The global pandemic caused an exponential growth in social commerce, but it is showing no signs of slowing down in a post-pandemic world. Social commerce is expected to grow to $79 billion by 2025.
People are using social media as a way to discover new things. People can learn about new products, services, and brands. People can post about their experiences and read and leave reviews for others to see all in the same place. You can now buy things directly from social media platforms.
What is Social Commerce?
Let’s start with a social commerce definition:
Social commerce is the intentional act of selling products or services on social media. Shopping takes place on social media, not on individual websites.
Social commerce is different from social shopping. Social commerce is a type of online shopping where online vendors are part of the conversations. This is different from social shopping, which is a collaboration of online shoppers networking with one another.
Nowadays, social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest are central to the online shopping experience, from discovery to purchase. This wasn’t always the case, but over the past decade or so, these platforms have become increasingly important.
8 in 10 businesses are considering selling on social media within the next three years.
This creates a classic FOMO (fear of missing out) scenario, where not doing something your competitors are doing allows them to take all the glory and leave you on the sidelines.
– whether you’re a small business, direct-to-consumer, or a multi-million dollar enterprise, it can help you create an online-only social experience for your audience and potential customers.
What are the benefits of social commerce for brands and marketing teams? Using social media platforms to advertise is one of the most effective ways to generate revenue. Social commerce also makes sense from a numbers perspective. We’re always looking for ways to track and improve our performance by monitoring KPIs and other metrics. Social media can be used to boost conversions, engagement, and other metrics.
it’s becoming harder to get noticed online
and cut through the noise. But when you can connect with customers in places they already know and trust — and make it easy to buy from you — a big part of the battle is already won.
4 types of social commerce
Social commerce is a type of e-commerce that happens on social media platforms. It can take a wide range of forms, depending on the platforms used and the audience. Some of the ways to make money with a blog involve selling products directly, while other methods involve creating a community and expanding your audience with relevant content. We will examine four of the ways that social shopping is commonly supported, but suggest that you use them as a starting point rather than relying on them exclusively. The best way to figure out how to connect with your audience is to listen to them and see what they respond to. It might be something that no one else is doing.
Chat features customers can use to inquire about services or products
Facebook is a strong player in the chat sales game, especially because it bridges both Facebook and Instagram, as well as supporting WhatsApp chat. When customers interact with your ads, Instagram pages, or brand, you can include calls-to-action for them to chat with you on Messenger and other platforms. When you visit many Facebook pages, you will see chat notifications pop up.
Your page can be a source of quick responses to questions people have. In addition to sharing content, you can also share direct sales pitches or landing pages with your audience. The best results will come from letting the customer drive this social shopping experience.
The service is financially beneficial for a lot of businesses. Now, even solutions from third-party companies are integrating with chat to help you sell in a way that requires less work. This means that the CRM will now track customer actions taken on the HubSpot platform in addition to the traditional tracking of customer data. This means using HubSpot to send messages and automate processes, as well as assigning the appropriate sales team members to each chat interaction.
The platforms and tools you use to manage and sell your eCommerce store likely have similar integration capabilities. There are services that take your chatbot and messenger interactions and turn them into specific goals and activities. If you’re looking for a LEGO gift, you can now use a chatbot to help you find the perfect toy. The chatbot will ask you a series of questions about the person you’re buying for, and then recommend a few options based on your answers.
You get options delivered by answering a few questions. Not only can you buy gifts through Facebook, but you can also ship them directly to the recipient without leaving the site. LEGO and its bot maker say that the chatbot has been successful in reducing the cost per conversions by 71%.
Electronic payments on social posts
The latest trend is being able to buy things directly from social media sites. This is convenient for your audience and makes it easier for them to find what they’re looking for. Their ability to navigate to your post or click on an ad without having to leave the page they are on is an example of social commerce. It’s a simple and direct interaction.
Your customers can use their smartphones to access mobile-friendly options. Companies are creating their own payment systems to support these. Facebook Pay will work on various platforms to allow them more control over the social shopping experience.
Forums and groups for buying and selling products
The early days of the internet were driven by forums such as Reddit, where users could share and discuss products freely. However, there is not much selling that goes on in the platform itself.
