Aug 12, 2012

Small Retail Shops Use Facebook Fan Pages to Get Customers Through The DoorBy Susan ThurstonTampaBay.com

Tampa, FL – Long before Revolve Clothing Exchange opened its newest location, it had a Facebook page. The staff posted photos of shel­ving under construction and shoes headed for the racks. “Stay tuned for more awesomeness!” screamed a post about its vintage T-shirts. • The new and used clothing store wanted to build some excitement before opening at 4023 W Kennedy Blvd. in Tampa, said co-owner Kevin Hecht. And it didn’t have a lot of money to spend on traditional media advertising.

The strategy worked. By the time Revolve welcomed its first customer Aug. 3, it had more than 100 fans on Facebook. Even better, a few of them stopped in to shop during the first week.

Hecht is one of many small retail business owners using Facebook for their marketing. Forget the grumblings about Facebook’s paid advertising or falling stock price. Facebook’s free fan pages get people through his front door.

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