Facebook Apps: an artisan learning social media

Jwrobel

By Jess Wrobel

This all started because I wanted to have both of my Etsy shops on my Facebook page.  The Etsy  App only allows you to have one.  So, the research, trial and error began!  In the end it was much easier to pull off than I ever would have thought.  And if I can do it, you can, too.

The more I learn about Facebook, the more impressed I am.  The flexibility of creating a user friendly interactive web presence is right at your fingertips.  Let's start with my initial project of getting both my Etsy shops on my FB page.

1.  Log in to your FB account and click on Edit Page>Apps>Search for and then Choose the Static Iframe Tab App.

2.  Follow the instructions for installing the application.  They walk you through each of the steps.  Once the App is installed, you can start customizing your Facebook Page. From there everything is easy as pie.

3.  Look at the screen shot of my broodbaby tab below, and you'll see a table of contents across the top of the opened tab. Click on Edit Tab Content and you see a screen like the second image.

4.  Notice that when you are in Edit Tab Content you have the option of selecting HTML, URL, or FBML. I used HTML and then went to my Etsy account to get the code for an Etsy Mini. Copy that code, come back to FB, and paste that code in at the top of the Edit Tab Content Box. There is some preexisting code when you first open the window, so just make sure you don't erase that. Click on Save. That will bring back to the page shown in the first screen shot.

5.  To add an additional tab, now, click on +Add More Tab.  I repeated the previous process to get my second Etsy shop, JwrobelStudio, on its own tab.

Another option in using this tab is to click on URL instead of HTML. This will take you to a screen where all you have to do is write in a web address. For the screen shot below, I just used the URL for an Etsy shop, but it could just as easily be the URL for my own website or blog or professional group I'm part of.

As I hope you can see, the possibilities for this application are endless and it's not just for Etsy people. In addition to both my Etsy shops, I've included tabs for specific collections on my own website and one for purchasing Gift Certificates. On my agenda of additional tabs to add are one for my Little Burd charitable program and I'm also toying with vendor/artist features. You could also promote special or seasonal collections, fundraisers, tutorials, or what's in the works that your customers should keep an eye out for.

Really, in this social media marketing world it is all about generating engaging content. And, unlike the name "Static FBML", there is nothing static about it. It is a tool that allows you keep things fresh quickly and easily.

Questions?  Ask and we'll try to answer them...