Content MarketingSocial Media Marketing

Your Business Needs Social Commerce Now and Here’s Why!

By Shrishti Jain
October 8, 2021

Through the advancement and adoption of technology, we can now access a plethora of products and services at the click of a button, from anywhere around the world, at any time of the day. It's now entirely achievable for businesses to sell products and services natively within social media sites. With the arrival of game-changing Social Commerce, both small and big brands can easily compete within crowded marketplaces. It's not just about posts to advertise and drive awareness anymore; the social commerce world has shifted, perhaps due to the pandemic, even faster than anticipated! Here's how integrating Social Commerce can automate your marketing as well as advertising processes and bring your user experience to the next level:

What is Social Commerce?

Social commerce is an excellent advertising opportunity for businesses. The entire shopping experience, from product discovery and research to the check-out process, takes place right on the native social media platform. Social Commerce has the power to eliminate friction in a user's online shopping experience and catch users' at moments when their excitement over your products is highest. It differs from social media marketing since you're not redirecting people to an online store but offering them the ability to check-out directly within the native website that they're using at the moment. This model takes social media beyond its traditional role in the discovery process by creating a digital storefront and encouraging people to complete the entire purchase process without leaving their preferred apps.

Why do you need it?

For businesses that sell physical products online, leveraging social commerce on platforms like Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, etc., whichever gives the highest ROI, is a great way to drive sales and generate revenue. In essence, social commerce can mean fewer interruptions and frictions for the user while shopping, allowing them to transact at the moment, with fewer clicks, and utilising features like autofill payments, addresses, etc. With a large amount of customer data available on social media, marketers have got a prime opportunity to tweak and target their advertising. It offers the chance to show ready-to-buy products in front of specific people. It makes the shopping experience much more personalised and interactive for customers. Brands get precise data about exactly who their customers are and an opportunity to chat with them via comments and/or DMs.

Enhanced CX for Superior Brand Loyalty

When it comes to brand awareness and reputation, the buying experience is just as necessary as the product. A solid social commerce strategy streamlines the first purchase, creating a winning CX that people want more of. All you need to do is identify the suitable social media channel to make sure that the platform aligns with your brand offerings seamlessly. Then, use those channels where your target audience spends most of their time. The most beneficial way is to provide them with high-quality content so that they can connect better with your vision. Furthermore, share relevant and helpful information about current events, new launches, etc., to keep them engaged. Having an automated check-out feature on your social media platform is critical as cutting out the added number of steps that customers have to take to make a purchase can help boost sales.

Social Commerce Tactics

Brands are working harder than ever to capitalise on the inflection point between commerce and social media. Planning out the right strategy and tactics can give your brand more visibility and increase sales. Remember that low-cost products sell better, and they are the very reason for impulse buying. Social media shoppers are online to enjoy themselves and not to regret buying expensive products. Build trust and nurture the relationship with your customers before you can ask them to make a big purchase. Then, once you've made that sale, you grab their email address to utilise an email marketing strategy in the immediate follow-up. Additionally, leverage social proof like reviews, testimonials, UGC visuals, customer stories, etc. Customers are six times more likely to make a purchase — especially if the social proof includes pictures from social media.

Popular Social Commerce Trends

With this new attention that social commerce is receiving comes new trends and new methods of engagement. Businesses also need to understand how the trends are shifting so they can stay one step ahead. By joining forces with relevant social media influencers in their niche, brands can tap into those audiences to increase reach and generate more sales as people value and trust in what the influencers have to say. Capitalising on growing purchase behaviour by amending your advertising tactics can help your brand align with users' expectations which means highly engaging, eye-catching social promotions. Customer experience is anchored around browsing and interactions. Users want to feel special and have their online shopping processes made easier for them through personalised recommendations by brands.

Final Words

In today's world, technology is constantly evolving and modernising, and it's up to business marketers to keep up with these trends and stay ahead of the pack. A study reveals that the number of hours spent by people per day on social media is growing progressively. In addition, buyers are shopping online more and more because now it's become straightforward and convenient instead of going to the market physically. But they still seek new ways to make their experiences even more seamless. It's a fact that the achievements of a social commerce campaign are determined by the degree at which users interact with the company's marketing through likes, shares, and retweets. So, for an online marketer, social commerce represents a huge opportunity. And the marketers set to benefit greatest are the ones enthusiastic about getting ahead of the curve right now. The keyword is experimenting. If you're not already exploring all the latest social commerce features, then there's no time for you to waste. Essentially, now is the perfect time for all marketers to develop a manageable, solid, and cost-effective social commerce strategy.