More and more internet users shop online and use social media platforms to research brands. Social media and eCommerce are a perfect match made in heaven and these statistics are proof. – In 2020, 76.8% of the internet user base worldwide made an online purchase. – To search for brand-related info, 44.8% of global internet users use social media. – Today more than 50% of global Internet users aged between 16 to 24 use social media to research various brands (55.9% female and 51% male users). – As per Sprout Social search results, users first follow a brand on social media and then engage in other ways. 91% check out the brand’s website or app, 89 % purchase products, and 85 % recommend the brand to others. Today more than 50% of global Internet users aged between 16 to 24 use social media to research various brands (55.9% female and 51% male users). Marketers have been using social platforms to connect with eCommerce users for a while now to build brand awareness, communicate with the customer on social media and generate more online sales. In this article, we shall guide you to use social media to market your eCommerce brand and build a social media presence for your eCommerce store with the right eCommerce marketing strategy. Let us first know what is social media eCommerce marketing. Social media eCommerce marketing comprises all the social media tactics that are used to market your eCommerce online business. These strategies include; · promoting and driving traffic to an eCommerce website or app, · selling products directly on social media handles, · communicating with both pre-purchase and post-purchase customers, · collecting information about your industry, your audience, competitors Basically, Social commerce is the process of selling products or services directly on social media platforms like Facebook Shops, Instagram Shops, and Product Pins, among others. Currently, most social media networks offer free social media built-in solutions for advertising, selling, and customer service. Know how can you use social media for eCommerce marketing Listed below are the different tips and tactics you can use for eCommerce social media marketing to promote your online business and drive sales. 1. For building brand awareness To launch a brand-new store or product, you should first start creating buzz around so people know about what you’re selling. A unique voice and a consistent posting strategy on various social media platforms will help you in building brand awareness and reaching your target audience. The brand awareness process does take some amount of time and paid social can help you speed up things a little. 2. Advertising Recent statistics by Digital 2021 show that in the United States alone, 190 million people can be reached by Facebook advertising, 140 million by Instagram advertising, and around 170 million people can be reached by LinkedIn advertising. Most social media platforms offer target tools to hunt your perfect audience and serve them ads that will drive traffic. Pick the right objective before starting your campaign. Then choose the right ad format for effective campaigns such as Image ads, Video ads, Carousel ads, or Collection ad campaigns. 3. Selling products directly on social media Selling your products directly from your social media accounts or shops is called social commerce. Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest offer native shopping solutions for business accounts to reach your audience while Snapchat has partnered with Shopify and has its own social commerce tool. Using social commerce solutions has many benefits like it’s completely free to set up. It helps to create a great social shopping experience for customers since it streamlines the sales process by shortening the purchasing and checkout process and thus improves your conversion rates. 4. Social media Customer service While your prime social media goal may be reaching new customers — you can’t forget about your existing customers. Your social media will act as an ad hoc customer service channel. Your customers may come to you to find information, ask questions or give you feedback. Reviews from happy ideal customers serve as social proof for shoppers who are still in the decision-making stage of their customer journey. Show your audience that you value their views and feedback. 5. Social Listening Social listening is a vital process of scanning social media for references for your brand or products and all conversations related to your brand. Social listening is a vital process of scanning social media for references for your brand or products and all conversations related to your brand. Knowing what people have to say about your products online is an invaluable source of insight that helps you understand which are your most liked high quality products, common recurring problems, or issues related to any particular product, and the overall public sentiment towards your brand 6. Collaborate with social media influencers Teaming up with social media influencers that your audience love can provide great exposure for you and your products to new audiences. Some ideas you can use to promote your eCommerce store through focused collaborations: · Offer an influencer to test your product and ask them to share their truthful review with their followers. · Partner with other brands with similar audiences · Host an Instagram Live session with influencers and answer to online queries of your audience. · Encourage guest postings 7. Use short-form video content Across different demographics, people love short-form video content so feel free to experiment with popular interactive content formats like Instagram Stories, Instagram Reels, Instagram Live, TikToks, Twitter, and Facebook Stories. 8. Encourage user-generated content User-generated content can prove an even better form of social proof other than positive reviews and comments from happy customers. Encourage your customers to share pictures and videos featuring your products to their social media accounts, tagging your brand. You can re-share these to your own profiles. It not only helps in building a stronger relationship between them but also makes you more credible to new potential customers. User-generated content can prove an even better form of social proof other than positive reviews and comments from happy customers. 9. Posts regularly and smartly A regular posting of your eCommerce social media posts will help you stay visible and relevant and will keep you on top of your audience’s mind. Consider composing, scheduling, and publishing posts to all of your social media account at the best time to best fit your business goals. Promote organic posts and digital marketing strategy for eCommerce business growth. Manage all incoming messages from all of your social channels and deliver responses within a quick period of time. 10. Consider the Mobile Experience As more than half of online daily active users DAU access social media networks and websites via their phones, the whole mobile purchase journey needs to be seamless. Payment options should be mobile-friendly. Create content most suitable to your audience and consider content formats as well and offer videos in vertical format for mobile users. 11. Advertise and Sell on Third-Party Websites Third-party websites like Amazon, and Flipkart provides you the benefit of established functionality and huge audiences while building your legitimacy and website traffic. You also get to enter into their vast audience of visitors who are potential buyers and promote posts there. Consumers spend almost two and a half hours per day on social media platforms. And now we know…. Consumers spend almost two and a half hours per day on social media platforms. As more and more people are integrating the world of social media into their daily routines, it makes complete sense to target and to market to them here. Social media today offers an excellent opportunity to get into the eye of potential customers, increase website traffic, and drive your sales. Do not miss out on any opportunity it represents. Just set social media goals and start using various platforms to strengthen your brand, increase your sales, and develop your brand name. We are sure, with the help of the tactics outlined above, you’ll be ready steady to dive into the pool of social media and reap all its benefits for your eCommerce business. References How to use social media for Ecommerce (tips and examples). Social Media Management Dashboard. (2022, May 26). Retrieved August 16, 2022, from https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-ecommerce/ Why BigCommerce? Enterprise. (n.d.). Retrieved August 16, 2022, from https://www.bigcommerce.co.uk/ecommerce-answers/effective-social-media-use-ecommerce-marketing/ Neil Patel. (2021, August 28). The ultimate guide to social media for E-Commerce. Neil Patel. Retrieved August 16, 2022, from https://neilpatel.com/blog/social-media-ecommerce/ GET IN TOUCH: Name * Company * Phone Email * Subject Message *
