July 5, 2016
By Digital Operative,
These days’ social media plays an important part in marketing any business. But, when it comes to e-commerce the impact it has is even more. Studies show that almost 90% of consumers read user reviews on social media before making a purchase. So you can see the influence social media has on buying decisions.
Every e-commerce owner would love to have more traffic and sales to their online store. Everyone would advise getting more users to visit your site. In reality, it’s easier said than done. The problem with many of the e-commerce sites is that-
They don’t know how to market their products on social media
Or
Despite their efforts they’re not doing well
Marketing for ecommerce is complex because it’s tough to find all the tips in one place. Here are 10 tips that will help you to succeed in your marketing plans.
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Content strategy
When it comes to creating effective content the only rule to keep in mind is whether the content is based on your customer’s needs. Website developers will design some of the best dynamic sites for you. But, it’s the responsibility of your content team to give out engaging articles that users will be interested to read.
In an e-commerce site content has many forms like product descriptions, customer reviews, or even questions that may turn out to be a trending discussion. Once you get users to participate, then everything will become easy. Give equal importance to visual content as they have the highest user engagement rate.
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Know the needs of your customers
Before you start posting contents, you must at least have a rough idea about your customer’s needs. Once you have insights on your customer’s needs, you can write content accordingly. Then monitor the response rate of the content. If it’s well-received you can start writing such types; if not you have to come up with other plans.
So how can you know the needs of your customers? You can go through their social profiles and know about their interests, or you can ask them questions via social media or emails.
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Have a good relationship with influencers
Marketers consider individuals who can create an impact among users as influencers. These people can influence people through the trust they’ve earned from users. So e-commerce marketers persuade such types of influencers so that they can put in a good word about their brand. When a company can connect with the users of an influencer, it considered being beyond advertising. It is attracting new customers in a unique way.
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Include shareable quotes in your blogs
People will enjoy reading your blog. But, some of the quotes or stats you mentioned would have caught their attention. Make sure you highlight such quotes or phrases so that readers can share it to Twitter or Facebook. Tools like Inline Tweet Sharer, which can be used to customize the sentences you find attractive so that they can be tweeted.
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Optimize for mobile users
According to the statistics of Quicksprout 1.2 billion people access the web using their mobile devices. There are also estimates that 63% of people are expected to shop using their mobile device in the next couple of years. So make sure you design a mobile-friendly app. If the users have trouble when accessing your app, they will switch to your competitor's app.
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Know which channel will be suitable for your business
Most of the small e-commerce sites use every social networking site to promote their business. If you juggle with more than you can, then you’ll end up losing everything. If you promote on every social media, you won’t execute the plan properly. According to The Social media services for business – a Factosocial 101 infographic, Facebook can increase brand engagement by 176%.
Know on which site your customers are active and start your promotional activities there. Once you become familiar there, you can go to the next to broaden your customer base. Again, don’t be active on more than two sites because as your audience grows you won’t have time for
management.
According to the website Business 2 Community –
- 93% of users on Pinterest utilize the platform to search for products. 83% have completed a purchase through Pinterest
- In 2015, when Instagram added the direct-response functionality options like “Buy Now”, “Download Now”, or “Learn More” they saw a marked increase in revenue
- According to Google, product review videos on YouTube had 50% more views in 2015
- Facebook says that 50% of its users log on to the site searching for products
Being active on top social media websites like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube can help you reach a wider range of audiences. They each have their own niches in which they are relevant. For example, if you’re a brand specialized in graphic designing, Instagram can help you set up an unofficial portfolio feed. This gives your brand more feedback and exposure from your target audience.
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Customer reviews are important
If your customers are satisfied with the products or your service, they will give you good reviews. Reviews are a powerful tool because it can be used as a medium to influence users into buying your products. Most of the time people don’t trust reviews from companies because they think it’s a sales pitch. But, when reviews come from another user it will be trustworthy and seem like a personal recommendation.
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Concentrate on Email Marketing
Even though some marketers would argue against it, email marketing can be used to persuade buyers. It is considered to be one of the best methods to convince people to buy more. These days’ people tend to check their emails even if it has a simple advertisement. According to the Blue Kangaroo Survey on Marketing Emails, 70% of users make use of the coupons and discounts they get through emails. And through e-mails you can convey messages that which can’t be shared via social media.
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Share information but, don’t sell it
Most of the users use social media not to get information about a product or to shop. So first concentrate on building a relationship with your customers. Share information which the user will benefit so that users will trust you when you try to sell a product. Earning the trust of your users should be your primary concern.
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Measure your progress
When you develop a strategy and implement you must know the rate of response from users. This will help you to know the plans that work for you. So make a habit of creating reports every other month to know how far your plans have worked out. If something isn’t giving the desired results, revise the plan or change it altogether.
When you market your business on social media in the right way, it will be a game changer. The correct strategy will help to bring brand awareness, drive traffic, develop customer engagement, and will help you to grow your business.
Author Bio:
Nancy Grace is a social media writer at iDigic.net who also contributes for hundreds of other blogs. Her articles predominantly focus on social media and are widely followed by readers from all over the world
