As more people spend time online, many Canadians turned to social media not just for entertainment but also for commerce. In fact, surveys showed that 94% of adults are on at least one social media platform, and 47% have shopped via these mediums which is why social selling is so important.
Considering social media’s continued progress, its unique advantages for sellers shouldn’t be overlooked. Even seasoned eCommerce business owners may find that social selling is the next step in their growth.
Social selling is the use of social media channels for the purpose of selling products and/or services. This streamlines and fast-tracks the conversion process from initial contact to finalized purchase—all within one platform and experience. It’s important to remember that social selling isn’t just a business page or an online catalogue, since those two would require a separate shopping platform.
Has a vast native audience
Compared to running your own site or seller profile on an eCommerce platform, social selling connects you with an audience who are already there to begin with. Consider that there are over 25 million social media users in Canada today. Every single one of these users could very easily become your customer. Experts have even predicted that local social media network user penetration could exceed 80% by 2025.
Reduces pain points for better customer experience
The Canada CX Index, 2021, discloses that a business’ success is hinged on eliciting positive emotions. The more streamlined a consumer’s experience is with you, the higher the chance that they will become loyal customers who are likely to spend more and recommend you more often. An example of a pain point that social selling eliminates is complicated checkouts. The Baymard Institute discovered that among the top three reasons behind cart abandonment are: being forced to create another account and loading pages taking more than three seconds. This issue costs brands a whopping C$22 billion in annual revenue. On a social media platform, this shopping process is fully integrated. There’s no need to ask them to switch sites or download separate apps.
Aside from these, social selling can be more economical, requires less backend maintenance, and has built-in customer optimization.
Determine which platform best suits your target market
Different social media platforms attract different audiences. Later’s ultimate social selling guide notes that Pinterest’s users are 70% female, Facebook has a slightly more mature population, and TikTok is preferred by young millennials and Gen-Z. Keeping this in mind can help you target your efforts more effectively. All social media sites also have varying shopping tools (Instagram’s swipe up, Facebook Shop, etc.) which you should review to see which suits your business’ needs. For example, while computer parts may thrive on Facebook Marketplace, thrifted dresses may perform better with Instagram’s Shopping Tags.
Create dynamic and helpful content
Social media is primarily used for entertainment but that doesn’t mean it’s just about the visuals. Facebook Business has said 70% of would-be shoppers look to these social media for product discovery and research. Keep this in mind, and make sure that the content you post is informative, helpful, and accurate. You can enhance your online presence by clearly stating important details like shipping and return info, product dimensions, and costs, as these will lessen returns and promote credibility. At the same time, playing with different content formats like Instagram Stories, Live Streams, and photo carousels keep your followers engaged. Social media algorithms also rely on you posting timely, high quality, and properly captioned content regularly. Doing so can boost your chances of organically being recommended to new users.
Understandably, some eCommerce stores may not see the point of social selling given their own online success. However, given the accessibility of social media and its continued popularity, social selling can reveal entirely new revenue streams and growth opportunities.
Specially written for Oliverpos.com
By: Rowyn Juliet