During times like these, it's even more important to utilize ways that can help get your business out there and in front of consumers. One topic we love to discuss in our marketing tips is social media, and we have something new to share! There's another way to get your products in front of your customers: Facebook Shop—and we've gathered just about everything you need to know.

What is Facebook Shop?

Facebook shop is an online shopping experience for your customers that's embedded right within your Facebook page. So what does this mean? It means that when customers are on Facebook and view your page, they are given the option to shop right there instead of having to leave to go shop on your website.

Why does this matter?

One of the main reasons why Facebook Shop is so helpful is because of its convenience. Believe it or not, 52% of customers say that at least half of their purchases are influenced by how convenient it is. Knowing this, you'll want to take advantage of every opportunity to make your business easy to shop from. In other words, the easier it is for your customers to purchase from you, the more likely they are to purchase!

How does it work?

A Facebook Shop will appear on your business page to anyone who visits it. They can click to expand the product selection to see featured products you choose, as well as other products from your product catalog. From here, they can shop directly from Facebook. But that's not the only thing your customers can do! Along with the option to shop from Facebook, a Facebook Shop can also be utilized on Instagram! Consumers will be able to view your Facebook Shop from Facebook posts, Instagram posts, and even Instagram Stories!

How can I utilize it?

A Facebook Shop can be set up by starting with a product catalog. In order to do this, there are a few steps you must follow:

• First, you must create a commerce manager account by going to facebook.com/commerce_manager/. For this to work properly, you must be logged into your Facebook account and have access to your business page.
• You'll create an account by clicking “Create New Account”. From here, you'll have the option to either set up your product catalogue on Commerce Manager or set up your store using your existing e-commerce platform if it is supported by Facebook. Examples of this type of platform include Shopify, BigCommerce, Feedonomics, etc.

You can find tools and tutorials to help you with this process online, and here is a good source to check: blog.hootsuite.com/facebook-shops/.

You'll be able to customize your business settings to include all important information about your business, including your shipping and return policies, customer service contacts, and more.

After adding your products to your product catalog, you can select products you'd like to feature by adding them to a featured collection. You'll also have the option to edit and arrange these products and collections at any time.

How can I make my shop visible on Instagram?

In order to utilize your Facebook Shop on both Facebook and Instagram, you'll need to ensure that you have an Instagram business account that is connected to your business's Facebook page. If you have not already done this, you can navigate to your Instagram profile to start the process. On a mobile device, open the Instagram application. From here, you'll click your profile photo in the bottom right corner of the screen. Once you've made it to your profile, you'll click on the three horizontal bars (the 'hamburger' button) in the top right corner of the screen, and click settings. Then you'll click “Account” followed by “Switch to Professional Account”. You can follow the prompts to finish converting to a business account, which will allow you to connect your Instagram account to your business's Facebook Page.

Once you've completed this step, you can turn on Instagram shopping by navigating back to your settings. Keep in mind that this will only be available to you if your account has been approved for Instagram Shopping. For more information on this, you can visit facebook.com/business/help/1108695469241257.

If your account is approved for Instagram shopping, you can click “Business”, then “Shopping”, followed by “Continue”, and then selecting your product catalog that you created. Click “Done” and you're done! You'll be able to tag products in your Newsfeed posts and Stories on both Facebook and Instagram.

We hope this overview has given you some insight into Facebook Shop and how you can utilize it for your business! We can't wait to see where this awesome feature takes you into the future of online shopping. For more information, visit facebook.com/business/help/268860861184453?id=1077620002609475.