According to Search Engine Watch, social media influences 71% of consumer buying decisions.
Social ecommerce or social commerce is the integration of social media and online shopping – creating a seamless shopping experience directly within social platforms. Think of it as the union between ecommerce and social networking. Through platforms like Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, users can discover, share and purchase products all on their favourite social media sites.
Here, we explore the impact of social commerce on businesses and how you can take advantage of social commerce in your digital marketing.
The impact of social commerce on brands
Increasing brand visibility
Social commerce provides a unique avenue for your brand to enhance its online visibility. By taking advantage of sharing and tagging features on social platforms, your products can quickly reach a wider audience. According to Forbes, 77% of businesses use social media to reach customers.
Encouraging customer engagement
The interactive nature of social media creates direct engagement between brands and customers. Whether through comments, shares or direct messages, social ecommerce allows you to build relationships with your audience. And this leads to increased trust and loyalty. Hootsuite says that Instagram continues to be the best platform for engagement. In January 2024, it recorded a consistently high engagement rate across all industries.
Driving online sales
Online content plays a crucial role in a customer’s decision-making process, especially if they are buying through social media. Social ecommerce integrates social proof into the shopping experience to make decisions easier for customers. Social proof includes product reviews, blog posts and user-generated testimonials, all of which encourage sales.
TikTok is a great example of social media content influencing purchasing decisions. From the viral hashtag #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt to ecommerce solutions that make it super easy to find products, brands are experiencing increased sales online and even in store.
Personalised shopping experiences
More and more customers seek personalisation and expect brands to understand their unique needs. A recent study in the US found that 81% of customers prefer companies that offer a personalised experience. Social ecommerce platforms can leverage data analytics to tailor product recommendations and promotions to individual needs. For example, machine learning models and other algorithm ranking tools are used to show users products and brands they may be interested in when browsing Facebook or Instagram shops.
How to integrate social commerce into your digital marketing strategy
1. Set clear goals and know your target audience
Identify what you want to achieve with social commerce. Is it increased sales, brand awareness, or customer engagement? Once you’ve established your goals, make sure you understand your ideal customer. Which social media platforms do they frequent? What kind of content resonates with them?
2. Choose the right platforms
Not all social media platforms are created equal for social commerce. Focus on the ones where your target audience is most active. Currently, the most popular options include Instagram Shopping, Facebook Shops, and TikTok Shopping.
3. Create engaging content
Go beyond just product photos. Use a mix of high-quality images, customer reviews, and behind-the-scenes videos to showcase your products in a captivating way. Leverage features like shoppable posts and live streams to allow seamless product discovery and purchase within the platform. By offering an engaging social commerce experience and humanising your brand customers are more inclined to buy from you.
4. Run social commerce campaigns
Make use of social media advertising to target specific demographics and interests. Offer exclusive discounts and promotions to incentivise purchases through social media channels. Chat to paid social experts about boosting product posts to further reach and drive sales.
Increase sales with a custom social media strategy
Social media and the ecommerce landscape continue to evolve. If you run an ecommerce business, it’s important to take advantage of the power of social media to increase your online sales.
Keeping up with social commerce trends is time-consuming. So why not leave it to us? We’ll create, execute and monitor your social media campaigns to maximise results and ROI.
Get in touch to get started.
