Social media has taken over the business world. With all businesses now having their own social media accounts, taking advantage of the audience reach that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn has throughout the world. With this in mind, it only makes sense for businesses, no matter how big or small they may be, to dive into the social media world to promote their brand. This is especially true for e-commerce businesses.

Whether you are a college student making money online or a seasoned businessperson who have decided to take on the challenge of technological advancement, there are a number of things that you should know about in terms of e-commerce stats and social media marketing.

Why is social media important for e-commerce?

It is projected that by 2020, 90% of businesses will be using a social media platform to connect with their consumers. At the same time, data shows that customers tend to spend 20-40% more for companies who interact with customers through social media. This proves that social media interactions can help increase traffic towards your business and help you create a good reputation for your brand.

How do you drive traffic from social media?

The social media is the perfect place to build three important things for businesses:

• connections

• relationships

• engagements

By connecting and interacting with your customers, you get to create a positive brand reputation and provide your consumers with a venue for them to express their opinion about your products and services. By providing your customers with a positive experience, you get to foster better relationships with your consumers, receive recommendations and drive sales towards your business.

Tactics for eCommerce Social Media

There are a variety of ways for business owners and social media managers to drive traffic towards their brand. No matter what products or services you are offering, it’s still important that you have a better grasp of how social media works and how to take advantage of it.

1. Position Yourself Uniquely

What particular aspect of your business differentiates you from your competitors. One thing that you have to understand is because social media is a great way to reach out to more people, you will not be the only one promoting their brand online. So to stay ahead of the game and to really make a mark in your industry, you should decide what you want to be for your consumers and use that idea when you create a compelling brand story. Your aim here is to improve the customer experience and promote a positive brand that people will remember.

2. Increasing Friends and Followers

Followers are more than just numbers. Yes, the algorithm of some social media platforms does look into the number of your followers and subscribers, but more than that, your followers can actually be your most loyal fans and customers who will do everything to share their happiness towards your brand and recommend you to as many people as possible. To be able to gain more followers, you should create a content that will help you promote your brand, reach more audiences and rise above your competitors. You might also want to ride the trend of automating your Instagram interactions through one of the 10 best Instagram bots of 2019.

3. Promotional Posts

First of all, you need to understand that promo posts are aimed towards your prospective customers. You should keep in mind that the promotional post you will be making should be geared towards gathering more followers and potential clients. Thus, you need to make your posts more relatable to the public, depending on what your brand is all about.

4. Live Streaming Videos

Live broadcasts can help enhance and maximize your direct communications with your customers, followers and community partners. Live streaming an event gives you the opportunity to reach out and interact with more people across the world. Live streams also take less time to produce and this gives you and your customers the opportunity to share your thoughts about your brand and everything in between.

5. Instant Messaging

The great thing about your business having a social media channel is that it also provides you and your customers with a means of communication. Be it for customer support, inquiries, complaints, etc., taking advantage of the instant messaging app is a great means for you to maintain better relationships and interactions with your followers.

6. Facebook and Instagram Stories

Another means of improving your interactions with followers and gaining more potential customers is by using the Instagram Stories bar. This feature allows users to post a content that will remain live for 24 hours and will disappear thereafter.

Many social media managers and brands are taking advantage of this feature to post live and timely updates about any particular event or interesting story that they would like to share with their followers. This can also help increase your one-on-one communications with customers as any interaction they do on any Story that you post, you will get a direct message from them.

7. In-app Purchases

The best innovation ever made available in various social media platforms is the option of buying products and making payments in-app. This feature allows e-commerce businesses to make it easy for their potential clients to place orders and purchase any product or service that they are promoting.

Among all generations, millennials have the most spending power online. They are more open to doing in-app purchases, while social media users of higher age demographics are still more comfortable with doing in-store purchases. But the good thing about the availability of social media stores is that they can also drive more customers to the stores. This means that an online store is a great way for businesses to acquire more customers.

Whether you are selling products or offering professional services, and no matter what industry you may be in, social media has proven how much of a valuable tool it can be. Whether it’s for customer relations, retention, or support, data gathering, or sales, your business can gain a lot of benefits from creating a social media account. By having a better understanding of how you can better harness the power of social media, you can start gaining more potential customers and achieving business success online.