Social media is one of the most effective channels to market your brand. More than half of the world uses social media and the numbers continue to climb at record speed.
With billions of people using social media globally, it is highly likely that your audience can be found on these platforms as well. To reach your audience and get them to purchase products from your ecommerce store, it is important to incorporate social media in your marketing strategies.
Not to mention, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift towards a digital world. More people are shopping online than ever before. You need powerful social media strategies to deal with the increasing competition as businesses go digital to meet customer demands.
Social Media Strategies for 2021
Here’s how you can use social media to build your ecommerce brand and increase sales.
- Sell More with Instagram Shopping
Thanks to Instagram’s shoppable posts feature, your customers will be able to complete their buying journey, from discovery to checkout, without leaving the app. This feature offers an amazing opportunity for you to turn your followers into customers.
However, you will need to check off a few eligibility requirements before you can begin.
To get started with shoppable post features, you will need an Instagram business account which must be connected to a Facebook catalog and you must sell physical goods which comply with Instagram policies.
Once you upload the product catalog and your store is approved, simply enable the feature by selecting Shopping under Business Settings.
2. Work with Social Media Influencers
One of the most efficient ways to create an online buzz about your ecommerce store in 2021 is through influencer marketing. You can use influencer marketing tools to find influencers with a dedicated social following in your niche. Once you have found the right influencers, you can leverage their reach by collaborating with them to promote your ecommerce store and products.
As the influencers start posting content related to your brand, you will be able to access many potential customers you would have otherwise been unable to reach. Since these influencers have a dedicated group of followers that trust their influencers recommendation, they might even end up making a purchase.
Influencers are also great at driving traffic to your ecommerce store by adding links to their promotional content. You can encourage purchases by giving a special discount code to your influencers which they can share with their followers. If you have an Instagram Shop, your influencers can send traffic directly to it instead of your website.
To make the collaboration more effective, you can reward your influencer with a commission for every sale. When you switch to such an affiliate model, influencers put in more effort to boost your sales. Remember to track the success of such campaigns with affiliate marketing tools.
- Dominate the Competition with Live Videos
A live video stream allows you to provide compelling content to your audience and grow your brand. It has quickly become one of the most popular types of online content. While there is a variety of live content, some types of live videos are more popular than others.
Consumers absolutely love video sessions such as:
- Q&As with experts
- Product tutorials
- How-to and explainer videos
- Discussions
Such live video sessions are an effective way to reach and interact with your audience in real-time.
What else can you do to harness the power of live videos?
You can partner up with social media influencers to create your branded live videos. This way you will combine the power of influencer marketing with live video marketing.
The great thing about live videos is that they can continue to garner engagement even after they end. Just remember to save your video after your broadcast has ended and post it as a regular post or story.
What’s more?
Instagram has added a new feature that allows you to use live video streaming to sell your products directly to customers. You can showcase up to 30 products. Just remember to add them to your collection before you go live. It’s an absolutely fantastic opportunity to mix engaging content with shopping features to boost both engagement and sales.
4. Win with Quality Content
Customers expect their favorite brands to consistently create and publish high-quality content. It’s a powerful strategy to boost your ecommerce store’s sales. Some of the most popular brands out there win social media this way.
Your content should be in a variety of formats such as infographics, images, videos, and more.
Blogs are a particularly useful format. You can drive traffic to your website by sharing links to your blog posts on social media. This traffic can then be directed toward your ecommerce store’s product pages to encourage purchases.
The best content answers key audience questions. In many cases, such content might not lead directly to sales, but it builds brand authority and keeps your brand relevant to your audience.
When you publish content on social media, just remember to not post too frequently. You don’t want your audience to feel that you are spamming them by overcrowding their feed. On the other hand, you also don’t want people to forget your brand by waiting too long to post. Try to find a middle ground and post in moderation.
Posting frequency can actually make or break your success on social media. You can manage your publishing schedule by using social media management tools. These tools let you schedule posts in advance, helping you stick to a schedule and stay consistent.
- Leverage Social with Share Buttons
It might seem pretty simple, but adding social share buttons to your ecommerce store is a powerful way to boost your reach and traffic. It is especially important to add these buttons to your product pages. Visitors who are interested in your products can share them with their friends and family through social media. This helps you reach a wider audience. Such actions can even lead to new customers that check your store out and make a purchase.
Another place where it’s important to add these buttons on your website is your blog posts. People are eager to share information they find useful. Social share buttons make it easier for them to do so.
6. Tap Into the Power of Facebook Messenger
In today’s digital world, one-on-one interactions can not be forgotten if you want to generate sales. Facebook Messenger is a greatl tool that allows you to engage with your audience and customers through another channel besides phone and email.
You can use the tool to answer customer queries and solve their problems. As an ecommerce store owner, you can also use the live chat feature to provide assistance to your shoppers in real-time. Many people nowadays prefer live chat over all other forms of customer support.
It is a good idea to integrate Facebook Messenger with your ecommerce store. This way you can answer queries that have come directly from the app.
What’s more?
You can also send highly targeted promotions to people who have already interacted with your store in Messenger. These are called sponsored messages and help you drive traffic to your website.
- Make the Most of TikTok Ads
At some point, organic reach is no longer going to cut it and you will have to switch to paid ads. Paid ads can help push your brand and products in front of a larger audience.
However, paid promotions on older platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter can be expensive. If you are looking for a budget-friendly alternative, TikTok is the marketing platform for you.
With more than 800 million active users per month, the platform shouldn’t be taken lightly. It is one of the biggest and fastest growing social media platforms out there.
How can you use TikTok effectively?
It’s important to learn about TikTok demographics and identify users who might be interested in your ecommerce store before getting into paid advertising on the app. Once you have defined your target audience, set the campaign goal and budget.
Pro tip:
It’s important to only promote your best performing posts on social media. Otherwise, you might get lackluster results. Also, remember to tweak and optimize your ad campaigns regularly based on your social media insights. This can help you get the desired results.
Summary
Don’t underestimate the power of social media marketing. It can help positively influence your ecommerce store’s revenue and sales.
You should start with Instagram since it’s rapidly transforming into a full fledged sales channel for ecommerce. From shoppable posts to live video product showcases, the platform offers a number of ways to generate sales. You can further boost your reach and sales by partnering with influencers.
And that’s not all!
You can win an audience by posting high-quality content on social media consistently. Capitalize on the sharing power of social media by adding share buttons to your website. This will make it easy for visitors to share both products and blog posts that they find interesting.
Lastly, use TikTok ads and Facebook Messenger to grow your business further.
Want to know more? Share your questions about social media strategies in the comment section below.
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