Social media marketing is essential for eCommerce business growth. The rise in online shopping and social media channels has developed a new prototype of impersonal transactions and interactions amongst consumers.
Many factors influence consumer decision-making and behavior, and social media is one of the most significant ones. There is a detailed psychological study behind the rise in this new model. Check it out here.
This is part 1 from our Practical Holiday Marketing Guide for the eCommerce Businesses Series.
Social Media Marketing Strategy Step #1
Building Impactful Social Proof as part of your social media marketing plan
There is something called social proof that drives the buying decisions of customers online. Satisfied customers usually share their likes, preferences, reviews, and accolades for the purchased products across different social media channels – in the form of shares, likes, reviews, and comments.
Social proof and its power to impact customer decision making is tremendous. It’s primarily because social media has become an integral part of both seller and buyer’s life.
Therefore, the first thing that eCommerce business owners and marketers alike should do through a social media marketing campaign is to build a compact and impactful social proof.
Building social proof for eCommerce sites, mainly Shopify, should not pertain to only developing podcasts, studies, videos, images, et al. The process should be manifold and aligned with your ultimate goal – boost Conversion Rate!
Social proof is an unprecedented digital marketing strategy for eCommerce business. It’s a principle that both sellers and marketers should focus on if increasing conversion rate and business growth is their goal.
How to create a concrete social proof?
3 Ways to Build Social Proof
When it comes to creating social proof as part of your social media marketing strategy and campaign – start by exploring places that are apt for displaying the said social proof.
- Social proofing your online store
Feature customer feedback and reviews on product pages—the best way to do it with images.
It will allow creating cognitive impulse in customers to like what they see and read and make an immediate buying decision – thereby driving conversion.
- Social proofing through emails and newsletters
Social proof emails to make conversions and drive sales. It will become more applicable if you have a strong subscriber community.
Design emails with customer reviews and feedback, especially ones that praise your product/products. Remember to add the product image in question in the email design.
Another great way to use social proof on emails is via subject lines. For example, “Have you heard from our customers?”
Emails are a great way to grab user attention, and the source is often the least used one when it comes to executing a social media marketing or any other digital campaign. So, make the most of it!
You can also use automated email apps to do the needful. Check out some of the email marketing apps from the Shopify App Store.
- Automated Emails by Talon Commerce
- Klaviyo: Email Marketing
- Privy – Pop-Ups, Email, SMS
- ShopSync
- Omnisend Email Marketing
- Social proofing social media
Social proof without using social media – is blasphemous. Social media platforms are virtual channels to display social proof for your eCommerce business or online shop.
Customers access social media the first thing to do product research and analysis, check out what other customers are sharing about the product they plan to buy, and more. Therefore, it is critical to use social media as a social proof source for your online shop.
Start by creating informative and engaging content that leads to starting conversations amongst your users. You can opt for Instagram stories, create polls, AMAs (Ask Me Anything), and more.
Use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to connect with your users, start conversations, and conduct contests, for example, photo caption, tag a friend, hashtag contests, and more.
Share user experience of customers who purchased your products, but not without taking their permission first. Reach out to them to do the same on their profile too, et al.
Social Media Marketing Strategy Step #2
Using Instagram for your social media marketing campaign during the Holiday Season
Instagram is already playing big with the eCommerce game through its built-in shopping feature. Instagram Shop updates are constantly changing for good, with the recent integration of a checkout button.
And with over 500 million users on Instagram, it’s only apparent to rack the channel for your eCommerce business growth.
As sellers, you should make the most of Instagram Shop. It’s only smart to do so because the eCommerce feature allows you to add product catalog directly from your profile on the platform, promote and share with your users on Instagram now!
You can drive attention to your users on Instagram Shop by integrating Shop Tab on your Instagram account.
How can Instagram help drive your eCommerce Holiday sales?
There are over 500 million users on Instagram, make up for 40% of online purchases. The majority of users follow brands on Instagram and discover products in the process. Therefore, for sellers and marketers, Instagram – as a social media platform – is the best place to target their audiences and use it as a conversion-driven marketplace for eCommerce sales.
Furthermore, Instagram is the best social media channel for Shopify merchants, as 82% of them will use it for Holiday promotions – starting with BFCM or Black Friday Cyber Monday marketing strategies in the 2020 Holiday campaign.
- Use Instagram Live to drive sales
- Integrate the Instagram Shop tab, featuring Brand Collections pages
- Create Instagram Stories for customer engagement
Social Media Marketing Strategy Step #3
Using Facebook for your social media marketing campaign during the Holiday Season
The third step to delivering a successful social media marketing campaign for your eCommerce business is through Facebook as your business platform.
Facebook Shops is the best way to go about driving the eCommerce conversion rate.
You can integrate your page into Facebook Shops and tag products from your store or catalog page to various videos and photos. By doing so, you will allow your users to view tagged products in shared posts, which they can purchase by clicking on the products.
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