Businesses are working harder than ever to cut through the noise and connect with their customers online. Social media eCommerce is a constantly changing landscape. And small businesses are evolving to capture customer attention and generate sales online.
Platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok have become bustling marketplaces for business activity. This is because of the new opportunities they offer to help reach customers in new and exciting ways.
It’s important you consider how to increase sales with social media in a way that makes you stand out. Particularly, with so much competition around selling products on social media.
The secret lies in converting your social channels into powerful sales funnels. Once you do this, you can leverage something known as ‘social commerce’. This involves converting casual social media scrolls into a dynamic shopping experience. And turning browsing and exploring on these platforms into buying.
Social selling is a strategy that helps create new leads for your business. It does this by finding and nurturing potential customers on social media platforms.
You can learn key details about your target market, such as common pain points and the type of content they want to consume. And then use this information to develop a social selling strategy.
Social commerce is the term used for businesses who sell their products via social media platforms.
Many businesses post pictures, videos and content on their social media pages. Or feature links that take the user to their business website. Social commerce, however, allows you to bring the entire shopping experience to the platform itself.
A good example of social commerce is the built-in Instagram & Facebook shop features. Users following a page can find an item that draws their attention or suits their needs. A ‘shop now’ button, takes them to a destination where they can add items to their cart and finish the sale directly on the platform.
Another common example of social commerce is when your business products or services are shown through specifically targeted Facebook, Instagram & TikTok ads.
Social commerce can help deliver a more convenient experience to your customers. As you’re essentially meeting the customer where they’re already looking.
Many individuals will follow a business on social media before they make the decision to purchase from them. This is because it allows them to connect with the business on a more personal level. They can gauge what the business stands for, follow their journey and assess whether the business is the right fit for what they need.
On social media, a user can quickly go from browsing to buying. This convenience can help streamline the customer experience. And create less friction throughout the buying journey.
Businesses who use social commerce often see an increase in the number of online sales. In fact, according to LinkedIn, 78% of businesses using social selling generate more sales than those who don’t.
Now that we’ve covered what social selling is, let’s explore how to put it into practice.
To get started, create a Facebook and Instagram business account. Or a TikTok business account. Or any other platform you’d like to use for social commerce. Making these accounts will allow you to set-up ads. Plus, enable you to access the dynamic shopping features these platforms offer.
It’s important to make sure your business accounts are up-to-date, complete, and accurately represent your business. Consider what you want to highlight on your business page. Talk about your product range, your mission and your brand identity. And include all necessary links to your business website and your contact information.
With your foundations set in place, it’s now time to build your credibility and familiarity online.
You can do this by regularly sharing insightful, compelling and original content that’s relevant to your target audience.
Learn more about how to plan an effective content strategy.
Share reviews or testimonials from real customers. This can help demonstrate your authenticity and build trust.
It’s important to engage with customer reviews, even the negative ones. As this shows that you care about your customers and their online experience. And can help boost your credibility in the eyes of new and existing customers.
Learn more about how to benefit from customer reviews.
Don’t be afraid to jump into posts with high engagement and join the conversation. Not only will it show your knowledge, but it gives you the opportunity to understand your customers better.
Keep an eye out for social media discussions about your business. Especially any negative ones, as this gives you the opportunity to proactively address them.
You can even convert a disappointed customer into a loyal brand advocate.
Monitor your reach, impressions and click-through rate from your social selling campaigns. Plus, overall engagement to learn what type of content resonates the most with your audience.
From here, you can utilise more advanced analytical and reporting tools. This can help you track how social selling is impacting sales.
Consistency is key. Once you’re comfortable with the process of how to do social selling right, try creating a regular routine to keep on top of things. Let’s breakdown what this could look like below.
Social selling can help transform your online customer experience. You can meet your targeted audience where they’re actively looking and help facilitate a smooth checkout process.
By establishing who your audience is and what they want – you can use social selling to reach new customers in new ways.
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