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Social Media Marketing for Ecommerce

What is Social Media Marketing?

It refers to a set of social media tactics businesses employ to grow their reach and sales. Social media marketing involves establishing a presence on several social media platforms. And then you can leverage your social accounts for perks like:

  • Promoting your business, site, or offerings
  • Advertising your products/services
  • Growing your brand presence and popularity across the social sites
  • Engaging with your target audience
  • Growing your customer loyalty and sales
  • Establishing a prominent social proof for your brand

Tips to Do Social Media Marketing for Ecommerce Websites

1. Create A Buzz around Your Products through Social Media

As of 2020, social media platforms appealed to over 3.8 billion active users. If you compare it with the total 4.5 billion internet users, social media caters to 84% of total internet users.
That said, a huge part of your ecommerce target audience is actively using social media. And it would be all the better for you to build your brand awareness on social media.
A majority of ecommerce brands attract huge traffic through their social channels. 40% of ecommerce businesses utilize social media platforms to grow sales.
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are the leading platforms catering to ecommerce sales. You can generate significant engagement on these platforms by posting regularly.
Moreover, you can expect initial traction through social media whenever you launch a new product.
Some profitable social media activities include:

  • Establish your ecommerce business account on various popular social media platforms.
  • Promote products by engaging your followers through new hashtag challenges or giveaways.
  • Utilize all features like Stories, Reels, Feed Posts, Videos, etc.
  • Offer early access to a sale or discount to your social media followers and much more.

2. Gear Up for Social Media Advertising

In 2018, 55% of buyers made ecommerce purchases through a popular social media platform. And this percentage has been growing ever since then.
What’s more interesting is that social media advertising reaches a huge audience.
Your Facebook Ads can reach over 190 million users and 140 million users on Instagram. The numbers are almost equally high on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Moreover, social media ad platforms offer you detailed targeting options. You can choose the location, audience, ad budget, campaign goal, objective, and whatnot.
As an ecommerce business, your objective is likely to revolve around product sales and site traffic.
Below are the campaign objectives you can choose for your Facebook Ad.
Now, if you wish to go with the conversion objective, you have options like:

  • Conversions: This goal helps you attract an audience to the product page on your site and earn a conversion. When an online buyer adds a product to the cart or buys it, it counts as a conversion.
  • Catalog Sales: Here, your goal is to promote the products listed in your catalog directly. And product sales are counted as conversions.
  • Store Traffic: This objective is ideal for brick-and-mortar stores. You can target your ads to customers in proximity to your store for growing in-store sales.

The crucial deal is choosing the right social media platform for your ads and the ad type. These can be Image ads, Video ads, Carousel ads, Collection ads, etc.
Here is an example of an Image-based Ecommerce Facebook Ad:
You must also explore Remarketing Ads on Facebook, particularly for ecommerce businesses. These ads can grow your conversion rates by up to 3 times or more.

3. Bring Ecommerce to Social Media Platforms

30% of customers say they prefer to buy a product directly through a social media platform.
Further, 70% of shoppers like to visit Instagram to know about a brand and its products. That said, you give them the convenience to shop your products directly through your page.
Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest are three platforms to lead with your social commerce setup.
What’s interesting is that it takes very little effort to establish your shopping accounts.
Facebook and Instagram allow you to create your exclusive shopping pages/accounts. Both the platforms offer Shoppable Posts features.
You might have come across this kind of Instagram Shoppable Post recently:
A user can directly check the price, images, the product details and shop it. He does not have to navigate to your ecommerce site to make the purchase.
This approach shortens the checkout process and closes the deal faster. Moreover, product sharing becomes easier on social media platforms. The customers can always check the social proof about the product in the comments.
Pinterest also allows you to create shoppable product pins to offer social commerce.
Snapchat is another popular platform that has collaborated with Shopify to offer shoppable snaps. But, the feature is presently available to a limited number of accounts in the US.

4. Rope In Social Media Influencers for Growing Engagement

Wish to multiple your business reach by many folds? Influencer marketing is the way forward.
Social media influencers enjoy a huge follower base. And they can influence the shopping decisions of a significant amount of online buyers.
77% of consumers prefer to make their buying decisions based on influencer-endorsed posts.
Moreover, for every $1 that marketers invest in influencer marketing, they draw a return of $6 in revenue.
Influencer collaborations offer you a plethora of perks for your ecommerce business. These include:

  • Influencers can endorse your new products or offers.
  • Content collaborations with relevant influencers grow your business’s popularity.
  • It is strong social proof when an influencer posts a positive review about your brand or offerings.
  • Influencer marketing can boost traction on your site and your social media page.

Here is an example of influencer marketing for ecommerce business:

5. Utilize Social Media Platforms to Build Customer Loyalty

Repeat sales akin to new customers are crucial for your ecommerce success. And you must find ways to grow your customer loyalty through better customer service.
One of the ways to enhance your customer services is by leveraging social media marketing. Most online buyers prefer to connect with a brand’s social media channel.
You can connect with your audience on social media. You can check their comments on your posts and reply to important comments.
Moreover, they send you inquiries as DMs in addition to calls and emails. This will help you create huge engagement across your social profiles.
Moreover, when customers feel they can easily reach out to you, they will stay loyal. And this sentiment reflects as higher repeat sales and higher trust value.
Remarketing ads on social media also significantly boost repeat sales.

