In 2017, a report by Adweek highlighted that the top 500 online retailers generated nearly $6.5 billion in revenue through social shopping. This figure underscores the profound impact that social commerce has had on the e-commerce landscape. As social commerce continues to evolve, it presents an unprecedented opportunity for retailers to enhance their revenue streams. To fully leverage this potential, it is essential to understand what social commerce entails and how it can influence brand operations.
What is Social Commerce?
Social commerce, often referred to as social shopping, represents the intersection of e-commerce and social media. This convergence allows brands to streamline the purchasing process for their customers and enhance the effectiveness of their social media advertising efforts. The concept of social shopping is not new; both brands and social media platforms have long sought ways to transform social media into viable sales channels. According to the E-commerce Trends report by BigCommerce, 30% of consumers are inclined to purchase from social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest etc.
Social commerce generally encompasses the entirety of e-commerce activities conducted within social media environments. It acts as an umbrella term for various content types that assist brands in selling products via social media channels. Here are some key types of social commerce content:
- User-Generated Content (UGC): Reviews and feedback from customers on e-commerce sites.
- Product Reviews on Social Media: Detailed insights and opinions shared by users about specific products.
- Ads with Call-to-Action (CTA) Buttons: Advertisements on social media platforms featuring buttons that prompt immediate action.
- Buy Buttons on Social Walls: Direct purchase options integrated into social media posts.
- Peer-to-Peer Buying and Selling: Direct transactions between users within social media networks.
- In-App Payment Transfers: Facilitating transactions without requiring users to leave the social media platform.
These social commerce features enable brands to create a seamless and engaging shopping experience directly within social media platforms. By incorporating social commerce plugins and apps, brands can further enhance their social commerce strategy, ensuring they remain at the forefront of this rapidly growing trend.
Adopting social commerce best practices can significantly boost a brand’s ability to convert social media engagement into sales. Understanding and implementing these strategies is crucial for any retailer looking to thrive in today’s digital marketplace.
Key Social Commerce Features
Social commerce strategy involves leveraging various features on social media platforms to enhance the shopping experience. Each platform offers unique functionalities that brands can utilise to optimise their social commerce strategy.
“Buy” Buttons
One of the most prominent features in social commerce is the “buy now” button. Platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram incorporate this call-to-action button in their posts or ads, linking users directly to the brand’s website to complete the purchase. This seamless integration significantly boosts the efficiency of a brand’s social commerce strategy.
Social Commerce Plugins and Apps
For brands that have yet to fully implement social commerce features on their platforms, there are numerous third-party plugins and apps available. A notable example is Soldsie, an app compatible with Instagram and Facebook. Soldsie allows users to purchase items simply by commenting “Sold” on a post. The app then handles the rest, sending an invoice to the customer to confirm and complete the sale. Incorporating such social commerce plugins can greatly enhance a brand’s social commerce strategy by streamlining the purchasing process.
Shop on Posts and Stories
A relatively new trend in social commerce involves shopping directly from posts and stories. Platforms like Snapchat and Instagram have pioneered this approach, enabling brands to tag products within their content. This method allows customers to shop for specific items seamlessly, enhancing their overall experience and minimising friction. By integrating shopping features into stories and posts, brands can create a more engaging and efficient social commerce strategy.
Social Media’s Influence on Buying Behaviour
Social media plays a pivotal role in shaping the purchasing decisions of consumers, even without direct social commerce features. Recommendations and reviews on social media platforms significantly influence buyer choices. A 2016 study by Pew Research Center revealed that 82% of Americans consult online reviews or recommendations before making a purchase. This phenomenon, known as the “Research Online, Purchase Offline” (ROPO) effect, underscores the critical role of social media in modern buying behaviour.
Social Media Drives Desire
Social media posts have the power to generate demand by continuously exposing users to various products. For instance, a fashion blogger’s Instagram post can create a desire to buy more shoes, while an interior designer’s post might inspire home renovations. Social commerce is particularly effective in driving traffic and altering shopping behaviour. Pew Research’s study found that up to 15% of Americans purchase products or services after following a link via social media. By tapping into these dynamics, brands can enhance their social commerce strategy and drive significant traffic and sales.
Social Commerce Best Practices & Tactics
To optimise your social commerce strategy, leveraging social proof through user-generated content (UGC) is paramount. This includes customer reviews, service feedback, and other endorsements. Encouraging customers to post photos or videos of your products and tag your brand can be incredibly effective. This tactic not only boosts engagement but also builds trust and authenticity.
Handling Negative Reviews
Negative reviews are inevitable, but they can be turned into opportunities. Addressing issues directly on the platform and displaying the resolution publicly demonstrates your commitment to customer satisfaction. This approach shows potential customers that:
- Your customer service is proactive and helpful.
- You value your reputation and customer feedback.
- You listen to and address customer concerns.
Influencer Partnerships
Forming partnerships with relevant influencers within your category can significantly extend your reach, build brand affinity, and establish credibility. Instead of targeting influencers with the largest followings, focus on micro-influencers who have highly engaged audiences. These content creators often have a more intimate relationship with their followers, leading to higher trust and influence. This strategy is a cornerstone of effective social commerce best practices, with influencer marketing projected to be worth £16.4 billion in 2022.
Testing Live Shopping
Live shopping is an innovative way to blend the interactivity of in-person shopping with the convenience of e-commerce. Hosting live Q&A sessions, demos, tutorials, or product launches allows you to engage with your audience in real-time. Answering customer questions live helps to eliminate purchase barriers and creates a personalised connection. Utilising product hashtags in your live broadcasts enables viewers to purchase products on the spot, enhancing your social commerce strategy.
