Sell More Products Without Customers Leaving Facebook

Stop Sending People Away From Your Shop

Imagine you own a boutique gift shop in Paddington. A customer walks in, looks at a beautiful handmade vase, and says, "I want this."

Instead of taking their money at the counter, you tell them: "Great! Now, please walk out the door, go three blocks down the street, turn left at the pub, find the blue building, climb to the third floor, and you can buy it there."

That sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? You’d lose half your sales before they reached the end of the block.

Yet, this is exactly what most Brisbane business owners do on Facebook. They post a photo of a product, and then tell the customer to click a link, wait for a website to load, find the product again, add it to a cart, and eventually pay.

Social commerce is just a fancy way of saying: "Let the customer buy the thing right where they found it."

In this guide, I’m going to show you how to turn your Facebook page into a shop that actually makes money, rather than just a place where you post photos and hope for the best. We’ve seen this work for everyone from local clothing brands in Fortitude Valley to specialty tool suppliers in Rocklea. It’s about making it as easy as possible for someone to give you money.

Why Your Current Facebook Strategy is Costing You Money

Most small business owners I talk to are frustrated. They spend hours taking photos, writing captions, and posting to their page, but the till doesn't ring.

Here’s the hard truth: Likes, comments, and shares don't pay the electricity bill. If you aren't focused on turning Facebook into sales, you're just volunteering your time for a multi-billion dollar tech company.

When you use Facebook Shops (the tool that lets you sell directly), you remove the friction. Friction is anything that makes a customer stop and think, "I’ll do this later." And "later" usually means never.

By setting up a shop directly on your page, you allow a customer to see a post, click the product, and checkout—often without ever leaving the Facebook app. It’s fast, it works on phones perfectly, and it’s how people want to shop in 2024.

Step 1: Setting Up Your Digital Storefront

Before you start, you need a few things in order. You don’t need a degree in IT, but you do need to be organised.

What you need:

How to do it:

The Golden Rule: When it asks how you want people to checkout, choose "Checkout on Facebook and Instagram" if it's available to you. This keeps the customer in the app. If you already have an online store (like Shopify), you can sync them so your inventory stays up to date. This is how you sell products directly without having to manually update two different lists every time you sell a hat.

Step 2: Making Your Products Look Like They're Worth Buying

I’ve seen great Brisbane businesses fail on Facebook because their photos look like they were taken in a dark basement with a 2005 flip phone.

You don’t need a professional photographer, but you do need to follow these three rules:

1. Natural Light is Your Best Friend: Take your products outside or near a big window during the day. Avoid that yellow indoor light that makes everything look cheap. 2. Show the Product in Use: If you sell work boots, show them on a job site with some Brisbane dirt on them. If you sell candles, show one lit on a coffee table. People buy the feeling of owning the product, not just the object itself. 3. The "Thumb-Stop" Test: Scroll through your own feed quickly. Does your photo make you stop? If it doesn't stand out to you, it won't stand out to a stranger.

Step 3: Writing Descriptions That Sell

Don't just list the technical specs. A tradie doesn't buy a drill because it has "18V lithium-ion technology." They buy it because it "drills through concrete like butter and the battery lasts all day on the job site."

Write your product descriptions for a human being. - The Problem: What is your customer struggling with? - The Solution: How does this product fix it? - The Proof: Mention that other locals love it. Using customer proof is the fastest way to build trust with someone who has never heard of you.

Step 4: Tagging Your Way to Profit

Once your shop is set up, every time you post a photo or a video, you can "tag" the products in it.

It works just like tagging a mate in a photo. A little bubble pops up with the price and the name of the item. When the user taps it, they can buy it immediately.

Real-world example: We worked with a small nursery in the Redlands. They used to just post photos of nice plants. People would comment "How much?" or "Is this in stock?" and the owner would spend hours replying.

We switched them to a Facebook Shop. Now, they post a photo of a Monstera, tag it with the $45 price tag, and the orders come through while they’re out the back potting plants. No more back-and-forth in the comments.

Step 5: Dealing with the "Facebook Tax" (Ads)

Let’s be honest: Facebook is a "pay to play" platform now. If you just post to your page, only about 2-5% of your followers will see it. That’s frustrating, I know.

But here’s the good news: Facebook’s advertising system is incredibly smart at finding people who want to buy what you’re selling.

Instead of "Boosting" a post (which is usually a waste of money), use the Ads Manager to create "Catalog Sales" ads. This tells Facebook: "Find people in Brisbane who are interested in gardening and show them the plants from my shop."

If you find your ads aren't working, don't just throw more money at them. You can often fix your ads by changing the photo or targeting a more specific area, like just the Northside or just the Southside.

Step 6: Customer Service is Your Marketing

When someone buys from you on Facebook, they expect a quick response. They’ll message you through Messenger asking about shipping or sizes.

If you take three days to reply, they’ve already bought from your competitor or a big-box retailer.

Pro Tip: Set up "Saved Replies" in your inbox for common questions like "Where are you located?" or "What's your refund policy?" It saves you time and keeps the customer happy.

The Reality Check: Is This Worth Your Time?

Setting up social commerce isn't a "set and forget" thing. It takes a few hours to get the shop running and a few minutes every day to manage orders and messages.

How long until you see results? If you have an existing following, you can see sales within the first week. If you’re starting from scratch, give it 3 months of consistent posting and a small ad budget ($10-$20 a day) to see real momentum.

What’s a waste of money? Buying followers. Never, ever do this. Those "followers" are bots that will never buy a single thing from you. They actually hurt your page because Facebook sees that 5,000 people "follow" you but no one is buying, so it assumes your shop is boring and stops showing it to real people.

What Should You Do First?

1. Check your eligibility: Go to Meta Business Suite and see if you can open a Shop. 2. Pick your 5 best sellers: Don't try to upload 500 items at once. Start with your 5 most popular products. 3. Take fresh photos: Use that natural light we talked about. 4. Make one post a day: Tag your products and see what happens.

At Local Marketing Group, we help Brisbane businesses cut through the noise. We don't care about fancy marketing terms; we care about whether your phone is ringing and your shop is busy.

If you’re too busy running your business to worry about setting all this up, we can help. We know what works for local shops because we live and work here too.

Ready to stop guessing and start selling? Contact Local Marketing Group today and let’s get your shop working for you.