NOTE: This is slowly being rolled out across the U.S., it may or may not be available in your area at the moment, but be prepared!
In 2016, Facebook launched its Marketplace that gave its users the opportunity to add personal items that they are offering for sale. Facebook Marketplace also enabled them to look for products that they want to buy. The year before that, Facebook opened its Facebook Groups to its users for buying and selling of items. Just recently, the social media network added home services to this platform effectively encroaching on the category of Angie’s List.
The social media giant will now use Facebook Marketplace for its home services section. It has already collected the necessary data through its collaboration with Home Advisor, Handy and Porch. Through these partnerships, Facebook will be able to access thousands of home service professionals. It will provide its users enough information about these home services including their ratings, location and customer reviews.
You Need A Facebook Business Page
So, if you have a Facebook business page, and you want to increase your revenues, you need to adapt it to the new home services of Facebook Marketplace. When your friends and clients are looking for a certain home service professional, they can use your Facebook business page to ask for a quote directly using this tool while they stay on your page. But they need to adequately describe the job that they want to be done in detail. This would make it easy for the home service professionals to respond correctly. You, as the home service professional, will be able to contact the client through your Facebook Messenger.
This Is A Challenge To Amazon Home Services, Angie’s List and Craigslist
In launching home services in its Marketplace, Facebook is practically putting up a challenge to the established players in this category. Amazon Home Services, Angie’s List and Craigslist have been mining this field for years. For instance, Amazon Home Services have been offering house cleaning services, yard work, and so forth. Angie’s List has been a popular go-to website for people who are also looking for home services such as home repairs and related jobs. And so is Craigslist.
Now, Facebook Marketplace home services will allow your friends and clients to search for professional services that are validated by people who have already used those services in their locality. Choosing the right home service professional is very important. Unfortunately, people learn their lessons the hard way.
The Best Referral Network (Platform)
What usually happens is that every time they need a home repair service, people that they know are ready to give their recommendations as to the right person that can do the job. But as it usually turns out, they are not informed that that person is their brother or their nephew. There will be no problem if that brother or nephew is really adept at the job. But more often than not, the job they perform is not up to par since they are not really home service professionals.
Performing home service jobs require a certain degree of professionalism. This is not just referring to the actual work that needs to be done, but in the way the worker relates with the homeowner. A home service professional needs to have the necessary skills to get the job done in ways that would make the homeowner happy. It the worker lacks the necessary job and relationship skills, instead of solving the problem he might even make it worse.
This is the rationale for Facebook Marketplace including home services in its listings. It will lower the odds of hiring non-professionals to do house repairs. Facebook has included honest reviews of every home service professional on its list. Your friends and clients can read those reviews to ascertain if the professional that they are hiring will do the job as they are expected to.
Additional Resources:
[Facebook] List Your Professional Home Services on Marketplace
HomeAdvisor
Handy
Porch
Article Written by:
Phil Fisk
Digital Marketing Consultant
Core6.Marketing
