Social commerce is quickly becoming one of the most strategic ways to sell products and services online. Using Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest to promote your business isn’t anything new. But selling products straight through these networks is the hottest emerging trend in business.
Examples of social commerce include reviews, ratings, and referrals, Facebook “Shop Now” stores, Instagram stores, and buyable pins on Pinterest. Social commerce benefits the consumer and business alike in that it’s very easy to discover new products, share feedback easily, communicate effectively, and get quick customer service.
The success of social commerce is also easy to measure. Pay attention to the amount of interaction among consumers through the means of shares, likes, pins, and retweets. If you’re ready for your business to excel, it’s time to jump into social commerce.
Social Commerce Basics
In order to harness the power of social commerce, you have to put yourself out there. A lot. You must engage in posting new content consistently throughout the day. Be ready to answer questions and respond to comments quickly. Encouraging activity among your brand’s followers isn’t difficult, but it takes a bit of effort to get the ball rolling.
Combined with carefully crafted marketing tactics, social-based interactions could very well be worth the effort. You can build trust, increase brand awareness for your business. This makes promoting products and services that much easier.
Popular Tactics
There are several popular tactics currently being utilized in social commerce. The following outlines methods that have rendered high levels of success to both large-scale and small business owners:
- The creation of large and visually striking images and gifs in order to cultivate clicks from internet users
- Giving away products and/or offering various types of promotions to internet users that share information regarding products and/or services offered on their personal feeds
- Inviting internet users to vote on certain products and/or services offered by the business
- Providing a post that links to the shopping cart and/or checkout area on the business website
- Allowing consumers options that are personalized to their unique preferences
- Utilizing those of nobility – such as celebrities – to endorse certain products and/or services offered by the business
- Utilizing videos and/or animations in order to display the products and/or services offered
- Encouraging internet users to submit pictures of products, commentary about products and/or services, and allowing consumers to offer their feedback on that which the company offers
- Using forums to allow buyers to discuss their experiences
- Establishing groups and/or communities where target audiences may interact with one another while providing feedback on the brand
The One-Stop Shop
Social commerce combines the popularity of social media platforms with e-commerce. It allows businesses to create a “one-stop shop” where consumers can interact socially and make purchases – all at once.
A prime example includes the shoppable posts that are popular on Instagram.
Consumers that wish to make a purchase from these posts may do so without ever having to leave the social media giant.
In past years, it was found that when an internet user has to switch to a different app, log in to another website, or visit a store that is not known to them, they are more likely to abandon making a purchase. Social commerce establishes a solid, trustworthy platform that makes this issue one of the past.
Measuring Success in Social Commerce
Generally speaking, the same metrics used to measure the success of a social media platform may be utilized to measure the overall success of a social commerce endeavor. The following outlines the three means in which success may be measured:
- Reach – This refers to the amount of exposure that a post gets/receives and the general size of the audience that has been exposed to the social commerce marketing campaign.
- Reputation – This measures the overall popularity of the post and/or business through mentions on social media profiles and pages.
- Rate of Return – This refers to the actions and the effects that the social commerce campaign has on the amount of sales that are produced by the marketing efforts.
Start Your Social Commerce Campaign Today
If you want to increase brand awareness, build trust among consumers, and increase the number of sales that you make, it is time to start a social commerce campaign. This will allow you to get up close and personal to your target audience, build a relationship with those individuals, and promote the goods and/or services in which your company specializes.
We here at Brick Road Media will collaborate with you to ensure that you have the highest reach, the best reputation, and experience the highest rate of return. We can help you measure your success.
We can help you create a marketing plan that will render success for all of your tomorrows!