Social media is crucial to online marketing. It is used as a vital growth channel for developing and scaling e-commerce stores.
This is why most successful online stores have a solid social media strategy in place.
Are you one of those stores? Are you using social media to its full potential?
What’s the percentage of your brand revenue from social media?
If the answer is Not Enough, then its time to put together your own social media strategy.
We compiled the top social media strategies in this guide - no need for prior experience or expertise. Our tips are simple to implement and will make a big impact.
So, let's get started!
Want to know more about how Coconut Bowls successfully hosted its social media giveaway?
Read the full case study here.
Invest in Facebook Ads
Facebook Ads can help you to achieve your goal in directing targeted Facebook traffic to your store faster.
You can use Facebook Ads to:
- Reach out to a new audience
- Increase engagement on your posts
- Acquire new followers outside your network
- Increase Facebook page views
These are crucial goals for any e-commerce store with a Facebook page.
Sure, you can achieve these goals without having to spend any cash at all. However, the process of growing a Facebook page is challenging.
Facebook Ads can speed up the process. If set up correctly, you can successfully direct Facebook users to your website and convert those visits into sales.
By monitoring the sales made from your Facebook Ads budget, you can determine your return on investment (ROI).
If you are happy with your average ROI from Facebook Ad spends, You can then create ongoing campaigns to boost your sales regularly.
Facebook Ads Case Study
PupSocks invested $1 million in Facebook Ads in 30 days and were able to generate $4 million in sales.
Instagram Stories Highlights allows you to save stories to your profile.
Minimalist Baker uses the highlight feature in a clever way by saving recipes. This allows them to create a recipe catalog within their Instagram profile, which is something of great value to their audience.
Want to learn how to Scale Your Business with Facebook Ads?
Try out our Skillshare course here.
Use Facebook Marketplace
Facebook Marketplace has a similar concept to other online marketplaces like Craigslist and Gumtree.
Users can sell their products and services on the Facebook platform to other Facebook users.
Facebook Marketplace is turning out to be a great service as sellers and buyers are not anonymous. You can quickly lookup a seller or buyer’s Facebook profile to verify them before a sale.
So how can Facebook marketplace help my online store?
If your online store is still new and you just got started with building your Facebook page, you can experiment with Facebook Marketplace.
Try listing some of your products there. If a Facebook user is interested, they will send you a direct message through Facebook Messenger.
Listing products on Facebook Marketplace is a quick and easy way for you to discover users that are interested in your product. Once you get the conversation going on Messenger, you can then:
- Sell directly with them
- Direct them to your website or product page so they can make the purchase
- Direct them to your Facebook page and ask them to follow you for more offers
It’s important to remember that not all products are successful on Facebook Marketplace. You will have to mix things up by listing different types of products.
Keep experimenting daily and continuously network with people from Facebook Marketplace to grow your store. This can be a great strategy for acquiring leads early on for free.
Instagram Shoppable Posts
Instagram has an excellent shop feature that is similar to the Facebook Store.
You can link your e-commerce store and its products to your Instagram Business Profile.
However, Instagram users cannot browse through your products the same way they would on a Facebook store. You will have to tag your products in your Instagram posts.
Shoppable posts allow Instagram users to tap on the post to see the price of the product.
Once the price appears, you can tap on it to view proper product pictures and descriptions.
There's also an option to view the product on your website. If a user selects that option, they can view and purchase the product from your website.
The entire transaction will take place within the Instagram app’s built-in web browser.
Shoppable Posts Case Study
Instagram Shoppable posts are a hit with many e-commerce stores.
Online stores have reported huge increases in traffic and revenue.
Magnolia, an indie fashion boutique, has seen a 20% increase in Instagram revenue. They also saw a 4% increase in traffic week over week.
Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories are 10-second images or videos that only remain on the platform for 24 hours.
You can shoot and upload your videos directly from the Instagram app, or you can upload your own content.
A significant advantage of Instagram Stories is that they appear at the top of a user’s feed.
You can receive a significant amount of views from using Instagram Stories.
You might not receive as many views as you would receive on regular posts. However, if you post a few stories in a row, then the views can add up.
Instagram Stories is an excellent opportunity to post content, such as:
- Special offers like ‘Flash Sales”
- Behind the scenes look (can be your office, delivery service, etc.)
- #MeetTheTeam - introduce crucial staff members to your followers
- New product alert
If you choose to keep your Instagram feed consistent in style, then using Stories will be a great way to provide additional content and value to your audience.
Instagram Stories Case Study
Minimalist Baker uses Instagram Stories to share quick and easy recipes that are also featured on their website.
Their recipe stories are delightful and educational. This keeps its audience engaged while providing value.
Dana Shultz, the founder of Minimalist Baker, handles everything herself and ensures that she highlights all her best recipes.
Instagram Stories Highlights allows you to save stories to your profile.
Minimalist Baker uses the highlight feature in a clever way by saving recipes. This allows them to create a recipe catalog within their Instagram profile, which is something of great value to their audience.
Create a Referral Program
Referral Marketing (also known as word of mouth marketing) is the art of getting your current customers to refer new customers to your store.
New customers are more likely to shop at your store if a friend or family member convinced to do so (as opposed to you convincing them).
The most direct way to run your referral program would be to offer an incentive to customers for every new customer they send your way.
The most common incentive to offer is a discount at your store.
So how does one drive traffic from social media to one’s website with a referral program?
A referral program does not have to be restricted to just referring new customers to you. You can use your referral program to get its members to perform other useful tasks like:
- Follow you on social media
- Ask a friend to follow you on social media
- Like and comment on this post
- Tag a friend on this post
And the list goes on.
Instead of handing discounts for each task, you can award members with points for every task they complete.
Collecting points can unlock rewards like free products and discounts.
Such a referral program is usually called an ‘Ambassador Program.’ Just like the name states, the goal is to turn customers into brand ambassadors that frequently interact with your social media posts.
Optimize Your Website for Mobile Users
Modern internet users spend most of their time connected to the internet on their mobile smartphones.
A smartphone is the easiest way for most people to jump onto the internet. For some, it is the only way.
The ease and availability of connecting to the internet with a smartphone is a massive opportunity for e-commerce stores.
But how do you get your online store into the hands of all of these mobile users?
The majority of mobile users that are connected to the internet are frequently on social media.
By using some of the social media strategies above, you can successfully drive social media traffic to your website.
However, if your online store is not optimized for mobile, it can be difficult for users to browse products and complete the checkout process.
Continuously test your website on mobile during development. The investment is totally worth it.
E-commerce Marketing Strategies Q&A
Yes. Instagram Shoppable posts offer additional exposure to not just your website, but to your product pages. You can drive Instagram traffic directly to your product pages where those users will be able to instantly make a purchase.
Any e-commerce platform that supports these features (Shopify, Woocommerce) will work. However, it's always best to research how much success your industry has had with these features first before you dive in. What might work for a clothing store may not work for a furniture store.
If you have a solid strategy in place, then you will be able to effectively market your brand on social media. However, developing a social media presence from scratch is a long process. You can lose out on potential customers if you don't use Facebook Ads during a sale or promotion. Especially early on when your followers are low.
TL;DR
Social media is on a continuous growth phase, and it keeps getting even more exciting and engaging for users.
As a brand, it won't be very smart of you to completely ignore the power of social media marketing, especially if you have an online store
Implementing some of the strategies in this article can help you to grow your online presence even further. This is something that can indeed translate to more traffic and sales.
What do you think of our social media marketing strategies in this article? Which one do you think is the most effective?
Let us know in the comments below.