In the past 30 years, there were very few options for selling. We could sell in physical stores, by phone, or via catalog. Many businesses and marketers are overwhelmed by the sheer number of options available today. It’s often difficult to know if a business will be more successful if it sells through another channel. We can sell via social media, websites, and third-party marketplaces in addition to all the traditional channels.
We’re focusing today on social commerce because platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and others are constantly improving their offerings for businesses. You are wrong to think that social media is only about advertising and communicating with customers.
What is Social Commerce?
Social commerce is an example of how e-commerce can be broken into many different areas. Social commerce is not about selling products through a website. It’s the selling of products and services to customers via social media platforms. Customers can shop for products and services directly from the app, thanks to shoppable posts or similar features. It’s true, customers don’t need to click through anymore to reach the company’s website. This is why it’s becoming a valuable marketing tool.
Social Commerce
It’s important to consider how popular social media is when you are deciding whether social commerce is right for you. Facebook, for example, currently boasts 2.8 billion monthly active users. It also has deep target markets. People of all ages, demographics, and professions will be found.
Nearly four out of ten people admit to having purchased a product via social media. Six in ten also discovered new products through Instagram. Pinterest saw a doubling of its shoppable ads revenue in 2019 compared to last year. All evidence points to a positive experience for both customers and businesses.
The worlds of social media and ecommerce will continue to merge in 2021. Social media is a hot topic. Brands are opening storefronts, creating shoppable posts, and ad campaigns, and searching for valuable audiences on Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms. This year, these platforms offer hyper-targeting possibilities which makes them a compelling reason to invest in this sector.
Biggest Social Commerce Platforms
This is a great way to start your journey with this new marketing tool.
Facebook/Instagram
These two names were prominently mentioned at the beginning of this guide. It makes sense to continue with Instagram and Facebook. Facebook recently launched Shops, an ecommerce platform for all businesses. It is possible to create a storefront and it works across Instagram and Facebook. This is a one-stop shop (excuse my pun!) It brings together all of the small features that businesses have used. This includes Instagram Shopping and Live Video Shopping, Facebook Marketplace, Native Checkout, and Facebook Marketplace.
What does this all mean? Customers can now search for products on Facebook and then buy directly from the storefront. Facebook will charge a portion to enable the native checkout system.
This feature is not meant to be complicated, but it gives customers the tools they need to view your products and make a purchase. It makes checkout less stressful and customers are more likely to complete the purchase than lose steam and click away.
Pinterest also introduced Buyable Pins. This feature offers many of the same features to customers and businesses. Your customers will be able to purchase products in a very simple and easy way once they have them set up. Customers will notice the blue price tag at the bottom of a post so they know it’s a Buyable pin.
Pinterest stores purchase information. This is one of the many benefits of this system. Pinterest has customer information and can retrieve it if the customer returns. Instead of leaving social media and loading your website from a browser, all this happens in the Pinterest app.
Pinterest has been a great innovator internally over the years. However, it has also worked with third-party companies to make the platform more user-friendly – Basketful and MikMak.
TikTok
TikTok is still young and has yet to celebrate its fifth birthday. It seems to be keeping pace with the competition in social commerce, despite this. TikTok recently announced a partnership agreement with Shopify. Shopify users can now reach TikTok audiences easily, and users should find it easier to access Shopify stores.
Although TikTok doesn’t offer an in-app shopping experience, it is still able to accommodate businesses in many ways. Businesses can now target customers based on gender, age, behavior, or even video category with the Shopify link. The Shopify dashboard shows statistics and performance updates for the TikTok campaign.
Snapchat
Snapchat now has an in-app native checkout. Customers can view a product page, and possibly even buy the product from Snapchat if they like it. Creators can link products and services to snaps while encouraging customers through the checkout process.
Shopify and Snapchat have teamed up to offer a platform for creating a storefront. You can access your Snapchat account and see the Shop button. This is available to all customers.
Tips to Make Social Commerce a Success
These are the top tips to help you succeed when you implement these features.
Use the Facebook Buy Button
Are you familiar with the Amazon ‘Buy Now button? It was a game changer and has been a major contributor to the global marketplace’s billions of dollars over the years. Why? It streamlines the entire buying process by eliminating many steps. You can now do the same thing with the Facebook Buy Button.
The customer has already made a significant step in the purchase process and is more likely to complete it. People no longer need to be encouraged to click on one thing after another. Add a Buy button to speed up the purchase process.
Shoppable Stories
We’ve already talked about Shoppable Posts. But did you know that Instagram lets users create Shoppable Stories? Stories on social media have the advantage of attracting people to them. Imagine advertising your products and services through a story. Customers can easily access your brand by using a “Swipe Up” experience or tagging your products.
Facebook Messenger: Engage
Facebook Messenger was once a component of the Facebook service. It is now a standalone marketing tool. ManyChat is a tool that can help you increase engagement and sales. Artificial intelligence and machine learning can take control of your conversations and provide customer support.
Your social commerce strategy has been able to accommodate more sales and the company now handles more customers.
Automate Anywhere Possible
Automation is a key component of any social commerce strategy. Automating your customer service will allow you to rely more on it, which means that customers can spend more time addressing bigger problems. Jumper.ai automates the checkout process and allows you to manage all your social media channels from one platform.
If done wrongly, businesses end up spending a lot of time on social commerce. Automating allows you to step back and concentrate on the bigger picture while technology does the mundane stuff.
Use third-party apps and plugins
Although we’ve highlighted a few apps that can be integrated into this process, there are many more effective apps than we can list here. We’ll sum up by encouraging you to look into all the options. You’ll find many third-party plugins and apps that simplify the process, collect data, generate insights, and more, especially with Instagram and Facebook.
One plugin allows customers to simply type in a word in the comments section of a post, and the tool will send them an email invoice to complete their order. ).
Bonus Tips
- Use Shoppable posts across all social media platforms, as long as your target audience is present!
- Your ecommerce platform can be used to manage and analyze social media
- Don’t forget to collect email addresses from customers for future marketing opportunities
- Customers shouldn’t be expected to purchase expensive items on a whim.
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