Anna Maria Richards
Brands have welcomed social commerce as a vehicle to sell products and services. Social commerce is the convergence of social media and e-commerce. If your business depends on e-commerce sales, you are already involved in social commerce.
The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to social commerce gaining momentum as countless shoppers moved online. In 2020, social commerce sales hit an estimate of $560 billion and it is projected that sales through this channel will become more popular in the future. The forecast suggests that social commerce sales are likely to reach $2.9 trillion by 2026; therefore, it’s up to you to maximize the potential of this trend for business growth.
1. Share User-Generated Content
User-generated content is any brand-specific content created by people rather than your brand. It takes the form of images, reviews, videos, or texts. User-generated content is experience-driven and honest. It is also the most reliable, authentic, and trustworthy form of content than the content you create as a brand.
User-generated content can be a powerful tool for successful marketing. It can help you reach a wider audience and expose your brand more. Any marketing strategy aims to reach a massive audience and drive engagement and conversions. User involvement in a campaign can also help diversify your content, showcase brand advocacy, build an online community, and give your content a humanized approach.
2. Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing has become popular in the past few years. As technology keeps advancing, companies are devoting their time and effort to implementing influencer marketing as part of their cohesive digital marketing strategy and the truth is this is a strategy that can propel your brand through social media.
Influencer marketing is a relationship between a brand and a person who has built a reputation for their expertise and knowledge on specific topics. An influencer promotes your products and services through various platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook. Your choice of influencer should operate independently to create their content and integrate company specifications into it.
This marketing allows your brand to locate and advertise directly to your target audience. Advertising through influencers can also help your brand promotion through someone that your target community trusts, watches, and engages with daily. Make sure that the influencer you choose to work with creates content that aligns with your brand image.
3. Share Consistent Promotional Posts
Consistent sharing of promotional posts helps keep your audience engaged, create a better customer experience, and gain brand recognition. Consistency in social media marketing boosts your credibility and reputation. It also helps your audience know you and your business better.
Consistent posting means creating regular posts, connecting to your audience through responding to them, and creating an environment on your platforms where people are connected to grow your brand and income. Consistent posting requires you to follow branding best practices to help build authority in your niche and build a strong following.
4. Find the Right Social Media
Not all social media platforms will work for your brand. Identify what social media best works for you and ensure that you are using platforms where your target audience spends most of their time. The right platform ensures that your key message is tailored to reach your target audience, drive more traffic, and expand your reach through shares, likes, and follows.
5. Use Analytics
Analytics help you know whether your strategies are working or not. Analytics allow you to effectively learn what your audience cares about and what influences their buying decisions. Insights will also guide your marketing departments to come up with more personalized and relevant marketing experiences. Social commerce analytics will tell you whether your messages are being picked up, how often, when, and where the content is portrayed in the media.
6. Be Responsive to your Customers
Consumers like to have immediate responses whenever they reach out to your brand on social media. Make sure that you are responsive, recommend a product, share the link of purchase, and offer promo codes as an incentive to benefit customers and your business. Being responsive can guide you into developing new products or modifying existing ones to suit the changing needs of customers.
Should you Leverage Social Commerce?
Leveraging social commerce can help you drive sales and revenue to your business. If you sell products online you will agree that users prefer making quick purchasing decisions on a social media app and social commerce provides customers with a convenient buying journey. Social commerce improves customer engagement, consistent audience growth, higher search engine rankings, and customer insights.
