Victoria Taylor June 17, 2020 
Despite new and upcoming social media apps like TikTok and Instagram’s upgraded features, Facebook still remains one of the most popular social media platforms to date, reaching 60.6% of internet users.
Facebook is the go-to platform for business owners and marketers, helping them capture the audience’s attention with the highest buying power. In fact, 78% of American consumers have discovered retail products to buy via Facebook.
If you haven’t noticed, Facebook recently acquired a new feature in 2018 that would help you to not only increase engagement but also sales. Facebook stories.
We’ve all heard about Instagram stories, but Facebook stories have become the next marketing gem. After all, around 96% of active Facebook users accessed the social media platform via mobile devices, which includes tablets or smartphones, with only 4% of Facebook active users logged in on desktop devices to use the social media platform.
In an Ipsos survey of stories users commissioned by Facebook IQ, 62% of people said they became more interested in a brand or product after seeing it in a story. This proves that just as Instagram stories skyrocketed over the years, we can only expect the same with Facebook stories as well.
Today I’ll be showing you seven amazing ways Facebook stories can help you to increase engagement with your followers and sales.
1. Use All Your Prime Facebook Real Estate
Social media is a vital asset to any business, but it’s also become a competitive playground for brands. Facebook for Business found that approximately three million businesses actively advertise on Facebook. That’s three million companies worldwide, with more than 70% from outside of the US.
Between staying on top of Facebook and content trends, you should also take advantage of every and any prime Facebook real estate you can, including using Facebook Stories.
Luckily, Facebook allows you to share your Instagram stories simultaneously on both Instagram and Facebook instantly.
Facebook stories evolve with new features and tools to keep up with its companion and competitor Instagram. You want to make sure you reach your customers where they are because you never know where they might interact with you online.
2. Update Customers In Real-Time with Facebook Stories
Stories are short-lived. Once uploaded, they only last for 24-hours. Unfortunately, unlike Instagram, Facebook doesn’t have story highlights (yet), allowing you to save your stories for future viewing.
Stories are used to provide followers with daily snippets of content and update them with announcements in real-time. After all, they only last for 24 hours.
Use your Facebook stories to build up anticipation around your next big project. Tease your followers with something new waiting for them if they swipe up to see more.
A common practice for brands is to highlight new content published in their feed to update followers that they should head over to their account to engage, like, and share.
You can also use stories to let customers know about new updates or sales happening in your online/offline stores. Share content like flash sales and exclusive discounts happening for a limited time.
3. Use Facebook Stories to Promote Your Giveaway
At Wishpond, we know about giveaways, and one key feature that contributes to its success is promotion. Without it, you’ll have a lower turnover rate, participants, and lead generation.
Use Facebook stories to drive entries. Share your Facebook giveaway and how your followers can enter—killing one bird with two stones.
Need help with your next contest?
4. Use Facebook Stories to Deliver Unforgettable Experiences
Facebook stories aren’t only for self-promotion; keep in mind that your stories should also have a well-rounded content strategy. Create an unforgettable brand experience when followers check your stories.
Don’t focus too heavily on pushing products. Instead, it would be best if you spoke to your community, share user-generated, or behind the scenes snippets.
Humanizing your brand allows people to feel more invested in making purchases. Sprout Social found that 91% of people believe in social media’s power to connect people. More specifically, 78% of consumers want brands to use social media to help people connect.
Connection converts followers into sales. Whether or not they may directly buy from you, they advocate for you on/offline, improving your overall brand presence.
5. Ask for Audience Feedback with Facebook Stories
When it comes to content, sometimes, it can be a hit or miss. So why not ask your followers what they want to see. Facebook stories can make the best surveys or polls because you’re interacting with people who are regularly and actively engaged with your content.
Add gifs and question stickers to your story. Also, add a link to your story so that viewers can head to a landing page for more info, again remember to use up all that Facebook real estate. When you’re using Facebook stories for feedback or polls, always be sure to track how many views, click, and comments you receive from it.
Like any form of content, always measure it to see how effective it is with your audience and whether you need to test or make improvements to increase your ROI.
6. Drive Traffic to Your Blog Posts with Facebook Stories
Facebook has recently released the option to add a custom link to a story — finally allowing users to drive traffic to a specific URL!
Making Facebook stories another perfect tool to drive traffic to your blog post! Update followers on new posts and let them know it’s live and ready to be read.
You don’t always need to add a link to every Facebook story (or viewers might be less likely to swipe up). Instead, use them wisely. Learn from other brands to find the right balance of how and when to add links within stories.
7. Use Facebook Stories to Promote Your Products or Services
Use your Facebook story to promote your products and services. As well as, feel free to share news on a product before it launches. When done right, this can help to boost sales and brand awareness. Just like Instagram, Facebook stories have features to help to highlight your products promoting social commerce.
Again it would help if you found a balance between selling and connecting. One Facebook marketing mistake brands can make is thinking the content they create is simply for them. It’s for the customers. After all, it only takes one post to drive thousands of sales.
Summary
Using these features allows brands to tap into and keep relevant to their online community. Facebook is known to improve and evolve its features and tools, and Facebook stories are no exemptions.
As social commerce begins to grow, you can expect more augmented reality, payment options, engagement tactics, and improved content strategies to surface. Don’t let your brand get left behind. Start investing in Facebook stories; add them to your social media and content strategy.
Here’s a quick recap of the seven amazing ways you can use Facebook stories to increase engagement and sales:
- Use All Your Prime Facebook Real Estate
- Date Customers In Real-Time with Facebook Stories
- Use Facebook Stories to Promote Your Giveaway
- Use Facebook Stories to Deliver Unforgettable Experiences
- Ask for Audience Feedback with Facebook Stories
- Drive Traffic to Your Blog Posts with Facebook Stories
- Use Facebook Stories to Promote Your Products or Services
Digital & Social Articles on Business 2 Community
(62)
