Social Commerce: Why It’s Important for Ecommerce Growth

Social commerce is a part of e-commerce that utilizes online social networks for marketing. Social media has become part and parcel of our lives. As of 2018, 2.65 billion people around the world were on social media, and research predicts that the number will reach 3.1 billion by 2021.

Social commerce is how e-commerce companies use social media platforms to create more personalized and targeted experiences for their customers. Everyone is shopping online, and the competition is stiff. When I google grocery stores ‘near me,’ I get hundreds of suggestions. So how do I attract and retain my customers? Social commerce.

A study conducted by Absolunet revealed that 87% of e-commerce shoppers rely on social media to make purchasing decisions. The research also shows that 30% of customers are willing to make purchases on social media.

When you ignore sites such as Facebook, Whatsapp, WeChat, and Instagram in your marketing strategy, you are committing business suicide.

You are still asking yourself if social commerce is essential for your e-commerce website?

Let’s delve into it then.

Why Social Commerce is Important for Ecommerce Growth

Social commerce is important as it helps you attract and retain your targeted audience. The high number of mobile searches versus desktop searches made social media a powerful weapon for attracting the right audience. Up to 70% of web traffic happens on mobile phones, and most of the internet users are on social media.

Social media transformed how people make online purchases. Since social media sites are, for the most part, mobile-first, users use these sites to check out brands, and customer reviews for those brands. 54% of social media users are checking out brands. 71% of consumers go to social media to recommend brands to their friends and family.

If you want to boost your customers’ loyalty, or if you’re going to achieve a more consistent audience growth, then you need a social commerce strategy.

Social commerce also helps you improve achieve higher levels of traffic and engagement. Note that companies that rank highly on Google are using social commerce.

How Do I Use Social Commerce for my Ecommerce Website?

Social commerce works when you first identify the right social media platforms that are best for your e-commerce business. Presently, Facebook is the market leader with over 2.5 billion monthly active users as of 2019. Messaging apps have also become goldmines for marketers as they continue to gain momentum.

You figure out the right social media platforms for your business by asking yourself three main questions:

• Who is your audience?
• What are your S.M.A.R.T. goals?
• How can you reach your target audience?

Once you have the right audience in mind, develop an extensive social commerce strategy that consists of realistic expectations and the proper content practices for each platform. Now, most e-commerce owners and marketers have opted to transform their social media platforms to online shops. Although this strategy works well, achieving a high R.O.I. requires you to go the extra mile. We are talking about social media influencers.

How Social Media Influencers Help your Social Commerce Strategy

The reality of digital marketing is that you cannot be constant. You have to be in continual motion where you are always sharpening your marketing strategies and adapting to the changes in the market.

Influencer marketing is the new buzz in the block.

Before we lose you, let’s explain what influencer marketing means.

Influencer marketing is a social media marketing strategy that involves a firm partnering with key industry leaders to promote a brand. You have seen influencer marketing before in terms of celebrity endorsements. However, influencer marketing goes beyond using celebrities for brand promotion. We are talking about product mentions from the right influencers in your industry niche, and building up your brand’s personality by continually using the right influencers on social media.

Influencer marketing developed as a powerful social media tool because of the rise in social media users. These influencers offer social proof to your audience that your brand is credible.

Each social media platform has its unique influencers. What works for Instagram may not work on youtube.

For example, ‘Greenwedding shoes’ is the top influencer in the wedding niche on Instagram. If you are an events planner, or if you offer bride make-up services, you may want to partner with Greenwedding as your influencers.

The best way to use influencer marketing is to find the influencers in your niche. The influencers should be people whose views are similar to your company’s culture. Look for influencers who are active on social media and reach out to them. You can do this by liking their posts, engaging in their conversations, or requesting them to partner with you.

You will be amazed at how a tweet or an Instagram pic from your influencer boost your e-commerce marketing efforts.

Social Commerce and Messaging Apps

Whereas most people are informed about the use of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, few entrepreneurs have grasped the benefit of messaging apps.

As stated earlier, the use of messaging apps has grown considerably in the last five years. A study by emarketer reveals that tools such as Whatsapp will outpace Instagram by 2023 (INSERT IMAGE HERE)

What does this mean for your business?

It means that your e-commerce marketing strategy must integrate the role of messaging apps in boosting your growth. Messaging apps are beneficial as they help you to engage with your customers more efficiently. You can use the apps to extend your customer services or to offer non-promotional materials. These apps enhance the experience that a customer gets from your brand, which in turn promotes customer loyalty.

Messaging apps help with personalization as you get to solve customer’s concerns in real-time. Overall, you get to drive smarter and better engagement with customers, which in turn enhances their experience. As with all successful marketing strategies, social commerce requires data analytics and solutions that will help you boost your consumer outcomes. With the right data in check, you can efficiently come up with winning social commerce strategies that will translate to higher R.O.I.

There are tons of benefits to reap from social media. What’s more, social media users are forecasted to grow. Don’t just watch as your competitors reap profits from these platforms, develop a social commerce strategy, and witness as your firm sores to new heights in the market.