“Social Distancing” may be the catchphrase of the Covid-19 pandemic, but social media is its lifeblood. As citizens stick close-to-home for health and safety reasons, relationships – both personal and professional – blossom online. In Zoom-rooms and Facebook chats, through Instagram updates and Twitter feeds, all over the world, people came together virtually. Social media became a primary method of connection to the outside world. It also became a primary resource for business owners to connect with consumers.
Social media provides small businesses with new opportunities to build brand awareness and develop customer relationships. Social media platforms are now driving sales directly, as consumers increasingly make “in-app” purchases. For example, data from a June 2020 “eMarketer Facebook Flash Survey” conducted by Bizrate Insights revealed that customers are making purchases from Facebook and Instagram, as well as Snapchat, TikTok, and other platforms.
Small businesses can capitalize on this new buyer behavior by adapting their current strategies to reflect this new online reality. For example, rather than ditching the “old school” buyer’s journey, successful businesses embrace this strategy and adapt it to the online marketing place. Additionally, by emphasizing convenience, immediate gratification, and interactive shopping experience within the native platform, small businesses can increase their sales conversion rates. Finally, social media purchasing behavior is both easy and exciting: it takes the product or service to the customer in a way that seamlessly inserts it into everyday online activities.
Many small businesses are already committing to improving their fraud management, with almost half of the respondents in Visa’s study saying they “believe security and fraud management software is a critical area of investment to meet consumer needs.”
Here are some additional tips on developing an effective social media eCommerce strategy:
Define your business objectives
Identify your target audience
Choose the right social network
Use organic content to create ads
Test performance and measure results
While Facebook continues to be the dominant force in social media, there are several other platforms available. Using the tips above, you should begin your campaign with a clear idea of your target customer: who they are, what they want and need, and where they socialize online. From there, your strategy will depend upon which platform you use. For example, through Facebook’s “shops” option, businesses can connect with potential customers through Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and Whatsapp. With Twitter, on the other hand, organizations can run ads or promote specific tweets. TikTok provides integrations with both Shopify and Walmart, and the platform continues to introduce new tools designed to facilitate eCommerce.
Effective advertising is a keystone of developing social media eCommerce. To that end, organizations must allocate sufficient resources to their social media advertising. The success of a social media e-commerce endeavor depends upon developing an effective campaign strategy, including specific objectives and clearly defined targets. The quality of the ad, when it is placed, and which social media platform is used will also impact the overall success of the strategy.
Leveraging the relationships your business creates on social media platforms is an effective way to grow your brand recognition, increase your audience, and drive sales.
When it comes to establishing a successful eCommerce strategy, there’s no set-it-and-forget-it option. A company’s social media presence must be nurtured, and its social media audience should be cultivated and curated. Thankfully, the effort put into social media eCommerce does pay off. According to Instagram, 60% of people say they find new products on the platform, and over 200 million “Instagrammers” visit at least one business profile daily. BigCommerce reports that 30% of online shoppers are likely to make a purchase through social media. Finally, in the US, product sales via social networks are expected to reach $31billion by the end of 2021.
Leveraging the relationships your business creates on social media platforms is an effective way to grow your brand recognition, increase your audience, and drive sales. Contact us for more information on how we can help.
At PayTech Trust, we offer secure merchant accounts and web-based solutions for businesses of all sizes. With our collaborative suite of services and world-class cybersecurity protocols, PayTech Trust has the experience and the expertise to help your business move safely into the world of online credit card processing.
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