The internet is changing the way that people carry out everyday activities. It is completely normal for someone to look to the internet for solutions to anything from taxis, entertainment, grocery shopping, and retail purchases.
Retail ecommerce sales exceeded $4 trillion worldwide in 2020 with a total sales growth of nearly 50%. Although Covid certainly had an impact on people making more purchases online, ecommerce has been growing steadily for a number of years.
Any retail business operating today needs an online presence to compete and boost sales. Websites help to increase brand awareness and sales but to do this you need visitors. One way to help grow your fan base is to use social media.
Develop your social media accounts
Depending on what your business is selling you may decide that some social platforms are more appropriate than others. There are many to choose from; Tik Tok, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. However, Facebook and Instagram are good places to start with a huge amount of daily users.
To make a successful social media presence you will need to post relevant content, up-to-date offers, videos, and news. This content is what will keep your audience returning and by including calls-to-action in the posts with links you can drive traffic to your sales pages.
Why is social media important for ecommerce?
The largest group of online purchasers are millennials, aged between 25-45. This crosses over with the age group most likely to use social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram.
Millennials make up the biggest user group on Facebook at 26.3% and a huge 33.1% on Instagram making them the perfect platforms for online retailers to target.
There are an incredible 1 billion active users on Instagram. That is 1 billion potential customers and 331 million people in the highest digital buying group. Now you know why social media is worth targeting, you also need to know how to build your following.
Social media helps with digital marketing campaigns
You can and should use Facebook and Instagram as part of your digital marketing strategy. Social media platforms allow real-time interaction with your audience and you can use this to great effect. You can let your customers know of up-and-coming sales or offers, or tell them that some exciting news is to be announced at a certain time and date.
This use of social media helps to create a buzz and will boost your views and likes. You can also gain more followers organically this way as people start sharing your posts with their friends. There are many social media tools to help with digital marketing and these can assist with blogs and content.
Use social media for SEO
For any online business to succeed they need to make sales, and to do this they need visitors and conversions. SEO is the area that helps to fine-tune your website and improve search engine results page rankings.
If you are new to this area then a beginner’s guide to SEO will help but social media can also assist with SERPs. While social media doesn’t directly impact SEO it does help to improve trust and loyalty in your brand which in turn makes you appear more often on search results.
Using social media influencers to grow your following
Another way you can use Instagram to help your retail business is to involve influencers. These highly visible bloggers and vloggers have huge followings and anything positive they say about your product will boost your audience and sales.
One prime example of how influencers can help a business is how Instant Pot ignored traditional marketing and instead used social media and blogs to raise awareness. The company sent out 200 free Instant Pots to various influencers and asked them to use them with no incentives issued. The result was that the cooker became the biggest selling product on Amazon.
You can gain more followers by liking other people’s accounts which in turn will get some liking you back. Alternatively use influencers to grow your brand or use an online service. If you need an Instagram growth service then you can use a legitimate online growth service that will boost your audience quickly and organically.
Social media is great for customer service
One other area that ecommerce businesses shouldn’t overlook is customer service. Social media allows businesses to solve questions and problems swiftly and directly. DMs or public posts can be used to help your customers which in return will build trust. Many companies use this to great effect such as Starbucks, Wendy’s, and Netflix.
Summary
Social media is a great way for people to stay in touch and share their news, photos, and videos, and this is exactly why it is ideal for ecommerce. You have a huge, active audience that is looking for interesting content and pages to like.
If you set up accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, then gain followers you can communicate with them directly and drive them to your website. This in turn will increase your conversions and turnover.
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