The Effectiveness of Facebook as a Digital Marketing Tool of Students Online Sellers

Facebook is a valuable digital marketing tool as it enables companies and businesses to interact with customers, build brand awareness and access an extensive audience. This study aims to examine how effective Facebook is as a digital marketing tool for student online sellers. It investigates on the respondents’ thoughts on selling on Facebook, What Facebook have that others don't, the features of Facebook, the impact of Facebook on respondents’ businesses and their thoughts about Facebook's boost feature. The researcher employed a qualitative research methodology, focusing on Husserl's transcendental phenomenological research design. In addition, the proponents conducted semi-structured interview questions; the data were collected from 10 entrepreneurship students at the City College of El Salvador, Misamis Oriental, and Philippines. Furthermore, the responses were interpreted using thematic analysis. The results show that the use of Facebook as a digital marketing tool really helps student sellers as it yields financial opportunities, a broad reach and market potential, and accessibility and usability. In what Facebook has that others don’t, the result was categorized in terms of its user base and popularity, as well as community and engagement. Moreover, on the features of Facebook that the respondents know, aside from messenger, group pages, posting, and live was Marketplace and Selling Features, Visual Content Sharing, Limited to No Idea. In addition, on the impact on Facebook on the respondents’ businesses, the commonality was Positive Sales Impact, Increased Customer Engagement and Customer Feedback and Reviews. Furthermore, on the respondents’ thoughts about Facebook's boost feature, the commonality was Awareness and Familiarity, Lack of Awareness and Heard about it but Uncertain. The study concludes that Facebook significantly benefits student sellers by providing financial opportunities, broad market reach, and ease of use. Its unique strengths lie in its large user base and strong community engagement. Respondents identified key features like Messenger, group pages, Marketplace, and visual content sharing, though some had limited knowledge of advanced tools. Facebook positively impacted sales, customer engagement, and feedback. However, familiarity with the boost feature varied, highlighting the need for better awareness to maximize its marketing potential.