- Posted on
- • May 13, 2021
- DTC
- Marketing Tips
Want to keep the momentum and success of your business? Social media needs to be a key part of your online strategy. Social media has become an avenue for shoppers to connect with their preferred brands as well as a key channel for businesses to not only interact with customers but also to drive sales and traffic. A successful social strategy leverages social media’s casual and conversational nature to forge meaningful, two-way relationships with your ideal customers.
In this article, we share some of the most current social media trends in ecommerce and discuss important tips for keeping your business top in mind among today’s social savvy shoppers.
1. Focus on Information and Entertainment (Ditch the Sales Talk)
No one likes to see social media updates that sound like product commercials. Whether your platform of choice is Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok, or some combination of these and other channels, focus on making your social media updates brand-focused and story-driven, as opposed to sales-based.
You can link to current news stories that are relevant to your industry, share trivia and tips, produce entertaining videos that reveal your brand values, and create interactive contests for people to participate in. Informative, useful, and entertaining content goes much further in building customer loyalty than endless product mentions and sales pitches.
Live streams and ephemeral content like stories have always been popular formats for making educational and informative content, and this is likely to stick around in the years to come. Today’s shoppers prefer to do business with brands they know on a deeper level. You will need to include these digestible and highly engaging content forms in your social strategy to connect with customers and let them get to know you more closely.
2. Leverage the Latest Social Media Trends
To stand out on your customers’ feeds, your business needs to incorporate the latest developments in social media to increase awareness and showcase your brand. Here are some of the most important trends that are shaping the social media landscape:
Augmented Reality
Social media technology continues to advance, particularly the use of augmented reality (AR). Brands are jumping on this trend by creating AR filters to promote new products, launch creative campaigns, and increase user engagement. Consider incorporating AR into your social content to engage with customers, keep them entertained, and attract new followers to your business.
Purpose-Driven Social
2020 bought many important causes and movements to the forefront. Not only are people engaging with these movements on social, but they’re also expecting their favorite brands to join in as well. To connect with today’s conscious customers and give them a reason to follow your business, your business has to consider incorporating purpose-driven initiatives into your social strategy. Whether it’s sustainability and environmental awareness or diversion and inclusion, you’ll want to create social messaging that aligns with what is most important to your audience.
New Social Media Platforms
Don’t neglect new up-and-coming platforms in your social strategy. TikTok, in particular, has become as a major interactive channel for ecommerce in the past year. Businesses across various industries are experimenting with entertaining and viral content to reach TikTok’s young customer base. As the platform continues to grow, consider brainstorming content ideas that align with your brand and prepare to jump on any opportunity to expand your reach.
Social Commerce
While customer engagement is important, your social media also needs to generate results. Social media platforms are constantly evolving to enhance the user experience. The latest native commerce features on platforms like Facebook and Instagram make it easy to sell directly on your social channels. Consider leveraging these features to reach new customers and move them through the buyer journey.
3. Keep Your Followers Close and Your Competitors Closer
What are your direct competitors doing on their social media channels? If you don’t know, now is the time to find out. Identify your top 3 competitors and conduct research to find out which social networks they’re on, the number of fans and followers that they have, the hashtags they use to increase their reach, and the types of content and promotional strategies that they are implementing on social.
By keeping a pulse on your competitors, you’ll gain valuable insight into what you need to do to compete with them. You can also get inspiration for new tests to run to further refine and optimize your social media. In addition, knowing what is working for competitors will help you to determine what will work best for your own ecommerce site. Use these insights to craft a social strategy that’s relevant, agile, and always responsive to the latest in your industry.
4. Understand, Segment, and Target Customers
Do you know who your key demographic is? To succeed on social media, your strategy must be based on a deep understanding of your audience. Review your sales data and web analytics to better understand your target audience and to segment them based on their wants, needs, and preferences.
Once you know exactly who you’re targeting, you can then connect with them on the right social media platforms. Each social platform has a different audience and purpose. For example, Facebook is often used for consuming news and entertainment, while Instagram is more for visual inspiration and discovery. Knowing your audience and their preferred social channels will enable you create content that is consistent, engaging, and highly targeted.
Another popular (and effective) way to target an audience is by partnering with influencers. Find influencers that appeal to your key audience and work with them to create content that enhances your reach and attracts a relevant audience.
5. Prioritize Service and Interaction Daily
In addition to shopping and entertainment, social media has become a primary channel for businesses to deliver customer support. Consumers look to social media to communicate and engage directly with their favorite brands, as well as to get their questions and concerns resolved quickly. The comments, posts, and messages that they leave on your social platforms are very public.
To maintain a positive online presence, your business needs to prioritize quality service, prompt communications, and regular interaction with your followers. This ensures you keep your existing followers happy and shows prospective customers browsing around on social media that you are an attentive, relatable, and trustworthy brand.
Use Social Media Trends to Elevate Your Business
As consumers continue to use social media to connect with the world, your priority should be to attract the right customer and to maximize their engagement. Leverage the latest trends and strategies used by successful brands to create a social strategy that meets the right customer with the right message at the right time.
Looking to level up your ecommerce marketing efforts? Download this actionable guide and learn how to create an effective ecommerce marketing engine.
