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How To Integrate Social Media With eCommerce in 2024

Home / Social Media Marketing / How To Integrate Social Media With eCommerce in 2024
ecommerce and social media

How To Integrate Social Media With eCommerce in 2024

Home / Social Media Marketing / How To Integrate Social Media With eCommerce in 2024
ecommerce and social media
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Both eCommerce and social media have enjoyed meteoric rises in the last few years. Facebook and Instagram have over a billion active users each month, while the eCommerce sector is positively booming.

But while your online store is where the sales happen, social media is where you can warm prospects up. Indeed, 84% of American shoppers review at least one social media site before making a purchase, while social proof itself is a very powerful marketing tactic.

This is why you should consider the idea of integrating social media with eCommerce in 2021. If you aren’t sure what steps to take, let’s take a look at everything you need to do.

Embed Social Buttons On Your Product Pages

If a customer is perusing your product page and wants to find out more information about your brand, it’s helpful if there are a few social buttons for them to click.

Adding social buttons to your product pages makes it super easy for your customers to jump from your product page to your social channels.

And while you may think that this option might have the negative effect of distracting them and preventing them from making a purchase, it’s important to note that most customers don’t make purchases the first time they visit an online store. In fact, 78.65% of customers will bail out even after adding items to their carts.

Making it easy for your prospects to find your social channels will give them the chance to interact with your brand. It will help you to engage them and to ‘warm them up’ before they’re properly in the mood to return and make a purchase.

Post Videos of Your Products To Social Media

Consumers watch a lot of videos online. And while they use social media to be social first and foremost, they’re also willing to interact with brands if the content is compelling enough.

So don’t be afraid to create a product video that you then share to your social media channels.

The key is to keep the video short, concise, engaging and – where permissible – even a tad entertaining.

Optimize it with the right hashtags and encourage sharing. You could even incentivize more shares by offering rewards.

Exploit Instagram Stories to build a buzz around any new products you’re about to launch, too. Over 250 million people use Instagram Stories each day, which means your audience is already there. With Instagram Stories, you can create:

  • Brand intros
  • Product tutorials
  • Stories Q&A
  • Behind the scenes videos

Be careful when you post to your Instagram feed itself. Optimum Instagram videos don’t typically last longer than 26 seconds, so you’ll need to keep yours nice and tight. If you find that you need more time than that, consider chopping one video up into 3 or 4 videos.

You could also live stream on Facebook. This is a tough one because not everyone will be experienced with live streaming, but if you properly prepare in advance, you can pull it off. It’s a really good idea too, because 82% of people say they prefer to watch live content. Here are some ideas:

  • Product demonstrations – Demonstrate how to use your product live. This is a great way to boost sales and integrate social media with eCommerce
  • Product introductions – Got a new line of products? Live stream them!
  • Brand building – Get your audience to ask you anything about your brand, your products and your industry

Whatever you do, make the most of social media, where visual content is a must. And always add a call to action that directs people to your online store.

Interact With Your Customers On Social Media

The more time you spend with your customers, the more they will see that you care about them. Moreover, spending time with your customers also gives you the chance to answer objections, and it’s great for building trust and relationships.

Take your time to respond to comments on your social media feeds. Get involved in the conversations. Be the brand that listens.

You can use a tool like Social Mention to engage in social listening, too. This is where you find branded mentions on social media before joining in the conversation.

When you do interact with your customers on social media, make sure to use the right tone of voice. Be positive and upbeat, friendly and humorous. Don’t be angry, moody or defensive. If the other person changes the tone of the conversation and even goes as far as insulting you or your brand, remain calm, show understanding and invite them to chat privately. Remember, if a customer turns a bit nasty it might be that they’re frustrated by their experience with you. So show some empathy.

Add Your Logo Everywhere

Your logo represents the face of your brand. It’s what people instantly recognize and it helps to build trust, familiarity and credibility. So add it to your online store and your social media channels, and make absolutely sure you use the same logo all the time.

The last thing you want is for customers to arrive in your store from your social media channels, only to feel lost. Seeing your logo front and center will reassure them that they’re in the right place.

Add it to all your visual content, too. Each time you create a product image on Instagram, for example, add your logo to the top left.

If you don’t yet have a logo, or if you feel as though yours could be improved, you can use a tool like Hatchful.

Encourage User Generated Content

User-generated content is content created by your customers that is then shared to your social media channels. The purpose? To create social proof and build a buzz around your brand and products, and to ultimately drive more people into your store.

The best user-generated content shows your customers using – and enjoying – your products. It’s super valuable to you as a brand because it’s 100% authentic.

The stats back this up, too, with eCommerce stores experiencing a 25% increase in conversion rates thanks to user-generated content such as photos. Put simply, people have more trust in content created by your customers than they do in content created by you.

Here is what else user-generated content should do:

  • Demonstrate the benefits of your product
  • Highlight your brand’s values
  • Act as a customer testimonial

To ensure any user-generated content is as powerful as possible, talk to your customers about what you expect from them. Share your brand’s values and give them some guidelines. Make this as easy as possible for them and be there with them every step of the way.

Add The Facebook Track Pixel To Your Store

Retargeting is going to be key to the success of your online store. With retargeting, you place targeted ad’s in front of individuals who have already engaged with your store in some way. For example, they might have abandoned their cart at checkout. By installing the Facebook tracking pixel, you can bring them back into the game with an ad that, for example, offers free shipping with their purchase.

The Facebook tracking pixel may not work straight off the bat but it’s well worth taking advantage of. As it takes up to as many as eight touch-points before a lead turns into a customer, retargeting helps to keep folk interested in your store and products.

Once you’ve installed the pixel, you can then customize your conversions. Here are some we recommend:

  • Complete purchase
  • View content
  • Initiate checkout
  • Add to cart

By customizing your conversions, you can segment your groups into custom audiences. This makes retargeting that bit easier.

The Facebook tracking pixel is compatible with most eCommerce platforms. Here is a useful resource that will help you set it up.

Use Influencer Marketing

In a nutshell, influencer marketing is when you work with an influencer on promotional content. You could, for example, pair up with a micro influencer who flaunts your products on their social media feed via a series of images. Or, you could create a blog post together.

Influencer marketing is a surefire way of growing your online store because it opens you up to a new audience. Moreover, while shoppers might be a bit mistrustful of you at first because they don’t know who you are, they’ll trust the influencer who they’re already fans of. If the influencer endorses you, a number of their fans will check you out, too.

Pick influencers relevant to your target audience and brand. For example, if your brand’s values are wholesome and family-oriented, you’ll need to work with an influencer who shares those values. Work out a compensation plan and make sure to outline how the influencer will benefit from working with you in your pitch.

Go here for more information on how to succeed with influencer marketing.

Conclusion

This is how to integrate social media with eCommerce in 2021. It’s simply a matter of doing the right things and taking care of the basics. Things like your logo and videos help to build trust, while adding the Facebook tracking pixel and embedding social buttons on your product pages are just good sense. Use the tips here, execute and become a big star on social media.

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