If you run an eCommerce site, you’re probably aware of the growing importance of social media to online shopping. Today our newsfeeds are awash with paid adverts and the latest flash sales, as sellers strive to outdo each other in an increasingly competitive field. 93% of consumers look to social media to help make buying decisions, so if you’re not using social media correctly, now’s the time to start doing so.
Here are seven easily actionable tactics to help you drive traffic to your eCommerce site using social media.
1. Create and share great content
One of the biggest mistakes eCommerce businesses make on social media is being overly salesy. You can’t be pushing your products with every piece of content you share; instead you should be publishing content that appeals to your target audience. Keep it social, tell stories, and provide value to your prospects and customers. You want to find the right balance of promotional posts and content that educates, informs and entertains. Posting content that fits the platform you’re posting on (whilst also standing out), will keep users engaged.
Pro tip: Avoid posting text-only content – ensure you include an image or video with every post. Media posts are far more engaging than text-based posts, so make sure you’re appealing to your audience’s senses. Your images need to be high-res and your videos well-produced. If you can’t do it yourself, outsource it or use a free tool – there are plenty out there.
2. If you’ve got reviews, use them
Turn your satisfied customers into brand ambassadors by sharing their reviews of your products. We encourage all of our clients to keep Facebook reviews turned on – reviews are powerful tools because of social proof. Users are more likely to try a product if they can see other people’s opinions of it, and 88% of consumers say that they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
Pro tip: Many people are afraid of keeping their reviews on incase they get negative feedback. Unfortunately, negativity is part and parcel of social media, but you can showcase your customer service skills by posting timely, polite responses to any bad reviews. You can even showcase your reviews directly on your eCommerce site.
3. Interact with your followers
Social media is the perfect stage for interacting with your followers in the public eye. Monitor your posts and ensure you’re responding to all comments and questions – this will help your customers and prospects feel valued. If you humanise your brand and show some personality, it will help build up trust in your brand, and should push people along the sales funnel.
Pro tip: Host a live chat to get even closer to your followers. Live chats are ideal for having real-time conversations about topics that matter to your customers, or for answering questions and queries. You could also host a live chat to showcase a new product or promotion, which should help increase sales.
4. Use Dynamic Product Ads to drive traffic to your eCommerce site
It’s hard to put into words just how effective Facebook’s Dynamic Product Ads are. This advert type allows you to serve paid social ads to your customers featuring the exact products they want to see. Ever visited an online store only to find that product follows you around the internet for the next few weeks? Yep, that’s a DPA. This clever retargeting process is powered by the mighty Facebook Pixel, which tracks user activity to determine which products they should be hit with. This is without a doubt the most powerful type of advertising, with visitors who are served retargeted adverts up to 70% more likely to convert. That’s big.
Pro tip: Pester those almost-customers who abandoned an item in their cart by hitting them with ads reminding them that they forgot something. Almost 75% of all online shopping carts get abandoned – retargeting can help save some of those sales.
5. Make friends in high places with Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is more important in 2018 than ever, and it’s common knowledge that influencers can help raise brand awareness, drive engagement and boost conversions. Building relationships with key figures in your industries can help showcase your brand and help you appeal to the influencer’s followers. You’ll need to do some digging – do your homework to find influencers whose audiences are made up of people that fit within your target demographic. Send the influencer a DM and spark up a conversation, and you might be able to build a relationship that benefits you both.
Pro tip: Offering the influencers free stuff might seem cynical, but it tends to work. Send some of your products to the influencer, and see if they’ll post a story or piece of content promoting your brand. It’s worth it for the positive repercussions.
6. Research your hashtags
Hashtags help your content get discovered more often on social media platforms, and are essentially on the likes of Instagram. Hashtags also help organise your content, increase the reach of your posts and help encourage engagement. Do your research to find out niche hashtags that suit your brand – jumping on the most common tags isn’t always the best approach. The key is to target a hashtag that is popular enough to get searched for, but not so popular that you fall out of the results. If you pick one that’s quite niche, you could even become popular enough to be featured as a top post.
Pro tip: Add your hashtags in the first comment of your post, to help keep your captions neat and tidy.
7. Show off your customer service skills
Customers are using social media more and more to get an immediate response from brands and businesses. If you receive a comment or message, it’s crucial that you provide a speedy response, and aim to resolve their problem as effectively as you can. If you can offer a fast response time, helpful assistance, honesty and a caring approach, your customers will thank you for it. If you’re dealing with a negative enquiry, make sure you address the problem, apologise for the inconvenience and find a way to resolve the issue.
Pro tip: If you’re dealing with a customer service issue in the public eye, such as a negative review or comment, demonstrating a positive response is even more crucial. If you appear level-headed, helpful and polite, it will help paint your brand in a good light and make the customer either a regular customer who had their issue resolved, or an unreasonable troll.
Implementing a solid social media strategy is essential if you want your eCommerce site to stay competitive. With the right approach in place, you can help build brand awareness, drive more site traffic, increase engagement and ultimately grow your business. Get in touch!
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