If you’ve noticed a decline in the number of views your Facebook Marketplace listings are getting, there are a few potential reasons why this might be happening.
Overview
Facebook Marketplace is an increasingly popular way for people to buy and sell products locally. With over 1 billion monthly active Facebook users, Marketplace gives sellers access to a huge potential customer base.
However, changes to the Facebook algorithm, increased competition, issues with your listings, and other factors can cause fluctuations in Marketplace views over time. While a drop in views can be discouraging, there are steps sellers can take to help boost visibility and engagement.
Potential Reasons for Decreased Facebook Marketplace Views
Here are some of the most common reasons why you may be seeing fewer views on your Marketplace listings:
Facebook Algorithm Changes
Like other parts of Facebook, Marketplace uses an algorithm to determine which listings users see first. When the algorithm changes—which Facebook does periodically—some listings may get shown less prominently in search results and browse feeds.
For example, Facebook prioritizes showing users listings that are most relevant to them based on location, past activity, interests, and other factors. If your listings are no longer aligning with what Facebook deems relevant for its users, your views could drop as a result.
Increased Competition
With Marketplace growing in popularity, competition among sellers has increased significantly. There are simply more listings out there for buyers to choose from. This abundance of choice makes it harder for any one listing to stand out and get views.
More competition can be especially impactful in certain niches and local markets where seller saturation is high. Standing out from the crowd is key to getting views when there are many similar listings.
Issues With Your Listings
There are a variety of issues directly related to your listings that could be turning viewers away:
- Unappealing photos
- Lack of detailed description
- Unreasonable price
- Hard-to-find location
- Unresponsive seller
- Low product condition
If your listings are not visually appealing, informative, competitively priced, and reflect product quality accurately, buyers will likely skip past them to other options.
Less Marketing From You
To get views on Marketplace, you often have to go out and get them. If you have cut back on marketing and promoting your listings, that could directly correlate with lower views.
Ways to market your Marketplace listings include:
- Sharing to your Facebook profile, pages, or groups
- Running Facebook ads targeting local buyers
- Promoting on other platforms like Instagram or Craigslist
- Telling friends, family, and existing customer base about listings
The more exposure you can get for your listings outside of Marketplace itself, the more initial views and momentum they are likely to achieve.
Seasonality and Timing
Views on Marketplace tend to fluctuate naturally throughout the year and even week to week. Holiday weekends or popular shopping times often see spikes in buying and selling activity (and hence views), while slower periods see corresponding dips.
For example, views tend to decline in the summer months when people are traveling more or participating in outdoor activities. Views also often drop around major holidays when people are busy celebrating and not shopping as much online.
Certain days and times of day also see more Marketplace browsing than others. Views may fall during weekdays when people are working or at times when your target customers are least active on Facebook.
Facebook Technical Issues
While not exceedingly common, bugs or glitches on Facebook’s end can also sometimes interfere with Marketplace views and performance. Issues like outages, code defects, or platform updates gone awry could hypothetically limit visibility temporarily.
That said, technical issues are usually resolved relatively quickly and tend to impact all sellers rather than one individual. Most view drops can be traced back to the other factors discussed above.
Tips to Increase Facebook Marketplace Views
If your Marketplace views have declined, don’t panic. There are concrete steps you can take to help get your listings back on buyers’ radars. Here are some best practices:
Refresh Your Listings
Go through all your current listings and make updates to improve their appeal. Enhance titles and descriptions, replace any low-quality photos, adjust pricing as needed, specify locations accurately, and fill in other listing details thoroughly.
Deleting and reposting refreshed listings can also help reset their positioning in Marketplace. Outdated, incomplete listings tend to stop garnering engagement over time.
Vary Listing Types
Facebook allows you to list items both as auction-style listings and fixed-price “Buy Now” listings. Creating a mix of both listing types can help you appeal to different types of buyers.
You may also get more views by listing individual items for sale rather than just batches. Breaking items out gives buyers more specific options to browse.
