How to Make Social Media e-Commerce More Sociable

In the past few years, e-commerce has migrated more and more to social media platforms, which allows brands to expand their business and target new audiences with just a few clicks. With worldwide e-commerce growing, it’s only natural to see an increase in online shoppers, totaling 2.14 billion over the year 2021, making up approximately 27.6% of the world population. Looking at social commerce, sales through social media channels are rapidly increasing and are expected to triple nearly by 2025. Last year, e-commerce grew by 13% in Europe alone. The forecast for 2022 looks even more promising, with global e-commerce sales expected to hit over $5 trillion for the first time.

A Shopify report revealed the boom in online shopping over the year 2022 and where the future of E-commerce is headed, focusing on the rise of social commerce. After the pandemic, people started spending much more time on social platforms. As a result, the average user spends around 15% of their day online. For e-Commerce businesses, this translates to opportunity and higher sales potential. Today, leveraging the social landscape can make a difference in conversions, sales, and revenue. This post will show you how to boost e-commerce sales using social media. But we also tap into the latest trends that will bring consumers closer to your brand.

Create Live Commerce Experiences Online for Your Audience

As more consumers make purchases through social media, platforms are becoming more shopper-friendly and more crowded and transactional. If brands treat social channels as just another medium to run ad campaigns, they will reach the same ad-spend limits and fail to create trust among their audiences. To win consumers over and offer a unique shopping experience, brands must integrate the social elements of offline shopping into the online buying journey. One way to effectively achieve that is through live chat and video.

Live Chat

According to Shopify’s research, more than half of social media users value the past customer service experience and the ability to quickly contact customer service on the platforms of their choice. In addition, most consumers want to take their relationship with a brand to the next level. But also interact with them as they would interact with friends via social media.

Video

Video has taken over social media and is now the main form of online expression. With TikTok emerging during the pandemic and Instagram shifting more and more to video formats (reels, stories, and live streams), online shoppers also shifted their buying behavior. Online shoppers are likelier to make buying decisions after being exposed to product-related videos.

1. Choose the Right Platforms

Go for Livestream platforms which allow users to shop without leaving the social media channel. Fast and convenient navigation means fewer clicks and a higher potential for conversions.

2. Collaborate with Creators and Influencers

Hootsuite revealed in their Social Trends 2022 Report that 50 million people worldwide consider themselves “creators.”. The creator economy is on the rise. With so many people identifying as creators, the content possibilities for brand partnerships are unlimited. Not to mention the increase in raw content and user-generated content (UGC) posted by brands across social channels due to users’ preferences and likelihood to engage with brand-related content. On the other hand, influencers allow you to engage with broader audiences and run online campaigns with greater conversion likelihood, as they already have high trust within their audience.

3. Make Your Content Appealing

When creating a virtual shopping experience, it is essential to remember that the goal is not to expose users to polished content but to engage and make them feel more connected to the brand. Consider publishing less refined Livestreams. For example, unboxing videos, product demonstrations, and behind-the-scenes videos show consumers how the products are made, sourced, or styled.

4. Design a Social Commerce Experience That Converts

Format your content accordingly in a way that’s shopper-friendly. Whether videos or images, provide clickable calls to action (CTAs), making it easier for users to perform specific actions with just a few clicks. When exposed to video content, it’s critical to add clickable CTAs throughout the video, showing consumers that the content is shoppable. Using ads, especially video ads, which tend to perform better on social channels, can provide a clear overview of conversion data, including click-to-view, click-to-buy, and click-to-share interactions. Developing a shopper-friendly model can help you study the user’s behavior at every touchpoint.