Social media platforms are an important part of successful digital marketing – especially in eCommerce. With a great social media presence, a brand can inspire their customers and increase conversions, even if they have a tight marketing budget. But with so many channels to choose from, which should you add to your eCommerce social media strategy?
In this article, you can learn more about 4 specific social channels where potential customers may linger, and whether they’re applicable for your eCommerce business and target audience. Plus, we’ll be sharing some real-life examples to inspire you.
Let’s get started.
Facebook is a great social platform to start building brand awareness on, with 1.929 billion users active daily, and a global reach.
Not only is this one of the few social media networks that has true global reach, Facebook also has a mix of age groups (from Baby Boomers all the way down to Gen Z), and a balanced mix of genders, too.
Any online store can benefit from using this social channel. Facebook ads can also be used to target new customers based on interests, demographics and geotargeting, for example.
Examples
When using Facebook ads, one way to increase sales is by using words such as ‘buy/order now’ and ‘limited edition’ to increase urgency. KitKat makes use of this technique in the following example, by advertising the product as ‘new’ and adding the phrase ‘in stores now!’
Source: KitKat on Facebook
The next example is from BarkBox. Facebook allows you to use carousels with links to drive your eCommerce sales and generate leads as part of your social media strategy, and BarkBox made creative and effective use of this.
Source: BarkBox on Facebook
Twitter, the micro-blogging social media network, is the world’s 7th favorite social media platform. Most of the users on this site are from the US, with one quarter of US adults using Twitter. It is more popular among millennials than among Gen Z, with users tending to having a higher income than average. It is therefore great for online retail aimed at higher spenders.
One of the many benefits of using Twitter in your social media marketing strategy is that it is one of the best social media platforms for supplementing the customer journey with positive customer service, helping to deliver a seamless experience to an engaged audience.
Twitter is one of the few social media platforms that doesn’t rely solely on images – although they can be used. However, it still has a character limit – 280 characters – so say what you need to say as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Examples
Due to its character limit, it is important to use wording that catches your potential customer’s attention immediately. Etihad Airways do this by adding text to an image (“Fly the world for free!”), leaving space for the terms and conditions within the tweet itself.
Source: Etihad Airways on Twitter
You can pull your latest Twitter updates into your website and email. Wex does this in the example below, allowing customers to stay up to date on the latest announcements.
Source: Email by Wex
Instagram is the second most downloaded free app in the Apple Store. It homes over 500 million daily active users, and 46% of smartphone Instagram users in the US scroll daily. It is mainly used in the US, where 88% of its users live.
The target audience for Instagram is young, with over half of global users being younger than 34 years old.
Instagram is one of the more visual social media sites, perfect for online retail aimed at younger people. Businesses in eCommerce sectors such as art, design, clothing, jewelry, food, pets, etc. – anything with visual content – could do well on this site.
Keep in mind, though, that whilst it became known as a photo-sharing app, video advertisements now get 38% more engagement than images.
Example
It’s possible to pull user-generated content from your customers’ social media accounts into your digital marketing emails and on your marketing website. This can be done by using hashtags, such as Boden has done in the example below.
Source: boden.eu
Pet Drugs Online do the same thing in their festive Christmas email in the example below.
Source: Pet Drugs Online email
Predominantly used in the US, Pinterest is another visual social media app which can give the potential customer coming across your content that push to buy from you.
80% of Pinterest users are female, with the largest share of its advertising audience being users aged 25 to 34.
Whilst it is considered a social media site, Pinterest can almost be used like a search engine, in which you can group results together on ‘group boards’. This makes it the ideal place for customers to plan big events like marriages, vacations and home renovations, as well as smaller purchases such as outfits.
Example
Pinterest users aren’t the only ones who can make group boards. As a business, you can too – just as Wix has done in the example below. One type of site you can make with Wix is a blog, so on this board is all the inspiration Wix’s ideal customer would need to get started.
Source: Wix on Pinterest
Final thoughts
Whether you are a small business or a big one, having a social media eCommerce strategy on any one of the different platforms discussed here can be beneficial. It can provide customers with that last push to purchase from you.
By making sure your use of social media includes eye-catching images and videos, and to-the-point messaging, you can successfully bring in customers even on the smallest of budgets.
Still looking for ideas on what to post? We’ve got you covered with The Ultimate eCommerce Social Media Calendar.
Disclaimer:
This blog post is for informational purposes only. Fresh Relevance is not claiming to provide its services to the companies and brand owners referred to in the blog post.
