Social Media & eCommerce – The Next Big Thing
Humans most definitely are social animals. But in today’s terms, humans are actually much more than just that. They are digitally social. And anything that’s digital also becomes targeted and selective. So in that sense, humans are selectively social.
We choose our own friends by ‘Accepting’ or ‘Rejecting’ them. And we ‘Follow’ the people we find interesting. We even find soul mates online-first with the help of a few algorithms that help us ‘select’ the best match.
In such a world where choices become super important, the way brands and customers interact has changed a lot too. Brick-and-mortar stores have turned into E-Commerce websites.
And by no means is it easier to sell in the twisted streets of the World Wide Web. You have to be street-smart and adopt the latest and the most effective technologies. And new technologies, as well as new platforms for brands, change the face of business almost immediately.
Let us look at some interesting facts and figures in the social media world, to give more weight to our points.
There are 3.196 billion Global social media users in 2018, equaling 42% penetration.
96% of the people that discuss brands online do not follow those brands’ owned profiles. (Source)
In 2015 Facebook influenced 52 percent of consumers’ online and offline purchases, up from 36 percent in 2014. ( Source)
That means, if we go by the numbers, there are many people on the internet who are not only seeking information about brands on social media but are looking for a one-tap buying solution right there.
But the fact that 96% of these people who talk about the brand and don’t follow their social media profiles is enough reason why brands shall now start thinking about newer ways to interact with the customers and convert their curiosity into a purchase. E-commerce development along with the best social media marketing practices could be the way forward.
And many successful e-commerce-based social media brands are doing just that. Ipsy spreads the news about their beauty products via some interesting Insta-activations. They enjoy a follower base of 2 million people, who are not annoyed by the brand but actually want to listen to it, even become a spokesperson for it!
Combined Power of eCommerce Development & Social Media Marketing: The Best Practices to Follow
Interact
The aces of social media marketing rely on their interaction with their customers the most. The e-commerce development process on social media might take a while but the first step is to become a brand people can reach out to. For example, Amazon is 24/7 available on their Facebook Messenger, or if you just tag them on social media, they would know you want their help. That is the key to social media marketing – getting to your customer, rather than making them get to you.
Make a Community of your Own
Data fetched from social media accounts is enough for brands to fathom whether they would be the perfect buyers of the product. Most of the times, these people are like-minded and share at least one factor in common – be it age, location, or a hobby. The right marketing plan is to know what kind of messages to send out, what factor to build on the most to create a community of your brands’ enthusiasts.
For example, Harley Davidson’s community is typical. You can spot a Harley lover from his love for bikes, the excitement for outdoors and the bohemian wandering attitude. Harvey lovers can spot each other too! That is what makes a brand stand out – are they able to create a niche?
Build Credibility, Affect Buying Decisions
The motto of social media has turned from vanity to honesty. People love & adore the brands that are honest about their products and services. Build a great social media brand story, post good content and build an account that shouts out your credibility. Your posts and the things you publish on the social media shall be such that affect the buying decisions of customers, making them buy from your e-commerce store.
A lot of small business has benefited from being only a social media-based shop. Imagine how much costs they are saving. Even bigger brands have realized that making products available on their social media accounts can help them make great profits. The future is ecomm+social, the sooner you jump on the bandwagon, the better.
At BoTree Technologies, we build web and mobile applications to add value to our client’s business. We align ourselves to ensure that our client benefits the most out of our engagement.
We work in Ruby on Rails, Python, Java, React, Android and iOS.
Drop us a line to discuss how can we help take your business to the next level.