6. Check Brand Mentions and Grow Brand Reputation

Social media mentions cater significantly to your overall brand reputation.
Over 50% of internet users research brands on social media. That said, you must have an impressive social presence with a strong reputation.
The first step towards growing brand reputation is checking the audience sentiment. You can check the comments on your branded posts to scrutinize the sentiments.
Moreover, you can use tools to analyze your brand mentions online. Positive comments and reviews act as strong social proof for your brand. You can even highlight these on your site.
You can convert a negative sentiment into an engagement opportunity if you find a negative sentiment. And instead, encourage more positive reviews from your audience.
You must focus on turning your consumers into your brand advocates.
When a buyer tags your brand with an image of his recent purchase, you can add it to your story. A majority of consumers will appreciate this move. And they will feel more connected with your brand. It will further translate into enhanced brand loyalty and popularity.
Rope in your marketers to plan contests and campaigns to boost brand reputation. Social media platforms can accelerate your reputation-building efforts.

7. Utilize Different Content Formats to Sell Better

A tiny secret to social media success is to hook on with the latest social media trends.
Recently, we witnessed how TikTok made users go gaga over short-form video content. And this format was adopted by Instagram to offer Reels.
Today, most brands use various types of content formats to promote their offerings. These include:

  • Stories: Instagram and Facebook witness huge engagement on the Stories feature. Stories feature also allows ecommerce businesses to promote products and offers.
    Moreover, Instagram Stories clock an 86% completion rate for brands.
  • Live: All social media platforms have to start offering the Live feature. This feature allows businesses to engage smartly with their followers. They can share exclusive offers, do live sessions, enhance customer relations, etc.

Besides the video content, you can also do brand collaborations, plan creative posts, etc. The idea is to grow engagement and attract more sales.

Best Ecommerce Social Media Marketing Campaigns

a. Amazon Alexa’s Big Time Commercial on YouTube

Amazon, as you know, is the colossus of ecommerce business across the globe. The company attracted eyeballs with its new Alexa’s Body commercial earlier this year.
The company roped in American Actor & Producer Michael B. Jordan to personify Alexa.
Here is the quirky and awe-inspiring commercial –
The commercial was a BIG time hit that gained over 78Million views on YouTube. And it was successful in sparking a buzz about the company’s flagship product- Alexa.
The company shared the commercial across all its major social media. And the reactions from the followers were hilarious. While all of them tripped for the amazing commercial, many tripped for the product too.
That said, social media helped Amazon’s ad go viral and significantly added to Alexa’s sales.

b. Barkbox’s Awe-inspiring Messaging on Instagram

Beach sunsets are the second most adorable thing in the world, first is, of course, “Dogs.” And who wouldn’t like to treat their all-time favorite companion?
Barkbox is one of a kind company that can be the reason behind your four-footed friend’s wagging tail. The company provides monthly subscriptions and retail sales of dog products, toys, and experiences.
The company has the natural advantage of luring its audience with cute dog pictures for each product. But, the company doesn’t just restrict it and tickles your heart with its thought-out messaging.
Here is a glimpse of how Barkbox urges its followers and pet enthusiasts to make noise for its products. See the messaging on its Instagram post that can melt the heart of any pet enthusiast:
The campaign was a hit among its audience and earned 49K likes and huge engagement.
Another awe-inspiring post by the company on its Instagram handle with the NationalDogDay hashtag:

Social Media Marketing & Ecommerce FAQs

Q1. Why is Social Media Ecommerce Marketing Gaining Prominence?

Ans. As of July 2021, the total number of social media users across the globe grew up to 4.48 billion. This constitutes a whopping 57% of the total population.
Therefore, a significant part of the ecommerce customer base is active on social media. Moreover, these platforms offer incredible marketing and social commerce features.
Facebook Ads help you promote your ads to 190 million users. And LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter also offer a similar reach.

Q2. How Can I Employ My Social Media Accounts for Growing Ecommerce Sales?

Ans. Here are some definite tips:

  • Promote your products and offers via your social media accounts. Utilize feeds, stories, Live features, hashtags, short video formats, etc.
  • Sell directly through Facebook and Instagram Shops, Shoppable Posts, and Pinterest Product Pins.
  • Reach out to millions of targeted users with social media ads.
  • Collaborate with social media influencers to brow your brand’s reach.

Q3. How Does One Define Social Media Ecommerce Marketing?

Ans. It is a coined term representing social media strategies leveraged by ecommerce businesses. These strategies include a combination of tactics like:

  • Growing brand awareness through viral social media campaigns;
  • Promoting new product or offer by posting on brand’s social media accounts;
  • Utilizing the social commerce features to sell via social media;
  • Advertising products and business through social media ads.

Q4. Should I Combine Social Media and Influencer Marketing for Ecommerce Business?

Ans. A majority of ecommerce brands, right from Amazon, eBay, and Ali Express, etc., combine influencer and social media marketing. It expands their reach, gains more engagement, and helps them attract higher sales.