Facebook has recently added some new features to Facebook Offers. Here are some reasons why you should start using Facebook Offers for your business, the benefits from Offers, and how to successfully create an Offer.
What Are Facebook Offers
Facebook Offers are another way to promote your business and your products on your Facebook Fan Page. While Offers used to be free, Facebook has now added it into its ad campaign so they can start making some revenue off of them. They have to keep the investors happy now that they have gone public, right?
When you put an Offer up on your Fan Page it is displayed in the page’s feed so that all of your fans can see it. When a fan claims the Offer, an email is sent to the fan with the necessary information to claim the Offer. The content of the email will vary based on what kind of Offer it is. More on that later.
Do not get confused with sites like Groupon or LivingSocial. These Offers do not work like the ones on those sites. There is no minimum amount of people that have to claim an offer before the offer becomes valid. Once a Facebook Offer is put up, it can be claimed until it is taken down or meets one of the requirements you can set.
Why You Should Use Facebook Offers
One of the main reasons you should consider using Facebook Offers is to promote your business or brand. Unlike normal posts on your Fan Page, Offers have a unique ability that makes them more viral in nature.
When a fan claims the Offer it is automatically broadcast to all of the fan’s friends. This takes the Offer from the Fan Page’s feed and puts it in other people’s feeds that are not fans of your Fan Page. If one of our fan’s friends claims the Offer, it is broadcast to their friends, and the cycle goes on. Fans can also share it directly with friends without claiming the Offer.
Businesses using Facebook Offers have used them to drive traffic to their websites, increase sales, and have reported a 3-fold increase in ROI when friends refer people through the Offer.
Even with the potential to be viral, an Offer that is not appealing may not even get off the ground. Fortunately, Facebook gives us some room for customization.
How To Create A Successful Offer
Here are the essential steps your business must follow in order to have a successful offer. Just like your Facebook Ads campaign, if the advertisement is not appealing, few people will click it.
Start With A Discount
All Offers start with a discount. If you read our post on how to show customers that you care, Facebook Offers are a brilliant strategy. This discount makes fans happy by discounting a product or service, and the viral nature of Offers will help drive your sales upward.
Discounts should be at least 20% according to Facebook’s help guide on Offers. They also say that free promotions like “buy one sock get one free” seem to net the best results. Every fan page is different, so a 30% off sale may be more to your fans liking.
This is also an opportunity to give something away for free to attract more fans. If you have a free PDF, guide, or other product that you generally send out to your email subscribers, then try it out as a Facebook Offer. The downside is you cannot add their email to your mailing list because it is sent privately by Facebook, but a fan is a fan!
Choose Online Or In Store
There are two different types of Offers – Online, In-Store, or you can make the Offer both Online and In-store. Each comes with some specific options.
- Online Offers allow you to send the claimant to a sales website. A promotion code of your choice will be sent to them via email. You will need to create a funnel on your website that only grants access to people who have the correct promotional code.
- In-store Offers are meant to be shown to a salesperson at a brick and mortar business. The claimant is instructed via email to print out the email or use a new feature that was implemented – the barcode. You can now supply a barcode number which can be scanned from a person’s phone or printed.
Add An Engaging Image And Headline
This is where the juice of the Offer lies. Be sure to use an engaging photo to attract the fan’s eye. The photo size is 90×90 pixels.
Then fill out the 90 character headline with a catchy title that conveys what the Offer is. There is no use being flashy here if it makes the headline too vague.
Use An Expiration Date Or Limit The Number Of Claimants
You can create hype around your Offer by setting an expiration date, or making it only available to a certain number of people! Limiting the number of people is also a strategy you have to employ if you only have a limited amount of the product that is on sale.
If enough hype has been generated and the Offer ends, feel free to put a new one up! People who missed out on the first Offer will be quick to jump on the second one.
List The Terms And Conditions
The terms and conditions of the Offer tell the claimant the rules of the Offer. For instance, only one offer valid per fan. These terms and conditions will vary based on what the Offer is, but make it clear and keep it under the 900 character limit.
Optimal Offer Targeting
As of right now, Offers are only able to be targeted to specific countries and languages. If you are a retail chain, odds are you won’t get a customer from someone who lives outside of the country your store is located in. Be sure to use this targeting if it is appropriate for you business.
Let us know if you plan on using Facebook Offers and the results you have gotten from them!
