5 Best Social Media Practices for Your e-Commerce Busines
Submitted BySmith Willas
Social media might have begun as a new way of people to people interaction, but the enormity it has attained speaks volume about its potential applications. Probably nobody had presumed social media would become an integral part of people’s lives. So because of this ever increasing pool of audiences, social media has become a powerful medium for marketing and advertisement. For the same reason, e-commerce companies can make most out of social platforms to attract customers and increase sales.
By the way, in this modern digital era, social media and online shopping grew simultaneously and side by side. Now people have embraced both of them, which are increasingly becoming inseparable part of their lives. Today, greater number of people are spending so much time on various social media platforms, while businesses are observing this and taking proactive steps to reach out to them.
By the way, in this modern digital era, social media and online shopping grew simultaneously and side by side. Now people have embraced both of them, which are increasingly becoming inseparable part of their lives. Today, greater number of people are spending so much time on various social media platforms, while businesses are observing this and taking proactive steps to reach out to them.
For e-commerce businesses, it is all the more important to engage prospects, build community, promote their brands, and create a loyal customer base – all through social media. The fact is currently, billions of people are interacting with each other on social media, and in this process each user is handing in more and more information about themselves every single day. Their hobbies, habits, likes, and dislikes serve an essential database for online companies that can be used to create strategies later.
Here are some best practices by which you can use social media for your e-commerce business:
Build a strong online presence
A strong online presence is the first step towards exploiting the real worth of social media. According to Google, 97% of consumers go online to research products and services locally. Having a strong online presence is a crucial component of your marketing strategy, no matter what size your business is or what industry it belongs to. You need to create different profiles and numerous accounts, which will further help you figure out the best social media platforms through which you can engage your target audience. The various social networks are functioning like digital highways with which people are communicating, finding information quickly, and increasingly shop for products.
A robust website is very important for a powerful online presence, and with it a dedicated hosting matter a lot. Blogs, forums, product reviews, and articles are becoming essential to attracting and keeping customers in your store. All these attributes can be added to your website using a reliable CMS. For example, Drupal with multiple features can be an excellent choice for CMS. Another important factor to include is search engine optimization that helps your site to rank higher on search engine results.
Post content on a regular basis
A great way of engaging your social media audience is posting relevant content regularly. Just get to know what the best posting frequency is, how your audience reacts to different types of posts, what time of the day is the best for posting, etc. If you provide content that users find relevant to their interests, they will share it with their friends and contacts. High quality content develops trust among your customers, which in turn makes your brand an authority figure in your niche. As a result, more customers will gravitate towards you.
Here are some best practices by which you can use social media for your e-commerce business:
Build a strong online presence
A strong online presence is the first step towards exploiting the real worth of social media. According to Google, 97% of consumers go online to research products and services locally. Having a strong online presence is a crucial component of your marketing strategy, no matter what size your business is or what industry it belongs to. You need to create different profiles and numerous accounts, which will further help you figure out the best social media platforms through which you can engage your target audience. The various social networks are functioning like digital highways with which people are communicating, finding information quickly, and increasingly shop for products.
A robust website is very important for a powerful online presence, and with it a dedicated hosting matter a lot. Blogs, forums, product reviews, and articles are becoming essential to attracting and keeping customers in your store. All these attributes can be added to your website using a reliable CMS. For example, Drupal with multiple features can be an excellent choice for CMS. Another important factor to include is search engine optimization that helps your site to rank higher on search engine results.
Post content on a regular basis
A great way of engaging your social media audience is posting relevant content regularly. Just get to know what the best posting frequency is, how your audience reacts to different types of posts, what time of the day is the best for posting, etc. If you provide content that users find relevant to their interests, they will share it with their friends and contacts. High quality content develops trust among your customers, which in turn makes your brand an authority figure in your niche. As a result, more customers will gravitate towards you.
When your viewers receive valuable content on a consistent basis, they become your brand advocates and start doing marketing for you within their acquaintances. Since the content is being referred by a known person, rather than the company itself, it is perceived less like an advertisement and more like a trusted information. Thus an effective content marketing strategy is an excellent tool for e-commerce business.
