Being Successful Equals Being Social
5 useful tips how social media can help grow your online store
The reason why you should pay attention to your online store’s appearance in social media is simple. Because otherwise, you can hardly stay in touch with your customers. In the US, almost 20% of time online is spent on social media platforms (for both mobile and desktop devices). Facebook alone makes up 14% of total time spent online.
Active and proper use of social media gives you a lot of advantages in terms of becoming successful with your online business. There is, of course, some work behind it. Go through these 5 useful tips and check what you have already done and what you could improve.
1. Use social media as another sales channel
There are over 1,7 billion active users of Facebook per month. That is a great audience to expose your product to, isn’t it? Of course, not all of them can find you, but the chance to boost your sales grows rapidly. Facebook alone offers all the tools you need for targeting or advertising. Besides Facebook, Pinterest and other socials allow visitors to buy directly from their page. This makes eCommerce easier than ever.
Do you already use some of these channels? Great! And do you take a look back to discover what channel brings you the most money? Almost every social channel has its own analytics, but wouldn’t it be more comfortable to see all the results in one dashboard?
Looking back on August 2015, 40,7% of US digital retailers had used a social buy button. Adoption will increase as customers get used to social commerce.
2. Use social media as a reference channel
More than 80% of buyers use social media reviews to make a purchase decision. Unfortunately, it’s in human nature that people don’t usually share references — it only happens if they are super happy or super angry. Support them in giving feedback. Make special offers for honest reviews of your products, use content encouraging them to make recommendations. Ensure your prospects of the high quality of your product and care.
3. Count on (and work with) social communities
The best thing that may happen to you is the ability to create a community. It’s a bunch of people chatting online about your product or similar products depending on common interests. It could be mothers, fishermen, or bikers. They share their experience and advice, as well as references. Explore other marketplaces where they discuss selling & buying products and work with them.
4. Be social media adaptable
The worlds of eCommerce and especially social media are growing enormously. If you want to expand to another country keep in mind Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are not the only social media platforms in the world. Facebook is far from the most used social in China, where QZone leads, much like VKontakte in Russia. Counting this population it’s a shame if they barely know your great product. It all depends on your customers’ geographic segmentation you want to address. Take a brief look at your data to find the countries where your visitors come from.
5. Use social media as a support tool
In US people spend on social media more than 5 hours per day. Use these channels for customer care. It’s relatively inexpensive compared to other channels. You can reward ‘brand fans’ who regularly interact with your social posts. Run competitions like ‘Pin to Win’ on Pinterest and ‘Retweet to Enter’ on Twitter. This will boost your followings, interaction and brand awareness.
Use conversational bots and talk directly to customers who need some special help or care.
Click the play button to watch the video with Jan and find out more about how to succeed in eCommerce!
Word of advice?
“Use social networks in the context of eCommerce transactions. If you want to be successful with your business, never forget to be social!”
Originally published at www.monkeydata.com on May 31, 2016.
