Facebook Features Every SMEs Must Use

Facebook Features Every SMEs Must Use

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:

1. Checkout on another website: Customers will browse products on Facebook Shop and they will be directed to your website for checkout and payment.

2. Checkout with Facebook or Instagram: Customers make payments directly from Facebook or Instagram. This option is currently available only in the US. 

3. 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. 

FREE Conversion-Driven Google Tool for Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

FREE Conversion-Driven Google Tool For Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Many Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) suffered during the COVID-19 lockdown and some individuals had started their small business from home. We all know bringing our business online is the only way to survive through the lockdown. Plus, the digital purchasing trend is likely to continue in the post-COVID-19 era. 

“I have spread it on Whatsapp and created a Facebook Page to promote my business?” - You did it right, but do you know you can actually DO MORE by using Google? 

Here are two features on Google that can widen your customer base and increase sales. 

GOOGLE MY BUSINESS

Google My Business (GMB) is free to register and you will be required to fill up your business details such as business category, address, operating hours and phone number. 

In Malaysia, 98.2% of internet users choose Google as their primary search engine. After setting up, your business information will be listed on Google search results or map when a user searches for your business or related keywords. This means free exposure to millions of potential customers every day on Google.  

GMB provides an insights dashboard reporting the number of views on your business profile, how your business was discovered on Google (via search, Google Map etc) and keywords users input to discover your business. This helps you to understand your potential customers better and identify important keywords for SEO or Google advertising campaigns.        

With Google My Business (GMB), customers can leave reviews for your business and you can reply to the feedback. A business that has good reviews or is responsive towards feedback gains higher brand trust compared to others. 

GMB is equipped with call-to-action (CTA) buttons such as messages, get directions on Google Map, call the store, visit business websites etc. You can also publish posts via GMB just like social media. With this, businesses can build up good customer relationships by connecting and engaging with customers on Google with just one click.

If you already have an established business website, GMB can direct more visitors to your website and increase engagement which eventually improves the page ranking of your website on the search engines result page (SERP). 

But if you do not own a business website, that is totally okay! Because GMB comes with the website builder. This feature will render a customized website for your business based on the information provided on GMB profile. You can edit the website later on with no coding experience needed. 

Google My Business (GMB) is the first place customers look up for updated information about your business. Hence, it is no longer optional but crucial for businesses to build online presence. 

GOOGLE SITES

If you are a starter and looking for a simple website to showcase information or product, Google Sites will be your go-to tool. 

Google Sites is a free webpage creation tool that can be accessed directly from Google Drive. It is stored in Google Drive and can be shared with team members for editing. There are templates and themes ready for different purposes such as help centre, personal portfolio, event, small-medium enterprise (SME) and non-governmental organisation (NGO). 

Google Sites is free to use and easy to access even on a personal Gmail account. Google Sites is integrated with Google’s products where you can insert sheets, slides, forms directly from Google Drive, video from Youtube and location from Google Map. 

While Google Sites is free and beginner-friendly, it does have its major downside on marketing and sales features. Unlike e-commerce website builders such as Shopify and Easy Store, customers cannot purchase directly and track orders from Google Sites. If a business uses Facebook or Instagram ads, Facebook Pixel cannot be installed on Google Sites for tracking and remarketing. Thus, it is not suitable for business in the long run. 

Another disadvantage of Google Sites is limited design features. For instance, you cannot add or edit CSS and any interactive visuals to the website. On top of the limited number of templates and themes, users have less flexibility in editing the templates. An interactive and aesthetically pleasing website is important for brand image and better user experience which eventually impacts the overall customer purchasing journey with the brand. 

For long-term marketing strategy, it is recommended to use proper website builders such as Squarespace, Wix or WordPress for business websites as they come with functionality that caters for SMEs at affordable prices.

If you are a registered SME in Malaysia, you are eligible to claim SME Digitalisation Grant up to RM5,000 upon signing up for digital marketing packages which include website development with Gapture Malaysia. Visit here for more information on SME Digitalisation Grant.  

Limited slots available for grant applications, so take this chance to upgrade your business website today. Reach out to our Gapture Malaysia team for grant application and build your website now!