuming.
The latest update also enables businesses that sell on livestream to feature their product directly from Facebook Shop during the livestream. With this, customers can make purchases via Facebook Shop instead of having to order manually through comments or messages.
Last but not least, it is recommended to use the “collection” feature to highlight certain products in your shop or organise them by category, which makes browsing easier for customers. Collections created can also be advertised on Facebook ads. This is useful to promote seasonal, theme-based and limited-time offer products.
Has your business utilised these two features and is ready to kickstart advertising on Facebook or Google to generate more revenue than before? You may be eligible to get partially sponsored for it!
Receive a 50% matching grant or a maximum of RM 5,000 from the government under SME Business Digitalisation Grant upon signing up for Gapture Malaysia’s digital marketing package. Limited to the first 100,000 participants only. Hurry up, sign up now!
To enquire about the affordable digital marketing packages of Gapture Malaysia, feel free to contact us. See full list of our services here.