The global prevalence of direct sales via social media is growing. If you want to boost sales, one effective tactic is to create a streamlined and concentrated customer experience that doesn’t require users to leave social media in order to discover, research, and buy.
As major platforms improve their shopping and checkout features, the social media sector is getting ready for a surge in social commerce. According to Statista data from the year 2021, only 11% of people who learned about a product through social media made an instant online purchase, while 44% made a purchase either right away or later.
Many people are now using social media sites like Instagram and TikTok to do product research and make purchases as a result of the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic.
Platforms like Instagram are making moves to facilitate more in-app purchases by introducing features like the ability to save payment information and streamlined checkout processes. Entering the realm of social commerce may prove fruitful for your company’s bottom line, so let’s investigate.
In what way does social commerce function?
Boosting your business with social commerce is a must if you deal in tangible goods. It gets rid of things that could be a turnoff to a buyer, like a slow website or a complicated user flow.
If the price is right, many social media shoppers will make a rash decision to buy something.
Users can browse for items they’re interested in buying, like sunglasses, and make a purchase with a single click of a “shop now” or “buy now” button. You won’t have to go to the store’s website to see the price, description, and shipping details because they’ll all be displayed in the social platform.
An increase in on-the-spot purchases is a direct result of the combination of user-generated content (UGC) created by customers and influencers with social commerce features like shoppable tags and links. Emotions and changes in how people live are driving this growth. People want to know that the products they’re considering buying are endorsed by those whose judgement they trust and who use the products themselves.
For whom is social commerce available?
Events, digital products, and services are currently not allowed to be sold via social commerce. Even though Meta’s Horizon Worlds social VR app is falling behind with in-app purchases.
If you run a business and would like to sell your wares on a specific social media platform, you should first familiarise yourself with their merchant guidelines. For this reason, there are some things that simply cannot be sold on social media:
subscriptions to alcohol and some healthcare products, digital products, and event ticketing
Simply doing a Google search will bring up each social media platform’s vendor policies.
Although clothing and accessories make up the bulk of e-commerce on social media platforms, the cosmetics industry, consumer electronics, and home furnishings have emerged as major players in the market.
According to eMarketer, brands with “new and differentiated products and/or aspirational imagery” do best in the social commerce setting.
Whether it’s due to a shift in policy or an issue with how the platform’s algorithms read product descriptions, social media platforms sometimes reject items. In the event that a product you submitted is not accepted, the platform will provide an explanation as to why. Additionally, they will provide a means to contest the ruling.
In what ways can I initiate online social commerce?
Knowing how each social media platform facilitates social commerce is crucial.
Setup for Instagram and Facebook as a Social Commerce Platform
However, the commerce infrastructure is the same thanks to Meta, even though the platforms themselves are distinct. One catalogue supports both Instagram and Facebook Shopping, making it easier to track stock and track sales.
Commerce Manager in the Meta Business Suite is where you will be able to make your catalogue. Manually entering product names, images, and descriptions is required to upload the catalogue.
You can also import products to a Facebook catalogue from a partner platform that integrates with Facebook. Shopify, WooCommerce, and Big Commerce are among the supported platforms.
You can keep handling product management on the partner platform as usual, and Facebook will automatically pick up any changes you make.
How can I improve my social store’s appeal to potential buyers?
After establishing a social commerce platform, it is crucial to give thought to ways to increase traffic to your store and turn your followers into paying customers. In order to help you run a more successful social store, we have compiled the following guidelines:
Don’t forget to use descriptive keywords
The appearance of your social shop is crucial in making a good first impression and establishing trust with your target audience. Make sure each of your products has a compelling description loaded with relevant keywords. At least four high-quality images, preferably of the product in use, should be uploaded alongside the product description.
You might want to organise your stuff by making collections or groups
Make sure your store is simple to browse before busy holiday seasons like Christmas, Mother’s Day, Black Friday, etc. Using Instagram and a shopping feature called “Collections,” Nike has achieved this with great success. These sections are labelled “Gifts for Him” and “Gifts for Her,” respectively, making the company’s offerings straightforward to locate well in advance of major gift-giving holidays.
Use shoppable tags in your natural writing
Don’t assume that a customer will automatically visit your store. Use user-generated content (UGC) with shoppable tags to build trust in your brand and demonstrate its credibility. Make your store more inviting by responding quickly to customer inquiries and providing relevant and engaging content.
Contact key opinion leaders
Recognizing the potential impact of influencers, it is important to develop an influencer marketing strategy as part of your social commerce efforts. Use influential people to spread the word about the goods you sell. You could pay for endorsements or provide free or discounted products to influencers in exchange for positive reviews. Manually researching Instagram and TikTok with pertinent hashtags will lead you to the influencers you’re looking for.