Any wise retailer understands that using social media to promote their products is critical to a well-rounded marketing strategy, especially during the holidays when consumers spend more of their hard-earned money.
Mobile sales accounted for $7 billion on Black Friday and Cyber Monday alone last year. While posting your products on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram allows you to reach a large audience, it isn’t the only way to help drive sales.
Social Media Marketing That Works For Better Holiday Sales
Merchants who use an E-Commerce platform have a plethora of resources at their disposal to implement social media marketing in order to increase sales. You can also create a holiday sales poster to grab the customer’s attention, so you can get more customers at your website/store. The first step is to ensure that your platforms can communicate with one another. Consumers are already engaging with brands through a variety of channels, but the key to making those channels profitable is how you market your brand’s story and shopping experience.
Provide a Genuine, Personalized Shopping Experience
This is where tools like Facebook Shop, Messenger, and Instagram come in handy. Facebook Shop offers interactive storytelling, including photos and video, to showcase your products and services for merchants who want to connect with customers more authentically. Facebook Messenger allows 1:1 communication between shoppers and retailers, allowing you to answer questions in real-time — a tool that encourages more sales.
Instagram’s 800 million users know what they want: more content that speaks to them. As a result, the Explore section is becoming more personalized, with topic channels featuring a mix of different posts based on specific interests, such as art, travel, and shopping.
Shopping-tagged posts from businesses that users follow, as well as those that they might like based on the posts they interact with frequently, will appear in a dedicated shopping space on the Instagram app. This algorithm has created an authentic user experience by presenting relatable and relevant products to an audience that can benefit the most from them.
Allow Customers to Shop Wherever They Want.
Consumers spend an average of 3.3 hours per day on their mobile devices, with 2 hours spent solely on social media. Using social media to get your products in front of the right people, whether through ads or shoppable catalogs, is an excellent way to showcase your company’s inventory this holiday season.
More than ever before, social shopping influences consumers’ purchasing habits, driving product discovery, and purchases. According to Mary Meeker’s 2018 Internet Trends report, 78 percent of users discovered products on Facebook, while 59 percent discovered products on Instagram. More than half of those users ended up purchasing the product at some point later, and 11% did so immediately after seeing it on social media.
Highlight the Features that Set You Apart
Sixty-two percent of shoppers prefer a quick and easy experience that allows them to pay with a convenient method. Customers want more payment options, and traditional payment methods do not always meet their requirements. Customers look for a simple shopping experience when they shop in-store and when they shop online.
Along with credit and debit cards, instant financing is one of many payment options you can offer your customers. And it’s exactly what customers want. 72% of consumers said they would think about ordering goods and paying for them later.
As more people spend their days plugged into their social media accounts, it only makes sense for merchants to join in. Businesses that integrate social media into their e-commerce landscape will have an advantage this holiday season, but it all starts with developing a strong brand story and experience to share with your followers.