The concept of actually scoring sales via social media might seem worlds away, the fact remains that people in general are more than happy to make a purchase via Facebook or Twitter these days.
That said, mastering social commerce can require quite the commitment of time and energy to be effective for the long-term.
However, there are much simpler ways to use social media to grow your ecommerce store, granted you’ve done the following first:
- Ensure that your site is following payment processing compliance standards, crucial from a legal perspective and giving your customers peace of mind (you can’t accept a dime until you do, actually)
- Pick out which social channels you want to target to keep from spreading yourself too thin
- Social integrations (think: sharing buttons, advertising for your social channels on-site) with your store so following your brand is a breeze
If you’ve got these point squared away, consider the following social strategies you can implement to grow your ecommerce store ASAP.
Timely Customer Care
Arguably the most practice use of social media comes from offering up quick customer service. Serving as an alternative, social mentions and notifications allow you a real-time place to connect with people minus the time-consuming back and forth.
Such communication is an expectation of today’s customers and can result in a lost sale if their concerns fall by the wayside. Additionally, forming relationships with social customers is a good look for your brand in the eyes of potential buyers.
A Place to Push Coupons and Deals
Just as you’d promote offers and deals to your email list, deals exclusive to your social media account represent a win-win situation. Not only do you grow your social following for deal-hunters, but also encourage repeat customers in the process.
The popularity of Facebook and Instagram-exclusive coupon codes is telling. While you don’t necessarily need to run such deals 24/7, they’re a nice added bonus to make your followers feel like they’re getting a one-of-a-kind special.
Curating Customer Photos and Feedback
Your satisfied customers are excellent sources of social proof and marketing materials if you play your cards right. If you know how to use hashtags, you can curate product photos from former customers you can roll out in your marketing campaigns. This sort of authentic, visual marketing is proven to increase conversions and build trust.
As long as you have your own branded hashtag (#brandname or something snappy), you’re golden. Running contests or sharing the content of people who use your tag is oftentimes incentive enough for people to hop on board.
Tap Into Influencer Marketing
Speaking of authenticity, influencer marketing is a brilliant move for brands looking to expand their audiences. One way of capitalizing on the influencer market is to have an influencer do a favourable review of your product in the form of a video. As a sidenote: be sure to hire a SMM company in order to get real views from a trusted source for your youtube video, so that the review catches attention. Think about names in the social space who might be relevant to your products and likewise consider your current influencer relationships as well.
For those just starting out in the space, working with a micro influencer might make more sense.
Even though micro influencers might only have small audiences (~10,000 or fewer social followers), their dedicated, niche followings are more valuable than pricier influencers with fake followers that don’t engage.
Growing your ecommerce brand via social media is most certainly possible if you know where to put your focus. Sticking to these strategies one-by-one can help you scale your social presence over time.
