How to use Social Media for Ecommerce

When it comes to connecting with clients and building your brand online, social media and ecommerce are the perfect match.

According to Hootsuite’s research, more than half of global internet users between the ages of 16 and 24 use social media to research brands (55.9% female users and 51% male users).

Stats from Sprout Social also confirm that after following a brand on social media, 91% of consumers check out the brand’s website.

Which makes using social media for ecommerce a bit of a no-brainer.

For direct-to-consumer brands that only have an online presence especially, you need all the tools you can get your hands on to drive traffic and push sales on your website.

When you don’t have a physical store and regular footfall to rely on, social media becomes your best friend and essentially your virtual footfall.

Planning social media for ecommerce

Before you even think about posting, you need to define your social media goals. You’ve got two main goals to choose from: increasing traffic to your website (building awareness) or increasing sales.

Knowing what your goals are will give you something to track and will also define your strategy and the type of content you need to produce.

When you’ve got your strategy ready and you know what your goals are, you can start planning your posts. And to help you, we’ve selected a handful of social media post examples to get you inspired.

Organic social media for ecommerce post examples

Product reviews

Beauty brand La Roche-Posay take their product review posts to the next level. It’s a mix of customer testimonials and how-to content, where the customer shares their experience of using La Roche-Posay products.

 

User-generated content

The British clothing brand Joules does user-generated content really well, with a mix of collaborations, influencer recommendations, and shared content. They make the most of their customers’ followers to increase their reach on social media and build an engaged following.

Polls and quizzes

Polls and quizzes are a great way to connect with your audience and give your social feeds a more human touch. Plus, they can also help to improve your product or service and discover new customers.

Build trust and authenticity

Sharing advice in your posts is a great way to build trust around your brand and establish yourself as an authority in your industry. Being open about what you do and giving potential new customers an opportunity to experience your expertise is a great way to show authenticity.

Tivoli Chiropractic do this well by sharing advice in their posts around the common complaints they treat at their clinic.

Hetty’s Kitchen uses behind-the-scenes videos from their brownie kitchen to show that all of their brownies are handmade with care. They use reels to show how the brownies are made, cut and packaged giving you full insight on the process.

Unboxing and how to use videos

Giving potential customers an idea of what to expect if they buy your product is a great way to remove any friction in the customer journey. Beauty Pie goes all out in the video by taking you on a complete user journey from opening the product and actually using it.

The guys at Doughnut Time do a great job of showing you what you’re going to be getting in your next doughnut delivery. Their videos and images show how big each doughnut is, how it’s decorated and what the box looks like. They go to a lot of effort to brand all of their packaging and it’s good to see how that looks, especially if you are buying these as a gift.

Paid social media strategies for ecommerce

There are several types of paid social media strategies for ecommerce – PPC advertising, influencer-generated content, and brand ambassador programs are all examples.

PPC advertising

If you’re looking for quick traffic increases and lead generation, PPC advertising is a winner. The trick is making you sure you chose the right type of ad for your budget.

PPC social media campaigns such as Facebook Ads allow you to set up a variety of campaign types, depending on your objective.

From top of the funnel campaigns aimed to drive traffic to your website, to middle or bottom of the funnel remarketing ads aimed at guiding potential customers through the marketing funnel to convert.

Examples of social media PPC campaigns

Establishing brand partnerships

Forming brand partnerships with social influencers that align with your brand is a great way to build trust. The one thing social influencers have is an engaged audience. And if that influencer feels like your brand is worth partnering with, their followers are going to feel the same way.

The gains of paid partnerships with influencers are two-fold. One, you turn your brand ambassador into a paying customer and lifelong advocate of your products, and two, you reach a wider audience who will see real people using and loving your products/services.

This can often work better than an ad if you’re looking to target a brand-new audience.

Brand Ambassadors

HelloFresh has teamed up with Joe Swash to spread the word about their meal delivery service. The ad is set up on Joe’s Instagram account and links to a specific HelloFresh landing page making Joe Swash a brand ambassador for Hello Fresh. This is a great way to take advantage of influencer accounts to reach a wider audience.

Whether you’ve got a big budget or no budget at all, you can use our tips on social media for ecommerce to create a buzz around your business and drive more traffic to your website.