Social Media is a powerful marketing tool for ecommerce businesses. But it has to be deployed in a strategic manner if e-sellers are to reap the benefits. While simply posting a few times a week might be enough to keep your social pages alive, it’s not enough to grow your online retail business.
Below we will discuss using social media to find winnable ecommerce customers through smart targeting, giveaways, and more.
Targeting “Warm” Followers & Customers
One of the ways to find warm or winnable ecommerce shoppers is to use something known as smart targeting. A common credo amongst advertisers is half of their marketing budget is wasted, but it’s impossible to tell which half. Due to the proliferation of data analytics, AI, and machine learning, businesses can drill down into their customer base to determine what makes consumers tick.
Thus, if you are trying to learn how to sell ebooks on your own Shopify website, platforms like Facebook allow e-sellers to better understand their followers. For example, if Efrem uses Facebook to follow various anime TV shows, Japanese movies, and Asian travel pages, he might be a perfect target for advertising your Japanese-themed ebooks and digital manga.
Driving Purchases Through Instagram Ads
Social media is evolving at a rapid rate. The number of users of each platform is climbing and the value these platforms offer entrepreneurs and businesses is growing too.
Instagram, for example, is a well-known social media platform focused on images and videos. During the early days of Instagram, many businesses would post pictures of their products and use the description section below the image to urge users to visit their online store. Perhaps you see already the disconnect– consumers couldn’t buy through the platform itself. Even worse, Instagram doesn’t allow for hyperlinks in descriptions. This is good news for Instagram, which keeps people on the platform longer, but a drag for ecommerce businesses who want to drive easy sales.
Fortunately, that gap has been bridged, thanks to shoppable product tabs. If a follower/consumer sits on an image of a sellable product, Instagram will show a little white dot that allows for instant buying. Yes, you have to designate yourself as a business on Instagram and through its parent company Facebook. But if you link Instagram to your ecommerce platform, you can drive purchases straight through Instagram ads, posts, and stories.
Using Video Tutorial To Become An Authority In Your Space
Social media is a chimera for the average user. It’s part news feed, part marketing, part baby pictures, part memes, and part informative content. All of these seemingly disparate conversations are happening within the same channels. When you combine this realization with the understanding social platforms reward posts with the most engagement with better visibility, you unlock the magical formula behind social media marketing.
What does this mean for your ecommerce store? If you post relevant, engaging, and authoritative content, users will interact with it. This leads to more views and engagement.
For instance, if you sell cookware, post demonstration videos of 30-minute meals. Sell cosmetics? Post a contouring tutorial or a slideshow of the best makeup trends at Coachella. Specialize in personal electronics? Shoot video explaining how to get the most use out of your drone, camera, or smartphone.
These can establish your e-store as an authority in its space. It keeps loyal customers coming back for more and extends your reach to potential (a.k.a. winnable) shoppers. When it comes to video, there’s unlimited possibilities. So, start brainstorming!
Leveraging Social Media Giveaways
Another idea is to host social media contests and giveaways. Now, you might be wondering how this wins customers if you are just giving away merchandise. Well, as they say, “you need to spend money to make money.”
Social media contests engage users and can motivate followers. For instance, e-sellers could ask their audience to post images of themselves wearing your branded merchandise in exchange for entry into the giveaway. Similarly, e-sellers could ask that followers tag six friends or family members in exchange for entry. Those tagged persons might find out about your store, enter the contest, and thus continue to spread the good word about your brand.
Yes, you’ll have to cough up a little bit of merchandise here or there. But in return, you keep customers warm about your offerings, you increase visibility of your brand, and you have the opportunity to keep loyal customers or win new ones. And that’s pretty special.
[Images – Main Image by rawpixel.com ; Ebook Reader: Pixabay]
Kris Olin, MSc (Econ.) * Editor in Chief at Social Media Revolver * Web Designer * SEO Specialist * Author of the Facebook Advertising Guide. Follow Kris on Twitter and LinkedIn. See his photos at Flickr.