Since the search engines like Google have taken over, social media shares are dropping. This is because social media users are spending more time on video and live streaming platforms rather than Facebook and other platforms. But this does not mean that social media is going anywhere soon.
They still hold much significance to drive customers to your business. This potential is still not being tapped by many businesses around the globe. Even though you are completely new to social media, you and your business have the power to grow and improve your visibility.
Therefore, we have come up with a guide to help you to take the maximum advantage of social media. In this guide, we are going to discuss some proven techniques to help you boost your eCommerce business growth. But first, let’s understand,
Importance of social media for eCommerce Growth
Today, over 49% of the population of the world, around 3.8 billion people use one or another social media platform. This number has increased from 2.62 billion in 2018. This means that social media penetration continues to grow at an exponential rate. And driving traffic from it is becoming more easier if only you follow certain techniques.
A person, on average, spends 3 hours on social media out of his total time in a day. Around 90% of businesses are on social media. And all of this makes social media an important part of eCommerce growth which cannot be ignored.
We have prepared this guide to drive traffic and boost your eCommerce growth from social media. This guide consists of the following 8 steps you should follow on social media.
- Make Connections, Engage and Build Social Proof
From social media, you can drive traffic to either your website or you can directly sell on social media. The purpose of social media for eCommerce is to make connections, maintain those connections and try to engage others with your brand. If you do this on social media, then you will benefit from it in many ways.
If your interactions with your followers end on a positive note, then they would recommend your brand 3 times more than the others. And where will they recommend it? Yes, you guessed it correctly. They will recommend it on social media itself, which creates social proof for your brand. Social proof is nothing but word-of-mouth.
People take actions such as purchasing goods when they find that others do the same thing when put into the same conditions. The basis behind their action is social proof. Therefore, focus on building more positive connections, engage with them and build social proof as you go along.
- Communicate and Resolve any Complaints
Communication is the base of human existence. Therefore, people need human interactions at every stage of life. As per one study, 78% of people believe that social media is going to be the future of consumer service.
If your customers’ complaints or interactions are unanswered on social media, then you would lose 88% of the customers. So, it is important for you to have a social media presence. And by communicating and resolving their complaints on social media you can change their perception of your brand.
- Post Timely and Engaging Content
If you want your customers to get hooked and engage with your brand, then you need to share content not only in writing but in the form of videos, images, GIFs and audio formats as well. Videos are highly engaging content right now. More than 85% of brands have adopted video content on social media for driving traffic on their eCommerce store.
Also, the timing and how much content to post does matter. For many brands posting 10 or less content in a day is more beneficial. But many post more than 50 contents in a day. So you have to do a little bit of A/B testing here to find out what works best for your brand. The morning and evening are the most engaging time. Because most people would have free time in the morning and evening. And in the middle hours, they would probably have to go to work.
- Let customers Shop from Social Media
Retail Ecommerce on social media is driving more traffic than any other channel on the internet. Now, with the introduction of shoppable Instagram on platforms like Instagram has provided the facility to purchase directly from Instagram. This makes a buying process hassle-free and people can shop frictionless from your store.
Also, there are modules that can integrate your Instagram with your Ecommerce website. Powered by the latest Facebook Graph API, it can showcase photos fetched from Instagram on your website’s various product related pages. And with those, you can sell your products too. This will let your customers purchase from your social media shops at ease.
- Features Your Followers and Their Content
Your followers are the most precious thing you have. Feature them in your post, give shoutouts to them and make them feel important. Make them feel you care for them and in this way, they will be motivated to share a word about you on their social media handles.
When they post a photo, review, video, or any other content that relates to your brand and product, you can use that user-generated content and post them on your handles. All this is very powerful stuff. It can influence other people to make a decision to purchase while it makes your current customers feel important.
- Take in Account the Power of Paid Ads
While going for only organic stuff is good but it takes an extra effort, attention and time to grow. This is the reason more than 90% of the companies on social media have used paid ads to grow the reach of their business. Around 70% of companies have plans to increase their paid ad budgets to target more audiences.
So, if you want to play, you have to pay first. It has been found that companies who spend $1 on ads, in return get from $2 to $100. So, investing in paid ads is very powerful to grow your eCommerce business.
- Live Stream Your New Adventures
Live streaming is becoming a huge part of social media. And companies are adopting it to grow their businesses. More than 80% of the people would want to watch live videos rather than read a long blog post about your new products. And 82% of the social media users choose live videos than any other form of social media post.
In conclusion, the live streaming videos are taking the internet by storm. Therefore, we recommend you to live-stream your new adventures like a product launch, anniversary celebration, etc. This creates a positive impact on your followers and helps you to grow enormously.
- Use Tactics Like Flash Sale
Flash sale means that you are selling a product for a little time and at a discounted rate. This creates a fear of missing out on your followers. This fear helps them to purchase products instantly.
Create engaging posts for your social media platforms to make your followers aware of the flash sale. Doing this will encourage your followers as well as other people to at least consider your product and explore other options. This is one great way to grow your eCommerce business.
Summary
Social media is becoming a huge part of everyone’s life. And this gives you an opportunity to build your brand, make sales out of it and make loyal customers. Social media platforms are great for you to increase your brand’s visibility and social presence. They have so much untapped potential that can help drive sales and conversion for your eCommerce store. Follow these social media marketing practices to take your brand’s growth multifold.
