Social Commerce: How Social Shopping is Taking Over TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram

Picture a world where shopping is as easy as scrolling through your social media feed. This is the reality of social commerce, where platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram have become the ultimate shopping destinations.

Social media for business is a two-in-one tool: efficient marketing and successful socialization.

When skillfully applied, social media marketing can lead to increased engagement and ensure your brand remains top-of-mind for your target audience.

In this article, we'll explore the importance of social commerce, discuss strategies for effectively promoting your business, identify mistakes to avoid, highlight successful examples and share insights from the Magebit team on building a high-quality social media presence for your company.

1. TikTok

TikTok has become a significant player in social commerce with more than 1 billion active users and an average online session of 52 minutes. TikTok has introduced several features to facilitate social eCommerce. Let’s take a closer look here:

Native advertising

TikTok's algorithm-driven content suggestions help content creators expand their reach and gain visibility. A prime example is the collaboration of influencers with companies to make funny videos featuring the brand's products, attracting potential customers and driving sales through native advertising on social media.

Video format

The short video format is highly engaging and has caught the attention of users worldwide. Brands across all industries use this engagement by creating highly concentrated videos to showcase their products.

Wide targeting

TikTok offers a lot of ways for promoters to target specific audiences. If you sell running shoes, target TikTok's sports audience. For cosmetics, focus on the cosmetics section, for any other section the network offers a customized option from its wide targeting list.

But that's only part of the possibilities. Targeting on Tiktok ranges from focusing on devices, interests and behaviors, to analyzing your audience, to smart dynamic targeting that automatically optimizes your audience for lower CPA (Cost Per Action) and higher ad delivery conversion rates.

2. Instagram

Instagram, boasting 1.3 billion active users and a 30-minute average session time, has rightfully earned its position as a leading social commerce platform. Check out these Instagram important aspects to make your business soar:

Shoppable posts

Instagram enables businesses to create shoppable posts, which allow users to view and purchase products directly from the post itself, making the shopping experience seamless and convenient for users.

Diverse advertising

Sellers can use the Instagram Ads function to promote their products and reach a wider audience. Instagram offers various ad formats, such as photo ads, video ads, carousel ads, and stories ads, enabling businesses to tailor their promotional strategy to their target audience.

Customer relations

Encouraging customers to share photos and videos featuring the products can help socialize your brand into a network society and increase brand awareness. Customers also love it when a brand reposts their posts and stories. This tactic is another way to communicate with the public, increase brand loyalty and prove the company's sociality.

The Influencer Phenomenon

Instagram is known for its strong influencer culture, and companies are actively taking advantage of this by partnering with influencers with large followings. Influencers create sponsored content through native advertising embellishing with the sponsoring brand's products or simply leaving them in the frame to catch the viewer's eye. Another effective way is to create entire posts, stories, or even live streams about a specific product to discuss it and create a dialog with your subscribers.

3. Facebook

Social media giant Facebook with 3 billion monthly active users and a 35-minute average online session has become a powerful platform for social commerce. Among the key aspects of Facebook social commerce are:

Facebook Messenger

A business can use Messenger to engage customers, offer product recommendations, and complete sales directly through the Messenger app through its social commerce strategy.

Community groups

It is possible to build brand awareness and foster a sense of community by creating or participating in Facebook groups related to your niche. Engaging with group members and sharing valuable content can establish your business as a trusted authority within your industry, potentially leading to increased sales.

Communication between customers

Sharing customer experiences and images featuring your products can boost credibility and trust, leading to a stronger sense of brand loyalty. Showing user-generated content on your business's Facebook page is an excellent way to further enhance your brand's credibility and authenticity.

Shining examples

e.l.f

In 2020, a popular skincare brand e.l.f. used TikTok to launch a hashtag challenge campaign called #eyeslipsface, which went viral and generated over 4 billion views. As a result, e.l.f. saw a 200% increase in its online sales and a 40% increase in its overall sales.

Fashion Nova

Fashion Nova, an online fashion boutique, dazzled with an impressive $600 million-plus revenue in 2019, indirectly due to its clever use of social commerce. The company has more than 20 million followers on Instagram and frequently uses user-generated content in its marketing campaigns in collaboration with a number of celebrities, including Cardi B. and Kylie Jenner.

Dollar Shave Club

Dollar Shave Club, a subscription-based grooming company, has seen significant growth in popularity and sales through strategic marketing on Facebook. The viral video "Our Blades Are F***ing Great" helped the brand gain a unique voice, and the humor attracted a wide audience. By focusing on creating simple, likable, and shareable content on Facebook, potential customers were effectively targeted and the subscription process was simplified.

As a result of these marketing efforts, Dollar Shave Club experienced staggering growth in both its online presence and revenue. By 2016, just five years after launch, Dollar Shave Club had over 3 million subscribers and was acquired by Unilever for $1 billion.

Crucial tips and tools for effective utilization

Social media can bring so much measured-in-numbers value to your business if you use it properly Here are some tips for successful social commerce, that help catapult your sales through social platforms:

1. Identify your target audience to create relevant and engaging content that resonates with your customer base.
2. Develop a content strategy that includes a mix of engaging, informative and promotional content. Use a variety of formats to engage your audience and showcase your - brand's personality.
3. Establish a strong brand identity by clearly defining your brand's values, voice, and visual elements. This will help create a cohesive and memorable personality that resonates with your target audience.
4. Be responsive to your audience, responding promptly to comments, questions and messages to build rapport and trust. Encourage subscribers and participate in discussions in your field to create a sense of community.
5. The visual nature of social media platforms makes it crucial to create engaging and informative content. Use only high-quality images and videos and provide informative descriptions of the products you offer.
6. Tracking consumer conversations and comments on social media about your products will help you better understand how customers perceive your brand and products. Use this information to improve your marketing and customer experience.
7. Use internal or external analytics tools such as Google Analytics 4 (here’s how to do it yourself). The right analytics will help you understand your audience more deeply and track the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

Top pitfalls to steer clear of

However, there are mistakes that are often made by inexperience. We have compiled a list of some of the most prevalent ones to steer clear of:

1. Irregular and inconsistent posts or long gaps between posts can lead to losing engagement and subscribers. Maintain a consistent posting schedule to keep your audience in the loop.
2. Constantly promoting products or services without providing valuable or interesting content is an extremely unwise approach. Keep a balance between promotional and valuable content so you don't lose your audience's interest.
3. Ignoring or removing negative comments will hurt your brand's reputation. Respond to criticism professionally and constructively to show that you value your customer's opinions and are committed to improving their experience.
4. Sharing the same content across all social media platforms, without tailoring it to the specifics of each platform, shows an unfair attitude and disregard for customer interest.

Summing up

The profit growth of social e-commerce is nothing short of astounding. In fact, 55% of consumers have already made purchases through social media platforms, and that number is expected to soar. Brands committed to social commerce are seeing an average 32% increase in sales compared to traditional methods.

Social commerce isn't only revolutionizing the way companies market their products, but also influencing the way consumers discover and purchase them. The seamless fusion of shopping and social media provides a fun, engaging and personal experience that traditional e-commerce simply can't match. So the sooner you start incorporating this great sales channel, that already successfully used by thousands of sellers around the world, into your strategy, the better.