At its conception in 2016, Facebook Marketplace was little more than an online buy and sell. A glorified techy garage sale.
Similar to other marketplaces such as eBay or Craiglist, anyone can list a product to sell and connect directly with potential buyers.
Looking to sell some old stuff? Well, in 2016 this was the place to go.
Nowadays, however, like most things that Facebook touches, the platform has exploded in popularity. The most recent research shows that the platform is currently used by over 800 million people in over 70 different countries, every single month.
If you ask me, that’s one BIG garage sale.
With the amount of engagement and number of consistent active users that Facebook Marketplace boasts, then surely it’s a no-brainer for advertisers.
What is Facebook Marketplace?
Facebook Marketplace is an open exchange platform where Facebook users can buy and sell new and/or pre-owned items to other users. It is built as a peer-to-peer platform, meaning that whenever someone wants to make a purchase on the Facebook Marketplace, communication is done through Messenger.
Anyone may list products or services that they have to offer and audiences are segmented into location.
Example: If you are selling in Dublin, your listing will be seen by users in Dublin. Making drop-off/collection easy for all users.
Facebook encourages users to communicate and build a 1:1 relationship, fostering a strong relationship between customer and seller.
Payment can also be completed on the platform with integrated payment systems. This means that although the buying experience is informal, payment is still secure and quick for both parties.
Should I advertise on Facebook Marketplace?
People use Facebook Marketplace to discover and purchase products in their local communities and from businesses in their local area. Every day, there are millions of interactions between buyers and sellers on the platform which means there is lots of traffic to advertise to.
Here are a few of the benefits of advertising on Facebook Marketplace:
Reach Active Customers
Facebook now allows marketers to extend their regular Facebook ads on the News Feed to the Marketplace. This allows you to target people who are actively shopping and who are more likely to convert.
Potential customers will see your ads alongside other relevant products within the marketplace.
Grabbing a customer’s attention as they actively shop can be a great way to achieve quick conversions.
Ad Scalability
Being part of the Facebook family definitely has its benefits. You can easily scale your ads across all of the Facebook platforms leveraging the same targeting, automation, and optimization software.
When you are creating a new Facebook campaign, you’ll see an option to enable automatic placements. By clicking this box it will allow your ad to appear across all of Facebook’s apps and platforms including the News Feed, Facebook Marketplace, Instagram, and Messenger.
Make sure to choose one of the following objectives to keep your campaign on track:
- Brand awareness
- Reach
- Traffic
- Video views
- Lead generation
- Messages
- Conversions
- Catalog sales
- Store traffic
Build Customer Relations & Trust
Online purchases are all about trust. At some point, most people have bought a product from Amazon? And to determine which product they will buy they usually look at the star rating and read previous customer reviews. This is all a way to build trust with the seller. To get over the inherent gap between online buyers and sellers, which can usually be done face to face, online businesses must inspire confidence in their customers every chance they get.
Facebook Marketplace is a great and unique place to inspire trust. Facebook is a peer-to-peer platform meaning that it has unique characteristics that can help businesses build this trust with potential customers.
- All sales and communication on Facebook Marketplace are conducted through Facebook Messenger. This means the seller connects with potential customers through a one-on-one “personal” conversation.
- Your store page allows you to have a virtual shop front for your business. Through this, you can boost the credibility of your company by providing information about your business, answering questions from customers, and receiving feedback from customers.
Test New Products Or Ideas
Facebook Marketplace is a lean and simple way to test out new products.
If you are thinking about launching a new product or product line, the Marketplace is a great place to do so. Facebook’s ingenious algorithms make it effortless to promote new products. You can add a description of your product alongside the listing to tell customers a little more about what the product is and that you’re trying out something new.
New ideas for pricing and advertising can also be done on Marketplace. Experimenting with different ad sets and different prices will allow you to gauge your audience’s response and gather extremely useful feedback.
How Optily Can Help
Optily is the only eCommerce single-click ad spend optimizer.
Our intelligent and innovative technology connects all your online ad accounts and ensures you make the most of your advertising budget. Meaning that all your Facebook Marketplace ads will be pitted against your ads across Instagram, Youtube, and Google to allow you to instantly see which ads are performing the best. You can then move some of the budget from one campaign to another, based on recommendations, with just one click
We make cross-platform advertising easy and efficient so you save time and money on the boring attributions calculations and can focus on the fun stuff!
Conclusion
Facebook Marketplace is no longer just an online garage sale. And anyone who believes it is will miss out on a large audience and massive potential sales.
The platform allows your business to find new potential customers, test out new products and ideas, and ultimately build real relationships with your customers.
It does all this without too much effort or money invested on your end.
If you ask us, that’s a pretty powerful platform that should not be overlooked.