Broaden Location Range
Make sure your location radius is set wide enough to expose your listings to more potential buyers nearby. The default is 50 miles but you can expand up to 500 miles.
Casting a wider net gives your listings visibility to more Facebook users. If you’re willing to ship items, a large location range is especially helpful.
Utilize Targeting Options
When creating or editing a listing, you have the option to target it to specific cities, zip codes, or mile radii from a given location. Leverage these tools to laser-focus your listings to the areas where they will resonate most.
You can also target by interests and demographics, though this is only feasible if running paid Facebook ads.
Boost Your Best Listings
Facebook allows you to “boost” up to 5 active Marketplace listings at once, promoting them higher in search results and feeds. Take advantage of this built-in tool.
Be strategic – boost the listings most likely to convert or that need the biggest visibility boost. You can allot different boost budgets per listing.
Run Local Facebook Ads
The views you get organically in Marketplace will only take you so far. Investing in Facebook and Instagram ads targeted to your local buyer audience can rapidly expand your reach and drive more traffic to your listings.
You can create ads pointing directly to specific Marketplace listings or to your general seller profile.
Cross-Promote Your Listings
Get added mileage out of your listings by sharing them across Facebook. Post them to your own profile feed, relevant local Facebook groups, neighborhood pages, Facebook Marketplace seller communities, and anywhere your target buyers are likely to frequent.
You can also cross-promote listings on Nextdoor, Craigslist, Kijiji, Instagram, and other platforms your customers use.
Engage With Listing Views
When someone does view your listing, engage with them! Send them a message saying hello, asking if they have any questions, or providing more details about the item.
Being responsive establishes trust and just having an initial interaction makes buyers more likely to favorite or purchase from you.
Gather Feedback to Improve
Ask existing customers or partners for honest feedback about anything that could be limiting views on your listings – photos, prices, product condition, etc.
Getting an outside perspective can reveal issues you may have overlooked yourself. Continuous improvement is key.
Other Marketing Tactics to Consider
In addition to the above tips focused directly on optimizing your Marketplace strategy and listings, some broader marketing tactics can help drive more overall traffic and sales.
Leverage Retargeting Ads
If someone views but doesn’t purchase one of your listings, you can show follow-up Facebook ads reminding them to come back.
Retargeting helps keep you top of mind until buyers are ready to commit. The more touchpoints the better.
Focus on Business Branding
Rather than just promoting individual items, focus some of your efforts on building overall awareness of your seller brand locally.
People will be more inclined to view your Marketplace listings if they’re already familiar with and trust your business.
Cultivate Email Subscribers
Build an email list of past customers and interested buyers who you can notify about new Marketplace listings. Email still drives substantial sales.
Offer a lead magnet like a discount code or free product to incentivize signups.
Partner With Local Businesses
See if related local businesses would be willing to promote your listings and seller profile to their customer base, via their website, email lists, social media, or other channels.
Co-marketing partnerships can expand your reach exponentially.
Be Patient But Persistent
With the right strategy, you can get your Facebook Marketplace views trending upward again. But it will take some time and consistent effort to regain and maintain momentum.
Experiment with different tactics, refine based on data, and keep iterating. Consistency and patience are key. Don’t get discouraged if change doesn’t happen overnight.
If views remain stagnant for long periods of time, reevaluate your broader approach. There may be foundational improvements needed around your listings, local marketing, or seller reputation.
Stay focused on the fundamentals, keep learning and adjusting, and you can overcome fluctuations in Marketplace visibility. Buyers are out there – you just have to put in the work to get your listings in front of them.
Conclusion
A drop in Facebook Marketplace views can be frustrating, but is rarely permanent or unsolvable. By refreshing and optimizing your listings, expanding visibility through promotions and ads, engaging potential buyers, and executing an iterative marketing approach, you can regain lost momentum.
Experiment with different tactics, analyze the data to see what works, and don’t be afraid to change course if something isn’t generating results. Consistency and adaptability are key.
Leverage Facebook’s selling tools and broader marketing best practices. With time and effort, you can increase Marketplace visibility and get your inventory moving again.