If you’re in the ecommerce space, you’re likely aware of the rise of social commerce; that is, the strategic (if not inevitable) merging of social media and e-commerce. Way back when, social media and e-commerce were separate beasts to tame. Nowadays, the pair are joined at the hip. So, it’s probably not going to come as a surprise that a social-inclusive e-commerce marketing strategy should be the factory setting for any young, up-and-coming brand seeking sustainable growth. After all, these digital platforms are where the shoppers are spending their time… as well as their money.
In this post, we’re going to explore the concept of social commerce, why it works, and ways you, as a flourishing e-commerce brand, can use it to your advantage. Here’s a quick spoiler: it’s all tied up in the growing complexity of the contemporary consumer’s journey to purchase – but more on that later.
Here’s everything we’re covering:
- What’s in it for your e-commerce brand?
- Social media and e-commerce: A match made in heaven?
- 6 social media e-commerce strategies that are proven to work
- The first step towards a stand-out social e-commerce strategy
- Make the first move (before your competitors do)
What’s in it for your e-commerce brand?
If you’re running an e-commerce business, the lynchpin to your operations is good marketing. Sounds over the top, but without a solid digital marketing foundation, people aren’t going to find your products, you’re not going to hit your sales milestones, and it’s going to be a struggle to survive. It’s not just hot air either; the data proves our point, with 90% of e-commerce brands failing within the first 4 months. Yikes…
While it sounds bleak, we’re here to let you know that, yes, even the smaller players can compete with the retail giants and find their footing in this crowded online space. And a lot of that comes down to how you utilise social media and e-commerce in tandem.
While, it’s true, corporates like Amazon have had an unprecedented impact on how we navigate the e-commerce landscape, thanks to the organic (read: free!), personal and immediate nature of social media, e-commerce brands have a profitable opportunity to connect with their target audiences in an authentic way, drive brand awareness and get eyeballs on their products. This is all to say that, harnessed correctly, social media can be a democratising force for SMEs.
Social media and e-commerce: A match made in heaven?
So, what is it about social media that makes it uniquely suited to e-commerce? Good question! Well, we hinted at it in the introduction to this post. Essentially, it’s because the customer journey isn’t as straightforward as it used to be. As Google so aptly put it: “Consumer behaviour today is predictably unpredictable.”
For e-commerce customers, this might look like increasingly varied and non-linear paths to purchase. Maybe they saw an ad for a product when they were doomscrolling, forgot about it for a couple of days, watched a related YouTube video and then, reminded, started browsing online. What this means is that you have plenty more channels, digital touchpoints, in which to engage potential buyers and funnel them towards your sales pipeline.
The best part of this equation is that social media, in particular, is ripe ground for finding your ideal audience. Not only do socials impact the majority of the younger generations’ purchasing decisions, but they’re where people of all persuasions are spending a significant portion of their time. By dedicating a reasonable amount of your energy towards finding your niche on social media, whether via crafting a laser-focussed hashtag strategy to capitalise on vertical communities or simply optimising your existing presence to promote your business locally, you’ll see an uptake in traffic to your site and maybe even your ROI.
The what: Understanding social commerce
Before we go any further, we ought to stop and think about social commerce. Put simply, this term describes the process of selling products and services directly through social media platforms.
As you might expect, with the whole shopping experience – from initial product discovery to checkout – taking place on socials, the dynamic is subtly different to general e-commerce. Particularly as shop functions have been baked into social media for the better part of a decade.
Social media is all about driving engagement, sparking conversations and building an authentic sense of community, so if these things aren’t front of mind when creating your messaging for these platforms, you might need to reassess. Fundamentally, the difference is in audience expectations.
The why: How the combo is driving growth for small business
For many e-commerce brands, one-man band operations and the digital giants alike, social media actively figures into their retail marketing tactics, not least because it’s an effective tool for driving traffic to e-commerce stores and third-party online selling platforms.
By sharing helpful, engaging and conversion-primed content on the right social network, you can encourage users to click through to your site, or even compel them to share your stuff with other potential customers, thereby increasing website visits and conversions, which search engines take as signs to bump you up their rankings. Yep, that’s right – social media and organic search have a symbiotic relationship. We talk about this more in our dedicated blog, but the main takeaway is that you can optimise both your social media for search engine visibility and your SEO content for social media sharing – extending the life of both marketing strategies!
