E-commerce transactions have been available for 40 years now. It all began thanks to Michael Aldrich’s e-tailing system. Then, during the 90s, e-commerce experienced a revolutionary boost that defined the true pillars of what e-shopping is nowadays. Some honorable contributions were the ones from Tim Berners-Lee -who created the World Wide Web-, Jeff Bezos with his project called Amazon.com, Pierre Omidyar's eBay, and many other programmers and geniuses that define the e-commerce activity. Nowadays, e-commerce has entered a new phase where the transactions and communications process between brand-consumer are easier, quicker, and more global than ever thanks to the Social Media platforms.
E-shopping has unquestionably revolutionized the way Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Customers (B2C) brands trade, communicate, and satisfy the requirements and needs of their target audiences. To prove that statement, according to Wikipedia, global e-tailing successful activity resulted in 2,304 trillion USD in 2017.
Regarding Social Media, applications like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and many more have given the opportunity, basically to any entrepreneur or brand operating in any market, to reach more leads, nurture their business partners, and offer them e-commerce solutions to their specific needs. Social Media apps, in e-commerce, have given a new feasible, user-friendly, empowering experience to users when looking for and buying a product.
How to add social media to your e-commerce advertising equation
First of all, behind a successful trade, there is a communicative process that has to be emphatic, warm, informative, close, timely, valuable, and helpful. In other words, a professional trade is based on the standards of the good speaker and a good listener.
Here goes, in fact, the first secret to establish a social media e-shop: to create a user-focused channel that is constantly nurturing interested leads and potential clients to step to the next stage of the consumer journey until they become part of the brands' loyal community. Furthermore, it is crucial to track and give proper feedback to the leads' reviews, complaints and suggestions; offer them a fast response to any case.
Quality over quantity. That should be the second motto of an e-commerce platform as getting a bunch of new leads can also result in 0 purchases of a newly launched product, for instance.
The idea is to maximize all the efforts on specific target audiences: the clients that have acquired the services/products and the real prospects, like the ones that comment and ask on Facebook, share the e-shop content, opt-in for email subscription, comment positive reviews, etc.
Many marketers are tempted by Pay Per Click (PPC) and Pay Per Thousand (PPM) campaigns to boost their brand awareness and conversions overnight. The truth is that both are great once a brand has gained authority and trustworthiness by generating valuable content and other elements that can act as guarantee seals, benefit reinforcement, value exchange boosters, and leave a valuable experience to each customer, potential and existent ones.
Finally, diversification in SM platforms is key. Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook have been all over this decade (and will continue to be for many more years) the holy trinity for e-commerce brands.
The trio combines the content, the audiovisuals, and all the appealing resources that can attract potential consumers and strengthen the bond with the existent stakeholder. A clear example has been the boom of food trucks that use their Social Media accounts instead of traditional Above The Line (ATL) methods to advertise their delicious products.
The multifariousness should be not only in SM platforms but in all marketing vehicles as well. An e-brand that offers solid and personalized catalogues and newsletters through emails, accompanied by interesting and non-commercial press releases posted on public PR websites have one step forward from the rest. Moreover, to offer valuable insights, through eBooks, whitepapers, and blogs modalities, are solid strategies to generate organic awareness and add higher value to the value propositions of an e-shop.
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If you would like to receive a detailed offer or consultation on the Social media services we provide, feel free to contact our Sales Team, who will gladly assist you. Social Media Division at WI Communications |
