Having a Facebook presence is helpful, but it's hard to tell what impact it actually has on sales, according to a group of Christian retailers.

New Life Christian Stores in Forest, Va., has seen some business because of its use of the social media network, but "I don't think it's a huge spike," said Manager Todd Whitaker. "If you get in 10 people that weren't going to come in otherwise, you have at least increased yourself a little bit."

"I've had a small amount," said Dan Panella, owner of Vine & Branches in Lodi, Calif. "I try to hit stuff that's kind of offbeat on Facebook in terms of product that normally wouldn't get mentioned, so I think there is certainly a little bit of a spike, but it's very minor. Anytime I'm promoting something big, I don't know where the sales are coming from."

Whitaker and Panella were among five retailers who discussed social media uses in a Christian Retailing roundtable forum that looked at ways of marketing with the likes of Facebook.

Angie Adams, co-owner of Guiding Light Christian Store in Barboursville, W.Va., told of selling five copies of a Stormie Omartian book after commenting on her personal Facebook page about how reading it had impacted her life.

"That was pretty incredible ... something that was coming from my heart because I had read it, and it was not necessarily just an advertising plug," she said.

Read more in the March issue of Christian Retailing.

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