SmallBusinessNewz

As you've probably figured out by now, there a lot of reasons social media, and Facebook in particular can be beneficial to a small business. Engaging with customers, building loyalty, and driving traffic to your site come immediately to mind. You may or may not have figured out by now that you can list products right on Facebook to drive sales as well.

There are various Facebook apps that will allow you to set up a storefront within the social network, but one of them - Payvment, has just introduced a new feature that may grab your attention. Retailers who use this app (which happens to be free) can give customers a discount for becoming a fan. Just set the percentage you want to take off of a purchase, and those who become fans will get a discount.

I'm not here to sell you this product. All I know is that people love discounts, and getting people to become your fan on Facebook gives you an open-ended way of communicating with them down the road in a place that they're spending a great deal of their online time already.

"While Facebook has become an excellent platform to build or strengthen brand awareness and communities, companies and their enthusiastic fans have been unable to take that final step between being a fan and being a buyer," Payvment's CEO Christian Taylor told me during a phone conversation the other day.

It's worth noting that if you want traffic for your site, Payvment isn't the app you're looking for. Payvment lets consumers make their purchases without leaving Facebook at all. However, if you're trying to sell merchandise, that's most likely what you were wanting the traffic for in the first place, so it's still an option to consider.

As I said, there are other Facebook e-commerce options out there, and as Facebook becomes a greater part of the fabric of the web, it stands to reason, you're going to have more of a reason to be found in the social network.

I would expect more and more Facebook e-commerce solutions to emerge from here on on out, and I would also expect more of them to follow Payvment's lead of fan monetization. Keep your eye out for various options and their respective features to find a platform that meets your own needs as an online retailer.