Facebook and Instagram recently became the perfect place for small businesses and online shopping. You probably have come across many groups and pages that sell clothes or any item you could possibly need, sometimes they sell homemade food.
The one thing in common between all of these businesses is the way they reply to their customers with prices… “DM for Prices”
Most of these businesses follow this technique when someone asks about an item’s price. But have you ever wondered why? And if it can hurt the business or not?
Let’s dig more into this article to see both sides of using this technique.
Why “DM for Prices”?
What does a page want the most? The answer is engagement.
When prices are hidden, the first thing people will do is ask about it in the comments, so this increases the engagement. And the more comments, the more the posts’ engagement and reach will increase.
Also, when a customer starts chatting in the DM about more info regarding the product, it creates a bond between the customer and the brand. It becomes a one on one conversation and it’s private.
So, if the page has professional moderators who know how to deal with customers and how to answer properly, this will form a brand-customer relationship.
This experience is similar to when you walk into a shop and one employee starts to help you; all of their focus is on you and how to properly assist you.
Can it Hurt Your Business?
Making customers slide into the DMS just to know a price can be annoying.
Sometimes it can make you lose customers, not everyone is fond of DMing stores! Some customers might think that the brand can tell each customer a different price, while others can get anxious about it.
Put in mind that people sometimes ask for the sake of price knowledge; they don’t necessarily want to buy. And some pages actually complains about the number of people who ask about the price without buying! So, this makes the customer anxious about asking because they might not buy! And the reason is that it might not be affordable to them.
Also, a customer might want to ask about multiple pieces but and thinks that prices might get mixed up in the DMs.
So, this method might make the brand lose future potential customers.
A Waste of Time
Some people think that asking about the price in the DM is a waste of time.
Think about the process and the time a single reply can take. Some people actually find it irritating to keep asking every page about their prices, some are even too lazy to text multiple pages about a price of a single item.
Your page might take a long time to get back at the customer’s question, so you’re kind of wasting their time, especially if they’re ready to order.
Let’s assume that your potential customer is not always online and you took a long time to reply, what do you think is gonna happen?
This will slow down the ordering process; your customer will expect an instant reply, and if you’re late you might lose them or you will get a late reply as well. So, in the end, the conversation will keep going back and forth and will take a longer time. But if the prices are available, you will find the customer sending you a message with the order and all the information.
Can It Benefit The Business?
Sometimes it can be effective, yes but based on some conditions.
If your brand is offering unique pieces, then customers will be interested. The most important thing is the quality of the product, if you’re offering good quality and using real-life images, it will grab you more customers.
Also, if you established a big name for your brand that became widely known, then customers won’t care that much because they already trust you. And if you are giving your customers special offers and discounts, then they will be interested.
So, if you’re gonna follow this technique, you have to be smart in applying it. Yes, customers might find it annoying but on the other hand, you’re offering them things, they might not find it elsewhere.
What to Do Instead
If you want to avoid this method but still want engagement and build a relationship with your customers, there are many ways to achieve that.
You can create content that forces your customers to engage with your posts; there are many ideas for engaging posts. As for building a relationship with your customer, it’s all about what you’re offering them, how you’re treating them, and how beneficial is your product.
A DM can’t always form a relationship with your customers, your products and the way you treat your customers are the ones responsible for building this bond.
So, in the end, tell us how you view this way of communication when it comes to online shopping.