Paid advertising
Today, every marketer has grasped the value and importance of social media in e-commerce, so the industry has become a lot more competitive. Due to this achieving exclusively organic results has become hard, which is when you need to invest in advertising and pay to get your business seen. Paying for ads allows you to reach people that you may not have been able to reach organically. Advertising on social media gives you the ability to laser target your audience—reaching existing customers and finding new potential ones. There are so many ways with which you can target your audience, such as based on behaviours, habits, interests, aspirations, etc. However, in order to plan which social networks you will use for advertising, you need to know which ones are performing well organically.
Paid advertising
Today, every marketer has grasped the value and importance of social media in e-commerce, so the industry has become a lot more competitive. Due to this achieving exclusively organic results has become hard, which is when you need to invest in advertising and pay to get your business seen. Paying for ads allows you to reach people that you may not have been able to reach organically. Advertising on social media gives you the ability to laser target your audience—reaching existing customers and finding new potential ones. There are so many ways with which you can target your audience, such as based on behaviours, habits, interests, aspirations, etc. However, in order to plan which social networks you will use for advertising, you need to know which ones are performing well organically.
Facebook is on the top of social advertising. Facebook ads greatly help people find your business as its true strength lies in its powerful targeting abilities due to a strong database. Twitter ads can offer a great platform to help retailers increase followers, generate traffic or conversions, or garner leads (or a combination of all three). YouTube functions as a powerful search engine and engages a really large audience through its videos. Also, by 2019, video will account for 80% of global Internet traffic. Similarly, LinkedIn and Instagram are not far behind as effective mediums for e-commerce paid advertising.
Create your product videos
With video marketing witnessing an exponential growth in the digital branding sector, there’s no reason you shouldn’t use it as a potent e-commerce social media strategy. In recent years, social media is flooded by videos and people are watching them profusely. The significant advantage of using this incredible marketing tool is that you can explain the complex features of your products or services in a more simplified manner. According to a study, 73% more visitors who watch product videos will buy. With the help of engaging videos, you can effectively convey to your customers how your products can be helpful, while your prospects will get a better understanding of all the aspects of your product or service virtually. In other words, an engaging product demo video adds life to the documental tone of your products.
Create your product videos
With video marketing witnessing an exponential growth in the digital branding sector, there’s no reason you shouldn’t use it as a potent e-commerce social media strategy. In recent years, social media is flooded by videos and people are watching them profusely. The significant advantage of using this incredible marketing tool is that you can explain the complex features of your products or services in a more simplified manner. According to a study, 73% more visitors who watch product videos will buy. With the help of engaging videos, you can effectively convey to your customers how your products can be helpful, while your prospects will get a better understanding of all the aspects of your product or service virtually. In other words, an engaging product demo video adds life to the documental tone of your products.
Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are the best platforms for showcasing your brand through product videos. According to another report, 90% of consumers find videos useful when deciding to make purchases online. The types of videos that people are already liking on social media include, Facebook Live, 5-minute crafts, Instagram Stories, 360-degree videos, 30-second videos, time lapse videos, animations, etc. Even though video production is not yet the easiest nor cheapest task, it pays off big time. Better still, there are many video editing tools on the market that can video production more affordable.
Create a personalized customer experience
Social media can be a critical component for providing a great customer experience. Today, brands have to monitor and track all the interactions with customers during their relationship with the company. They want their customers to remain satisfied and loyal for a long time; this is where customer experience does the trick.
Create a personalized customer experience
Social media can be a critical component for providing a great customer experience. Today, brands have to monitor and track all the interactions with customers during their relationship with the company. They want their customers to remain satisfied and loyal for a long time; this is where customer experience does the trick.
Thus, you must try to keep your customers happy and make sure they are well-responded and appreciated. Personalization will add an extra dimension here. Proactively reach out to your followers/customers regularly and make your message truly resonate by keeping it personal.
