Social Commerce & Shoppable Posts
Introduction:
If you need more ways to sell your products or services, this compiled article is for you. Ecommerce is big and Social Media is significant. This article discusses combining the two!
[1]You know that social media is an excellent tool for marketing your business and driving product discovery. But are you making sales right from the social platform?
30% of online shoppers say they would likely purchase a social media network like Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, or Snapchat. And with Instagram and Facebook introducing new native shopping experiences, that number will only continue to rise.
In this post, we’ll cover how brands can leverage these native shopping experiences — called social commerce — to reach new audiences and boost sales.
What is social commerce?
Social commerce refers to buying or selling a product or service within the native social media experience.
For example, on Pinterest, users can browse and purchase Buyable Pins right from the Pinterest app or website, rather than going to the brand’s website.
Social commerce vs. eCommerce
Social commerce is a subset of eCommerce. Typically, online shoppers discover a new product in an organic or paid social media post, then click through to the brand’s website to make a purchase.
In social commerce experiences, shoppers don’t have to leave the social media platform to purchase with Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, or a credit card.
Why is social commerce important?
Social commerce is becoming a vital piece of the eCommerce mix for brands across industries.
Here’s why:
- Facebook has almost 1.79 billion daily active users
- 60% of Instagram users say they find new products on Instagram
- About 42% of shoppers say they’ve purchased social media
- Pinterest’s revenue from shopping ads increased 100% in 2019
Most social commerce experiences are currently available through organic content on these platforms, but paid opportunities — like the ability to buy directly from paid posts on Instagram — are on the rise.
“Expect social media and eCommerce to become further intertwined in 2021. Selling continues to be a focus in the digital space and is growing faster than ever. With social interaction at the forefront of everyday interactions, it makes sense for brands to push marketing out through these channels to reach the most valuable audiences possible.
Many platforms have already integrated native shopping features, including Facebook and Instagram, and it’s definitely on the horizon for growing channels like TikTok. Innovative eCommerce solutions and cross-channel buying experiences should be absolutely top of mind for marketers. Focus on streamlining the social shopping process, so the customers’ transition from your feed to the checkout is as frictionless as possible.”
[2]Social Commerce Plugins and Third-party Apps
There are a lot of third-party apps and plugins that work within Facebook and Instagram to enhance the shopping experience.
One example is Soldsie (which integrates with both Facebook and Instagram). Customers can purchase by simply typing the word “Sold.” on a post. After they post the comment, the app takes care of the rest, emailing them an invoice to complete payment and confirm the order.
Social commerce improves the eCommerce customer purchase path on platforms where consumers are already highly engaged and primed to make purchases. This trend is growing, and 2020 is promising to bring even more innovation in the space. Before you get started, be sure to understand your audience — what they like, how they want to buy, how they’re using social media, and which platforms they’re active on. Then, choose the channels that best fit your audience, use strategic audience targeting with your posts, and don’t forget to measure your results.
Do you want to introduce a Social Commerce strategy in 2020?
Social commerce is a massive opportunity for eCommerce businesses. If you have questions about any of the trends or strategies I’ve discussed here or need help creating your plan for the coming year, the team at Total Product Marketing can help. Get in touch with us today!
[3]Shoppable Content
A shoppable post is any content that gives your customers a direct opportunity to purchase. For example, you can add a shop now button on a product image or an order link to a video caption if you’re a clothing retailer. Since 30% of online shoppers are likely to buy from a social media site, you can use this tendency to your advantage.
Facebook and Instagram Posts
When posting on Facebook or Instagram, businesses can use creative photographs and video snippets to give customers an idea of what the product will look when worn, applied, or used. Place a shop option in your posts to guide your customer to the shopping cart instantly.
Facebook Shop Collection
Facebook Shop is a business page feature that allows you to create an online store. Users visit your page, then click on the Shop tab to quickly access your product catalog and discover your offers. It may even encourage them to share it with their friends.
Facebook and Instagram Stories
Since stories are only seconds long and disappear after 24 hours, businesses tend to overlook their value. However, despite being temporary, Facebook and IG stories can be used to showcase your products or get real-time engagements from your audience. In turn, this can help you build a stronger relationship with them and aid you in product development.
[4]The Vertical Integration of Technology
Instagram continues to be the gold standard for shoppable posts, mainly due to its visual nature. However, Facebook offers a similar feature through its product tags, allowing your brand to benefit from the synergies between both platforms when posting.
Pinterest makes it possible to sync information between your website and organic posts with rich pins that update all pins automatically as you make changes. And while YouTube may not jump to mind when thinking of shoppable posts, it’s a premium channel to present products in. For example, brands can use cards that pop up during a video and include shopping links, or, as influencers like to say, use “links in the description box below,” which is also a convenient spot to add affiliate links.
Of course, as the popularity of TikTok keeps rising, many brands are closely watching how that platform will evolve in 2021. After testing shoppable videos in 2019, the short-form video app rolled out shoppable ads last year. It continues to add shopping features and is now moving ahead with ones that allow brands to upload catalogs and Livestream shopping, enabling advertisers to link to e-commerce pages during live takes.
Finally, third-party platforms are throwing themselves into the game. For example, Shopify announced in early February that it was enabling Shop Pay, its secure payments process, for Shopify merchants selling on Facebook and Instagram.
Conclusion:
The idea of social commerce has been around for more than a decade, but only recently has it gained impressive momentum among brands and consumers. As social media and e-commerce permeate more aspects of our lives, it’s no surprise that the two are merging. Social commerce makes it possible for consumers not just to discover new products in the places they’re spending more of their time but to buy them directly. With social media platforms rolling out more and more features to enable those transactions, social commerce is becoming a 21st-century shopping mall.
Article compiled by huesagency.com
Article reference links:
- https://tinuiti.com/blog/paid-social/social-commerce-by-channel/ ↑
- https://totalproductmarketing.com/social-commerce-the-trend-thats-changing-ecommerce/ ↑
- https://www.spiralytics.com/blog/social-commerce-and-shoppable-posts-guide/ ↑
- https://www.mytotalretail.com/article/how-social-commerce-is-changing-retail/ ↑