Optimising for Social Search
A Google internal study revealed that 40% of 18- to 24-year-olds use social media as their primary search engine. To succeed in the social commerce space in 2023, mastering social search optimisation is essential.
Start with a robust content strategy focused on creating engaging and relevant content for your target audience. High-quality content is more likely to perform well and be discovered. Follow these social commerce best practices inspired by Beard & Blade’s SEO fundamentals:
- Optimise Your Social Media Profiles: Ensure your profiles are easy to navigate, with clear and compelling bios and on-brand profile photos.
- Geotag Your Posts: Make your location accessible for local searches.
- Use Alt Text on Creative Assets: This improves the discoverability and accessibility of your content.
By implementing these steps, your social commerce content will become more discoverable and engaging, driving better results from your social commerce strategy.
Social Commerce Pitfalls & How to Overcome Them
Integrating First-Party Data
A common challenge for advertisers has been accurately measuring ROI through traditional retail media. However, the integration of first-party retail data into social platforms allows advertisers to maximise their investments by targeting high-value users more precisely. This capability enhances the attribution of both offline and online sales, thereby increasing the overall effectiveness of advertising campaigns.
Integrating first-party data also enables the delivery of more personalised ads tailored to users’ purchasing behaviours, which improves their in-app experiences. Despite these benefits, establishing data and privacy protocols can be a significant hurdle. Recognising and addressing these challenges is essential for effectively leveraging a social commerce strategy to drive business growth.
Fragmentation of Customer Journeys
Customer journeys often begin on one social media platform and end on another, creating inconsistencies that can disrupt the shopping experience. This fragmentation makes it difficult to track a customer’s journey accurately and can impact consumer safety. With rising instances of fraud on social commerce platforms, it becomes increasingly challenging for customers to identify secure payment gateways.
To mitigate these issues, brands must focus on creating a seamless and secure shopping experience across all platforms. Ensuring consistency in the purchasing process and implementing robust security measures are vital components of a successful social commerce strategy.
Marketplace Preference
Many customers instinctively turn to well-known marketplaces like Amazon for online shopping due to familiarity and trust. While this does not diminish the value of social commerce, it highlights the importance of an omnichannel distribution strategy.
Rather than choosing between marketplaces and social commerce, brands should utilise both. Different platforms attract various customer segments, and being present across multiple channels can increase sales and capture customer attention. To achieve this, brands need to manage content effectively across all platforms.
Utilising a data management tool like Plytix, the best Product Information Management (PIM) system for Shopify, allows brands to create, store, and distribute content, data, and media assets across different channels. This approach ensures a consistent and comprehensive presence, preventing customers from turning to competitors due to fragmented or outdated information.
Major Social Media Platforms in Social Commerce
Instagram – Shoppable Tags
Instagram revolutionised social commerce in 2016 by introducing shoppable tags. These tags allow creators to embed product information within their photos. Users can tap on a “tap to review” button to reveal product details and prices. Once a tag is selected, a detailed view of the product appears, and tapping the tagged items directs users to the brand’s website. Additionally, Instagram Stories can include stickers, enhancing the social shopping experience.
While Instagram users complete their purchases on the brand’s website, this seamless transition from discovery to purchase integrates well with a social commerce strategy. To set up a brand’s social shopping account on Instagram, follow these steps:
- Create an Instagram for Business account.
- Connect the account to a Facebook catalogue, which can be set up from a Facebook page or through Facebook Business Manager.
- Submit your account for review by Instagram before activating Instagram Shopping.
Pinterest – The Visual Commerce Leader
Pinterest is ideal for social commerce, particularly for visual-centric products like home décor, DIY projects, fashion, and crafts. The platform’s Rich Pins provide users with additional information directly from the pinned site, enhancing the shopping experience. There are various types of Rich Pins, including product pins, article pins, recipe pins, and app pins.
Product pins on Pinterest allow users to see pricing and stock information, making it easier to update and maintain product data. By tapping on the pin, users are directed straight to the brand’s website, streamlining the purchasing process. To enable Rich Pins, brands must add metadata (description) to their website and validate the page with Pinterest.
Facebook – A Hub for Social Commerce
Facebook has long been a powerhouse in targeted marketing, and its integration of buy buttons in ads has greatly enhanced social commerce strategies. Facebook Marketplace, although geared more towards peer-to-peer sales, also supports brand engagement. Local groups within Facebook, dedicated to exchanging goods, have thrived, leveraging Facebook Marketplace’s robust search filters, which allow users to find items by price, category, location, and proximity.
The Importance of Social Commerce
Social commerce has transformed how brands utilise social media to connect with customers. Instead of merely generating awareness and directing traffic to external sites, social commerce enables brands to sell directly within social feeds. This streamlined purchase journey reduces the steps a consumer must take, mitigating sales funnel leaks and enhancing the overall efficiency of the purchasing process.
Standing out in a crowded market remains a significant challenge for many brands. Increasing ad costs and evolving search engine algorithms often de-prioritise content. However, social commerce offers a solution. Major brands, like Marvel, have successfully engaged users through interactive ads, increasing reach and improving engagement metrics.
Case Study: Adidas on Snapchat
Adidas set a precedent by launching a product via a Snapchat Show, integrating social media commerce seamlessly. The result was remarkable, with the new style selling out within hours. By allowing viewers to swipe up on their screens to purchase the pre-release sneaker, Adidas demonstrated the immense potential of social commerce in driving exclusive offers and fostering brand loyalty.
Conclusion
Incorporating social commerce features into your social commerce strategy is essential for modern retail success. By leveraging tools like shoppable tags, Rich Pins, and buy buttons, and integrating social commerce plugins, brands can create a seamless, engaging shopping experience that converts social media interactions into sales. Embracing these social commerce best practices will not only enhance user engagement but also drive significant growth and revenue.
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