With all of this said, we hope you seriously consider incorporating social media into your small business growth strategy as, combined with your other marketing techniques, it can help your growth remain sustainable, incremental and effective for longer.
The how: Features successful brands are exploiting
If you’re really serious about growing your business online and increasing your profits, you need to get to know the ins and outs of the most prevalent platforms. Here’s just a quick overview to set you off.
Content types
While there’s a huge variety of content types at your disposal, short form video, live stream, images and shoppable posts are some of the most conversion-inducing ones out there – especially, as the latter is perhaps the fastest way to purchase a product.
Of course, your unique blend of content will depend on the products you’re selling and the specifics of your audience, but your aim should always be to differentiate yourself from the crowd and stay true to your brand values, messaging and identity.
Another thing to consider is how you’ll create variety and interest throughout your social media presence. This could translate into a diversity of post types and topics, which you can achieve through a content pillar strategy, but also think about collaboration. Brand partnerships can be incredibly powerful in the social media space, and they don’t have to be overly ‘in-your-face’ either. Take this example from Netflix, explained by social specialist Olivia-Paige Earnshaw.
Popular platforms
- Instagram – visual platform, primarily used by D2C brands, strong Gen Z and millennial audience.
- Facebook – even gender split, strong millennial presence, known for effective ads offering, 3.5 billion active monthly users
- X – more suited to media companies and personalities, short-form text based, 60% male usership, 429 million global users.
- TikTok – spontaneous, low-effort aesthetic, 1 in 4 users are under 20yrs, 1 billion active monthly users.
- Pinterest – predominantly female usership, popular among all ages groups and high-income shoppers, image-based, 553 million monthly active users.
- LinkedIn – primarily used in the B2B space, good for PR, brand awareness & thought leadership content, 1 billion monthly active users.
- YouTube – great potential for search visibility on- and off- site, the home of long-form video, even gender split, 2.5 billion monthly active users.
6 social media e-commerce strategies that are proven to work
Now you have a better understanding of your options for your social media output, here are some more specific strategies to mull over.
1. invest in organic social to build a loyal community
Organic social refers to the content businesses put out and share for free. This inbound marketing tactic is similar to SEO in that its focus lies in building up trust and brand recognition through engaging content that converts. Here, it’s all about natural, sustained growth rather than short-term, stimulated gains, which you can achieve through paid advertising.
A well-executed organic social strategy will cater to people at all points along the customer journey, from brand awareness to purchase decisions, guiding them through each step with tailored content containing specific calls to action. Part of this might involve interacting with followers in the comments, taking part in trends and sharing the people behind your business. The aim is to cultivate a loyal community and encourage not only sales but repeat custom too.
For more tips on how exactly to create that content, you should absolutely check out our blog on copywriting for business!
2. go multichannel: from shoppable posts to e-commerce stores
The most successful e-commerce empires all employ a multichannel retail strategy – that is, selling products on numerous sales channels. Remember what we said about customer journeys being more varied than ever?
Well, by increasing the number of sales channels you operate on, you can intercept more potential customers as they do their research, evaluate their options and generally shop around. Which is all the more reason to stay on top of your social media, get your website conversion-ready and optimise your accounts on other selling platforms like Etsy. Remember, you want to create a seamless experience, no matter where people first encounter your brand.
Part of this process should involve accurate tracking to see which platforms are funnelling traffic to your website, so you can best delegate your resources. Sounds confusing? No worries! We already wrote an article on how server-side tracking software can revolutionise your data attribution – go give it a read when you’re done here.
3. deploy retargeting ads in Search and socials
When advertising e-commerce, of course, you want to run ads on social media, but remember that a multichannel approach tends to be more robust. For instance, did you know that Google Ads has a 28% market share in the advertising world? Combine this with the fact that 40% of shoppers worldwide go to Google when researching a purchase, and there’s a strong case for investing in paid search alongside your socials.
Using the data gleaned from your social media and website analytics, along with a helping hand from Google’s AI-powered algorithms, you can target the right people at the right time, popping up when potential buyers make related, high-intent queries. This means that you can reach previous customers who’ve already been absorbed into your community with your ads and compel them to purchase again.
It also works vice versa; retargeting people who found your website organically or via Google Ads on social media to ensure they follow you on the platform or buy there too.
