One statistic that has been discussed a lot lately is the fact that images posted to social media sites like Facebook generate far more engagement and interest than text. It’s also been widely discussed that Pinterest, the social network based around the idea of sharing and “pinning” images, has achieve tremendous growth recently. In an effort to capture that enthusiasm for images from consumers, Facebook has implemented for some brands the ability to create collections of images and sell products through the Facebook platform.
So far, Victoria’s Secret, Pottery Barn, Michael Kors, Wayfair, Neiman Marcus, Fab.com and Smith Optics have been invited to participate. There has been no indication yet when other brands will be invited, or when the service will be made available to small business owners with Facebook Pages.
From a user’s perspective, they’ll see the images in their news feed if they’ve already liked the brand, or if one of their own friends like’s one of the images. Users can no only “Like”, they will also be able to “Collect” or “Want” the image. Once you take a look at the collection, you can sift through the images and Like or Comment as expected.
Where Facebook goes beyond what Pinterest offers is integrated Buy links. Each product image is linked to that product’s purchase page within the brand’s main website, making it easy for consumers to browse and purchase.
While there is no indication yet how Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram will come into play, we’re sure that Instagram integration into the new Collections feature is only a matter of time.
Take a look at the brand pages mentioned above and let us know what you think of this new feature. Will Facebook Collections result in more online sales for businesses? Will small business owners be able to take advantage of this feature as easily as larger brands will?