With over 4.74 billion users, social media has changed the way we perceive and interact with the world.
Right from the way we look, act and respond to the way we shop and do business.
In fact, eCommerce has now become an integral part of our lives. According to a 2022 report, 57.5% of internet users between the age group 16 to 64 years buy a product or service online weekly, with a quarter of them admitting to using social media to shop for their products.
Given this information, it is obvious that a business cannot truly grow without investing in social media. But how does one go about with it?
How do you use social media to help your eCommerce brand grow?
This article will address questions like:
- What is social media eCommerce marketing?
- What are the best social media platforms for eCommerce?
- Why use social media eCommerce?
- How to use social media to grow your eCommerce store?
So let's dive in without further ado.
What is social media eCommerce marketing?
Social media eCommerce marketing is the use of social media platforms to promote and sell products or services.
This can include creating and sharing content that showcases a product or service on social media, as well as using social media features like shoppable posts and direct messaging to drive sales. Some strategies businesses may use in social media eCommerce marketing include creating and sharing product videos, hosting giveaways and contests, and leveraging user-generated content. Additionally, businesses may use social media analytics tools to track engagement and sales and to gain insights into their target audience. Overall, social media eCommerce marketing can be an effective way for businesses to reach and engage with potential customers and drive sales.
What are the best social media platforms for eCommerce?
There are certain social media platforms that are more eCommerce friendly than others and thus inherently become a preferred social media platform for eCommerce businesses.
These platforms usually support social selling and social commerce by allowing businesses and consumers to directly interact with each other, engage and do active business.
The best social media platforms for eCommerce currently are Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok and Pinterest. Apps like Twitter and Snapchat are also extremely beneficial platforms as they have partnered with Shopify to create to their own social commerce tools to help promote and aid eCommerce businesses.
Why use social media eCommerce?
Social media eCommerce is a valuable tool for businesses looking to increase visibility, reach a targeted audience, and boost sales. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest offer features such as product tagging, shoppable posts, and direct links to purchase pages that make it easy for customers to make a purchase. Additionally, advertising on social media is generally less expensive than traditional forms of advertising, making it a cost-effective solution for businesses.
Here are some pointers to highlight the benefits of using social media eCommerce:
1. It is free to set-up
Unlike traditional brick-and-mortar stores, setting up an eCommerce store on social media platforms does not require any significant investment. All it takes is the initiative to make an account and get started.
2. Creates an interactive online shopping experience
Social media eCommerce platforms offer features such as shoppable posts, which make the shopping experience more interactive and engaging for customers.
3. Influences users through visual aesthetics
Social media platforms like Instagram are based on visual aesthetics, making it a great way to showcase products in an attractive way and to influence the purchase decision of potential customers.
4. Extends the places where sales can take place
Social media eCommerce allows businesses to reach customers beyond their physical location, increasing the potential customer base and sales opportunities.
In conclusion, businesses should consider their target audience, product offerings, and marketing strategy before deciding to use social media eCommerce as a way to reach their goals and increase their sales.
How to use social media to grow your eCommerce store?
There are a lot of ways you can use social media to grow your eCommerce store.
Here are 10 key social media strategies you can use for your eCommerce business:
1. Build Brand Awareness
Building brand awareness is essential for any eCommerce business looking to grow. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram offer features such as Facebook pages and Instagram profiles that allow businesses to create a presence and share information about their products or services. This includes creating visually appealing posts that showcase their products, sharing information about the company's mission and values, and interacting with followers through participating in online discourse, replying to their mentions and engaging them and their queries in conversation on personal chat to build a relationship with them. You can also increase brand awareness by creating interactive contests, collaborating with other brands and producing brand-related content.
2. Use Hashtags
Hashtags are a great way to increase visibility and reach a wider audience on social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter. By using relevant hashtags, businesses can ensure that their posts are seen by users who are interested in their products or services. For example, a fashion eCommerce store can use hashtags like #ootd or #fashionista to attract users who are interested in fashion.
Specifically for Twitter consider employing a Twitter hashtag tracker to monitor the performance and engagement of your chosen hashtags, ensuring your content resonates effectively with your target audience.
3. Promote User-Generated Content
User-generated content is a powerful way to build trust and credibility with potential customers. By promoting user-generated content on platforms like Instagram and Facebook, businesses can show potential customers that their products or services are well-liked and well-used. For example, an eCommerce store that sells skincare products can ask its customers to post pictures of their results after using the product.
4. Participate in Social Selling
Social selling is the process of using social media to connect with potential customers and make sales. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter offer features that allow businesses to connect with potential customers and promote their products or services. For example, a B2B eCommerce store can use LinkedIn to connect with other business owners and promote its products, while a B2C store can opt to do the same on Instagram and Twitter. This builds dialogue and a rapport between the eCommerce stores and their customers, allowing the businesses to actively engage their prospects and nurture them into loyal customers. This not only helps increase the conversion rate but also asserts the brand's presence online. Social selling can be best practised when followed by social listening.
5. Enable Social Commerce
Social commerce is the process of using social media to facilitate online transactions. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram offer features such as shoppable posts and Instagram Shopping that make it easy for businesses to sell their products directly on the platform. One can even use shoppable pins to sell directly via Pinterest. This allows customers to make a purchase without having to leave the social media platform and adds another channel of income for the business.
6. Employ Chatbots
Conversational chatbots are trained with NLP(natural language programming), which allows them to understand and hold conversations with people. By deploying a chatbot on your socials, you can drastically improve customer support and increase sales on social media platforms. You can also use chatbot automation to automate scheduled posting, replying to mentions and comments, making product recommendations, and even processing orders. Businesses can provide customers with quick and efficient service while maintaining a proficient persona and increasing sales.
7. Create Pages and Join Groups
Creating pages and joining groups on social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn is a great way to connect with potential customers and promote your products or services. Creating a separate page for a business and its products can bring traffic to the website and help increase its authenticity, and by joining relevant groups, businesses can connect with customers who are interested in their products and services and promote their offerings in a more targeted way.
8. Invest in Ads
Investing in ads on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram is a great way to reach a targeted audience and increase visibility for your products or services. Social media ads allow businesses to target specific demographics and interests, making them more effective than traditional advertising methods.
9. Use Analytics
Using analytics tools like Facebook Insights and Instagram Analytics can help businesses track their performance on social media and make data-driven decisions about their social media strategy. This includes tracking metrics like engagement, reach, and website traffic to better understand how their social media efforts are impacting their eCommerce business. Automation solution businesses like Engati provide you with automated market report and analysis that would best impact your business, all at the tip of your fingers. By investing in automation you can use regular dedicated analytics to help your business skyrocket with precision.
10. Use Influencer Marketing
Partnering with influencers on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, who have a significant following, can help businesses reach a larger audience, increase credibility, and drive sales. Influencer marketing allows businesses to leverage the trust and authority of an influencer in their niche to promote their products or services to a larger audience.
Conclusion
With Engati, you can automatically break down analytics, schedule automatic posts to amplify your reach, engage customers on chat and comments with chatbots and automate well-thought workflows for targeted ads, offers, product recommendations, and so much more, with a reliable platform that knows what it's doing. Engati has been used to build more than 30,000 chatbots across 186 countries.
Register with engati and cover most of the above-mentioned social media strategies and way more to boost your eCommerce business NOW.