4. don’t forget local targeting
One of the benefits of social media advertising is how granular you can go with the targeting. Many of the big social media platforms, like Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, allow you to advertise to niche audiences based on specific interests, behaviours, and demographics. On top of, the classic demographic parameters like age, gender and geographic location, these platforms provide the option to drill down to more nuanced criteria.
For instance, businesses can target users based on their hobbies, recent purchases, online behaviour and even life events. This is especially beneficial for brands that aim to connect with local audiences or cater to particular community needs. By focusing on local targeting, companies can keep their advertising budgets in check, ensuring that their messages resonate with the right audience segment, convincing them to convert.
5. accrue & exploit customer reviews
Here’s another helpful tip! It goes a long way to persuade customers who have purchased from you to share their experiences with your products on social media. This not only helps you kindle user-generated content (UGC) but enhances brand awareness and social proof while doing so.
Another avenue to explore is Google Reviews; they can be particularly beneficial in the court of online opinion, not to mention the eyes of search engines. The research shows that most people look at them before purchasing and, crucially, there’s a correlation between positive reviews and CTR.
You can really amplify the initiatives we’ve just divulged by sharing feedback across your social media accounts and featuring it in email campaigns or on your website, so you can continue to build trust and credibility with your audience well after the review has been left on your products.
6. work alongside influencers for UGC content
Influencers have an irresistible pull on social media and can inject a whole new dimension of social proof into the picture, even when they’re only at micro-influencer level. With a niche, highly engaged audience at your fingertips, it’s a great way to direct traffic towards your own platforms and build a positive reputation.
The first steps towards a stand-out social commerce strategy
Phew – that was a lot of information! Hopefully, it hasn’t been too overwhelming; we wouldn’t blame you if you’re struggling to pinpoint where to start. Luckily, though, we have a few pointers to move you in the right direction:
finding & refining your audience
Any half-decent marketing strategy starts with audience. Who exactly are you targeting? Can you picture your ideal customer? Do you know how to speak their language, what pain points and queries they’ll want resolving, and where to find them?
Unsure of the answers? Then it’s time to get your hands on a helpful analytics tool. Many social networks, like Instagram and TikTok have these features backed in, and for monitoring website traffic, there are free options like Google Search Console.
getting your branding down to a tee
As social media, and e-commerce for that matter, tend to be very visual, it’s a good idea to invest properly in your business branding. From the typography, logo and colours to more intangible things like your tone of voice and storytelling, cohesion really helps. After all, it translates into brand recognition, professionalism and trust – three essential ingredients to a loyal customer base.
learning how to create content that converts
While we’ve covered some general content tips already, it goes to say that posting is not marketing. Without data backing up your decisions or your content resonating with the right people at the right time, it’s like sailing without a rudder – you’re wasting your time.
Instead, make sure to do your homework. Take a look at what is happening in your niche and what your competitors are up to. Are there areas where other brands are falling short, and could yours fill in the gaps?
In addition, don’t forget to celebrate your wins as well as learning from your losses – the analytics might reveal the sorts of posts that excel the most. Finally, give social listening a go. This is a technique that social media marketers use to monitor conversations, keywords and topics of interest relevant to their brands. Here, you can learn exactly what your customers or potential customers want.
Make the first move (before your competitors do)
Fired up yet? If so, it’s time to take the first move – and, ideally, before your competitors do. Whether that’s via scaling up your social media offering with shoppable posts, or connecting the dots with retargeting ads, with just a few small additions to your digital marketing repertoire, you’ll really see a difference.
And because we understand the most prevalent small business woes (finding the time and budget to upskill), we’re not going to tell you to go it alone. Instead, it’s worth seeing which aspects you can feasibly outsource and what can be realistically achieved in-house. This way, you’ll be able to focus on your area of expertise, whilst drawing on specialist insights to plug your knowledge gaps.
Sounds good? Then allow us to point you towards our e-commerce services. Whether your data attribution isn’t adding up, or your customers are jumping ship before they get to the checkout, we’ve got plenty of strategies up our sleeves to ensure your e-commerce site is well-oiled, ready to convert visitors and discoverable as can be. Like we said earlier, it’s all about connecting with customers at every touch point, ensuring their journey to purchase is a streamlined experience. And this all starts with a functional website!
Are you ready to switch up how you use social media for e-commerce? Which of the above tips will you try out first?
