If you are selling products online then you should be aware of social commerce, if you are not aware get ready because there is a huge gap in your sales strategy!

What Is Social Commerce?

Social commerce is where a product is sold via a social platform, not to be confused with social marketing, social commerce gives the option to purchase directly through the social platform.

Why Should I Include Social Commerce In My Sales Strategy?

Although selling through social platforms is not a new thing, and has been increasing slowly year on year, since the pandemic, there has been a huge increase in sales via social platforms.  With more and more of us using our mobiles and becoming increasingly comfortable with social media it is no surprise that selling via social media is the way forward.

Minimise clicks

One of the successful reasons that social commerce works so well is the opportunity to reduce the number of clicks a potential customer has to make.  Consider your social marketing, where you are advertising a product with a link to your website to give more information on the product.  Your potential client has now clicked away from your post to your website and is now presented with a product page.  A few things could happen on your potential customer journey… They may well become distracted by other products on your site, your website may not be user friendly and they may become lost within your site, they may need to make a number of clicks to get to check out.

Whereas if you use the social commerce approach-

Advertise a product on a social platform, a user likes the product hits buy now and is immediately taken to payment on that platform.  Thus reducing the number of clicks and making the purchase journey very simple.

Taking in the above it certainly makes more sense to make a user journey as simple as possible to help create that all-important sale, remember…….every click of the mouse is an opportunity for a user to change their mind. !

Social Commerce Targetting The Right Audience

With all the social media platforms you can really nail down who you want your posts to get in front of, as with the majority of user profiles we highlight our interests and the data gathered by the platforms on things we have looked at and have taken our interest are all collated meaning that you will be hard pushed to find a better way of getting your product in front of the right person.  Then it’s down to you on how you make your product and post appealing to that audience.

Interaction

The great thing about social commerce is that users can interact with your posts, leaving comments, and assuming you have a great product will soon collate many positive comments which will encourage others to purchase.  However be warned that as positive comments appear you may well get negative comments, and these need to be addressed so that others can see how you have responded, negative comments do not need to damage your sales as long as you respond and manage them in a correct manner.  If you are a genuine company selling a good product then you have nothing to worry about!

Although the selling and purchasing are all done online, it is in many respects like being at a virtual shop, where people are chatting about your product and sharing their experiences.  We always encourage our smaller clients to offer special deals for those customers who have brought a product and are happy to share a photo in the comment feed.  Building a good relationship and brand loyalty.

Collecting social proof is vital to building a positive reputation online.

Remember you can also engage with an influencer and give your brand even more of a boost!