Joining popular forums on Reddit, LinkedIn, and elsewhere is a great way to connect with others in your industry and learn more about what’s going on in your field. As a business, it can also help you connect with potential customers and get your name out there. Post product information, links to sales pages, and more. The key to success here is to build a community of followers. If you want people to trust you and keep reading what you post, share information that is actually useful. If all of your messages are advertising your product, people will lose interest quickly.
The golden rule of social commerce is to let the customer direct purchase decisions and to be there highlighting benefits without an overly aggressive sales message. Be kind and helpful to customers when they need assistance, no matter what the issue is.
The ability to buy and sell items on Facebook has allowed people to interact with each other more. These specific groups enable members to list items for sale, search for items to buy, and complete purchase transactions . Facebook Marketplace is a great way to buy and sell things locally. You can join groups devoted to specific products or communities, which makes it easier to find what you’re looking for.
Stories and new social selling options
Video and content that is only temporary are growing more popular on social media. So, social commerce has followed. More and more shopping options are becoming available through timed services. Facebook and Instagram have made it easy for brands to promote products.
You can tag products in your stories on Instagram to make them more apparent and bring attention to what you’re selling. Shopping posts will work like regular posts, allowing someone to access a product with one click instead of the multiple steps that were required in the past. Facebook has a tagging feature similar to Instagram’s, and also allows users to add a call-to-action button to their Stories page.
The tools mentioned are effective only if used within a few days of posting and continually cycling through them. It’s a smart and savvy way to reach your audience by sharing compelling content, though it will take some time.
Social Commerce Tips: How To Get started on Your Social Commerce Strategy
1. Remapping the Consumer Journey in Social Commerce
The way consumers make purchase decisions has changed from a linear process of research, discovery, and purchase, to a more fluid process, driven by organic interactions within the social commerce ecosystem.
What does this mean for marketers? The focus is now on the dynamic interactions within social platforms.
Marketers must focus on the social actions of consumers in order to develop new campaigns. User-generated content is useful in this process. The social interactions between buyers changes their experience, and marketers need to take advantage of this new way of advertising.
When there is a connection between consumers and brands, it creates opportunities for the brand to succeed. By starting to use social commerce early, you can create a positive image for your brand.
The key to successful social media marketing is understanding your brand’s target customer and what journey they take to purchase your product. In other words, what does a customer do when they come across your product on social media, either organically or through an advertisement? Are you making it easy for customers to purchase your product, or are you inadvertently creating extra work for them?
Creating unnecessary complexity happens more than you think!
The goal of mapping out the customer journey is to eliminate any friction that stands in the way of a consumer buying from you and create a seamless experience.
2. Focus Your Efforts on Strategic Platforms
The best way to fail at social media is by trying to do too much at once.
You will only get better at social media marketing by experimentation and making mistakes along the way. You cannot improve your results over time without knowing which inputs are causing the best outputs. This requires focus.
Choose one or two social media channels to get started, based on your ideal customer profile. We’ll go into more detail about that below. The most popular social media platforms, Instagram and Facebook, are obvious choices for marketing your brand. However, you may find that smaller, more niche channels work better for your particular brand.
3. Cultivate Your Brand’s Story
If you want to be successful in social media marketing, you need to create content that is beautiful and awe-inspiring. But what does that really mean?
When creating content, always keep in mind the story you want to tell about your brand. Unsure what that story is? Ask yourself these questions:
- What makes your brand unique?
- What makes your product unique?
- What makes your customers unique?
- Why should people care?
- Why would people buy your products with all of the choices they have?
- What are you really good at that no one else is?
The Future of Social Commerce
In short, social commerce is not the same as traditional e-commerce, and it is not meant to be a replacement.
Social media networks are expanding online shopping to new channels, and brands should take note. The features and functions available only on social media help simplify the buying process and allow customers to buy products more easily.
The level of competition in social commerce is higher than ever, so businesses need to act fast to take advantage of every opportunity to increase their reach, expand into new markets, and make themselves stand out in ways that matter.
The growth and expansion of social selling is amazing. The majority of social media platforms have implemented features that make it easy for users to sell items or promote their business. This has become a popular way to use social media. I’m excited about what’s next.
Now is the perfect time to start finding your target audience and expanding your skills. Before you start targeting a specific audience, you should spend some time learning about them. Find out where they are and how they interact. Then, start engaging. You can move from simple messages and shares to more intense sales processes. Do what works for you and continue doing it.