How To Make Money On Facebook: A Cyber Monday Re-cap

As a Social Media coach and consultant, I get asked this question the most: “How do I make money using Social Media?”  (Well, that question and the other most popular one, “What do I post about? Does anyone really care that I’m eating a friggin’ sandwich for lunch?”

I always answer the same way: YES! You can definitely make money on social media.

One of my clients made $20,000 because of the way we strategically set up her accounts and profile.  It CAN be done, with the right strategy in line.

With another year of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday behind us, it’s becoming more and more clear the power of using these tools online to increase sales.

This article from AllFacebook states that Facebook reported a 240% increase in traffic to Internet retailers on Cyber Monday, with some retailers like Harry and David reaching an astounding 11,425% increase in traffic to its website via Facebook.  Do some quick math in your head and you’ll see the dollar signs add up.

But these retailers weren’t just lucky.  There were several things they had to do to make this happen.  STRATEGY, folks, is the name of the game.  This is a blog about Social Media Marketing, not about the friggin’ sandwich you ate for lunch. Unless you’re a restaurant or something. Or a Pinterest or Instagram addict. #guilty

Retailer’s Success Strategy:

1.  They were ready.

They knew ahead of time that the world would be shopping on these dates, so they planned accordingly.

2.  They put all the pieces together.

Harry and David did a great job of running a Facebook Offer – one of the different paid advertising options for Facebook Pages.  This offer ran during the specific promotion time and offered 50% Off select gifts and up to 20% off your entire order.  They paid to have this Offer run in the newsfeeds of their fans.

They also synced the connection of “claiming the offer” on Facebook with directing people to their website to actually make the purchase.  Over 56,000 people claimed this Offer on Facebook.  Brilliant! Cha-ching!

3.  They leveraged their online relationships.

One of the biggest mistakes businesses can make online is to expect that just because people have “Liked” the Page, that they’re ready to buy.  First of all, you must understand Facebook’s tricky EdgeRank Algorithm to know how or why fans are (or aren’t) seeing your posts.  But that’s a whole other blog post.  Secondly, you have to ENGAGE with your audience.  Your fans will NOT respond if your posts don’t take into account a proper engagement strategy.  These  retailers who were successful have mastered a great content strategy and engagement plan for their audience.  That helps. A LOT.

All in all, if you want to make money using Social Media you definitely can.  Just keep these three tips in mind as you go out to strike your gold online.