Facebook launches a sales pipeline with new “buy” button

Social Media Management NHWith over one billion users, Facebook continues to be the 600 pound gorilla who can sit wherever it wants to. Major and minor brands, as well as every business in the world, have wanted their social media marketing efforts to grab a piece of that crowd. The problem has been, however, that Facebook had yet to develop a truly feasible way for merchants and brands to be able to sell in the now rather than just engage, advertise, and drive traffic to their sites through their social media marketing strategies.

Facebook has recently finished up dealing with regulators and has emerged from that process as an official processor of remittances and payments.  Shortly after, Facebook launched their ‘buy” button and it now seems as if social media marketing has taken another huge step forward. The goal is to have potential customers become real and immediate customers. It seems the potential for social media selling just may end up dominating social media marketing. Social media, it seems, will now become a serious member of a company’s sales pipeline.

The major step forward with regard to ecommerce seems to have finally arrived. With the new Facebook “buy” button, Facebook users can now purchase a product without having to take the additional step of clicking through to a merchant’s website. Social media marketing can now become social media selling and it seems that it will cause everyone to rethink their branding and social media marketing engagement strategies.

The grand hope is that Facebook users will enjoy the ease of making a particular purchase without having to leave their Facebook page. The concept is now in a trial beta phase yet early results seem promising. The curious thing is that Facebook has not announced any intention of taking a cut of sales, a commission sort to speak. That potential revenue stream may end up materializing sooner than later, however, and social media marketing strategies must take that into consideration.

Since the IPO, Facebook has tried several ways to generate revenue despite its founder’s dislike for the idea. Most have not worked although the “buy” button just may be the giant hit everyone has been looking for and social media marketing strategies will soon be scrambling to adjust to this new reality.