Are you an ecommerce business owner looking for ways to improve and grow your online store through social media?
If you answered “yes,” then you’re on the right track.
In this guide, we’ll cover tried and tested social media marketing strategies, tools, tips, etc.
But before we dive into the nitty-gritty, I’d like to answer the question…
To succeed in ecommerce, you need more than just quality products, a carefully developed shipping strategy, and a professional-looking website.
You also need social media marketing chops.
Lot’s of it!
A survey by Social Media Examiner found that 52% of marketers saw a direct increase in sales as a result of their social media marketing efforts in 2022.
That’s a whopping 52% sales increase you’d enjoy IF you tapped into social media marketing.
Sadly, that’s also the same amount of growth that you essentially forego if you don’t dive into social media marketing.
And so the question becomes, would you rather get the 52% growth, or not?
Continue reading this guide to learn tried and tested social media marketing tips that can skyrocket your ecommerce business.
1. Identify your target market
To effectively market your ecommerce business on social media, it is crucial to first identify your target audience.
This allows you to create content that resonates with and attracts potential customers.
When you have a clear picture of your target market, your choice of words, the problems you’ll mention, and even the solutions you’ll propose becomes more meaningful to your readers.
There’s a myriad of benefits you’ll enjoy if you invest time and resources in identifying your target market:
- Improved marketing efficiency. By targeting your marketing efforts towards a specific group of consumers, you can use your resources more effectively and reach the right people with the right message at the right time.
- Increased sales. When you know your target market well, you can create products and services that meet their specific needs and desires, which can lead to increased sales.
- Greater customer loyalty. By understanding your target market, you can create a customer experience that resonates with them, which can lead to greater customer loyalty and repeat business.
2. Leverage user-generated content (UGC)
Encourage your customers to share their experiences with your products by using hashtags or running social media contests.
User-generated content can be a powerful way to build brand loyalty and increase your ecommerce site’s website traffic.
It’s an effective way to gather valuable customer feedback and insights. By paying attention to what users are saying about your ecommerce business, you can learn what works and what doesn’t, and use this information to improve your marketing efforts.
You’ll get hints on the products your customers are looking for that you aren’t currently selling.
Your audience might even indicate what’s wrong with your products so you can make the adjustments.
Also, UGC is often more cost-effective than creating original content.
Rather than spending time and resources creating new content, you can leverage the content that your users are already creating and sharing.
Becuase you can cut costs on creating original content, you can allocate some of your resources on other aspects that can grow your ecommerce business.
3. Experiment with various content types
Don’t be afraid to try out different types of content to see what works best for your audience. This could include blog posts, videos, infographics, or live streams.
Some people prefer consuming text-based content.
Others prefer lengthy videos.
While there are those, who prefer podcasts.
To determine which content types the majority of your audience prefer, you need to experiment.
The good news is, most social media management platforms have a good bit of social analytics features. Planoly, Hootsuite, and Vita Social, for example, are some of the best smm tools social media marketing agencies are using to streamline their social media campaigns.
It’s worth mentioning that Vista Social’s social analytics and reporting features are a cut above most SMM tools. Their reports are highly customizable, their platforms is packed with advanced features, and they only charge $3 per social profile.
4. Engage with your audience
Social media is a two-way conversation, so be sure to respond to comments and messages from your followers.
Responding to comments sooner, rather than later helps build a community around your brand and create a positive reputation—it’s a great way to build meaningful relationships with your audience.
It’s worth mentioning that religiously engaging with your audience helps improve your brand visibility.
The more you interact with your audience, the more “likeable” you become, which then increases the probability of others sharing your brand with their network.
Considering how connected people have become due to the internet—social media, especially—having just a handful of people passionately sharing about your brand can increase your chances of growing viral.
There’s a myriad of benefits you can enjoy if you outsource your social media marketing initiatives to either freelance social media managers or marketing agencies:
- Time-saving. Managing social media accounts can be time-consuming, especially if you have multiple platforms to manage. Hiring a social media manager or agency can free up time for you to focus on other aspects of your business.
- Expertise. Social media managers and agencies have expertise in creating and executing social media strategies, and can help you create content and campaigns that are effective and align with your business goals.
- Increased reach. Social media managers and agencies can help you reach a larger audience through targeted advertising and promoted posts.
- Greater efficiency. By hiring a social media manager or agency, you can ensure that your social media efforts are more efficient and effective, as they will have the tools and resources to track and analyze the results of your campaigns.
- Improved customer service. Social media managers and agencies can help you manage customer inquiries and complaints on social media, ensuring that your customers receive timely and satisfactory responses.
As you onboard several people to run your social media marketing campaigns, remember to use a reliable project management platform to ensure seamless collaboration.
Wrike is one of the best collaboration tools online. The platform allows you to assign tasks, set up goals, track your projects, etc. Wrike is such a beast in the project management space that they’re used by ginormous brands, such as Google, SIEMENS, nickelodeon, etc.
If you’ve tried Wrike before and you somehow aren’t a fan, then consider these Wrike alternatives.
What’s next?
Don’t give your competitors an unfair advantage over your ecommerce business.
If your competitors know what they’re doing, then their social media content should already be fired up and racking in views, engagements, and sales.
Follow suit right now.
Use the tips above to multiply your ecommerce sales through social media.