There are so many social media platforms out there today that it is hard to decide which one is right for your brand.
It’s important to understand that each social media platform has its purpose and yes while it’s important to not put all your eggs into one basket and use only one social media channel it is equally as important to not take a broad approach and run content on every social media platform known to man.
This blog is designed for you to choose the right social media channels for your e-commerce business so you can get the results that you want.
Facebook is widely regarded as the most popular social media platform on the Web today. With billions of active users engaging on the platform on a daily basis, the potential for your E-commerce store to gain exposure is massive.
Why use Facebook to promote your E-commerce Store?
As mentioned earlier, Facebook is the most popular social media platform. By creating a Facebook page you can reach out to Facebook users through free (organic) posts or paid (boosted) posts.
The great thing about Facebook is you’re not limited in the types of content you can post on the platform. Images, videos, blogs, links etc are all different types of content that can be posted to Facebook. Another reason why you should use Facebook is because of their targeting options. By running Facebook ads you can specifically target your buyer’s persona or if you’re starting out you can test your product to what you think your buyer’s persona is.
Once your website is recieving traffic you can also use data from the Facebook Pixel to retarget your audience or use custom audiences to target NEW customers who are similar to customers who have already converted on your site. This is super powerful.
How to use Facebook to promote your E-commerce Store
Do not use your Facebook page as a digital advertisement board. We all have that one friend who has a business on Facebook and all they do is SELL SELL SELL on their page and nothing else.
The core of your Facebook strategy is not to make sales (I know… it sounds weird) but the core to a great Facebook strategy is to provide value to your audience. By providing value not only do you sell but you also create a customer relationship and a brand that people trust.
Instagram has been described by many digital marketers as “the new print ad” for brands. Although the users of Instagram are generally younger. Users are far more engaging than Facebook. 58x to be exact.
Why use Instagram to promote your E-Commerce Store
Instagram is considered to be the best social media platform for engagement and its ability to connect with your brand’s followers with short bite sized content.
It’s visual, simple and it’s fast becoming the most powerful digital marketing platform out there.
How to use Instagram to promote your E-commerce Store
There are so many Instagram marketing strategies out there it’s hard to cover how to use Instagram in a bite size grab. But here it goes.
First thing make sure you have a business account. With an Instagram business account, followers can click on your contact us button to get in touch with you from your Instagram page just like they would from your website. You also get access to Instagram insights, that provide you with data about the impressions and reach of your posts.
The second tip is to post product teasers to urge people to buy. Instagram is a great place to advertise your products. And if you play your cards right, you won’t scare off your followers with advertisements either. Whenever I think of product teasers I think of when music artists share a 10-second clip of them in the studio or when a shoe company shows a silhouette of their new line of shoes.
Instagram is a great place to tell a story. Instagram stories allow you to share images and videos in a “slideshow” format. Insta stories like SnapChat stories are only available for 24 hours. But can be saved to your devices and used at a later time.
Instagram is a great place to tell a story. Instagram stories allow you to share images and videos in a “slideshow” format. Insta stories like SnapChat stories are only available for 24 hours. But can be saved to your devices and used at a later time.
The benefits of Instagram stories for brands are endless. For starters, Instagram stories are displayed at the top of the feed where Instagram users look daily. Also, it gives you the freedom to post more raw content that maybe isn’t good enough to post as a regular post on the platform. Things like behind the scenes footage, products (again don’t try to hard to sell) and videos of the person behind the ie you all work as great content for stories.
The biggest trend on Instagram right now is arguably influencer marketing. Why? Because it is the fastest way to reach potential customers on Instagram. More and more people are buying products based on what the influential people on their feed post.
By partnering with an influencer in your niche you can also get a piece of the action. There a lot of things you have to consider when choosing the right influencer.
If you’re interested in Instagram influencer marketing check out our podcast with Jason Steel from the Quick Flick here.
SnapChat
Ahh SnapChat. You were once the cult hero that everyone loved but you had to change. Despite recent updates which have seen SnapChat lose its popularity. Mostly due to Kylie Jenner infamous tweet which saw SnapChat’s share price and user base drop temporarily. SnapChat is still very much a relevant social media to advertise your online store.
Why use SnapChat to promote your E-commerce Store
If your target demographic are under 25 year olds you can bet that SnapChat is a good platform for your business to be active on.
SnapChat is the social media of choice for younger millennials with SnapChat gaining 2 million new users in this demographic last year. Also releasing content on the platform requires far less effort than posting content on Facebook for example.
How to use SnapChat to promote your E-commerce Store
SnapChat has three ways you can post content organically.
- Snap- A snap is an image or video you create within the app and send to a friend. This image or video disappears a few seconds after viewing.
- Chat- SnapChat’s text feature. Similar to a snap, chats are only visible while you’re on the text screen unless it is saved.
- Stories- A Snapchat story is a collection of photos/videos. When you decide to add a snap to your story, it’s shared with either all of your Snapchat followers or a certain few that you select.
Outside of these posts, you can also market your e-commerce business through SnapChat advertising. Snap Ads are 10-second videos that drive users to a call-to-action, like an embedded link. Below is a list of SnapChats available CTA’s
SnapChat also has its own targeting system similar to Facebook that allows you to market to a range of different people reaching vegans, bankers, retailers etc. The only shortfall especially compared to data driven Facebook is how specific your audiences can get.
No matter how you use SnapChat to market your product remember to be consistent with your content style and responsive to your fans.
Unlike Facebook, Instagram and SnapChat, Linkedin is the social media platform that allows you to connect with business professionals.
Why use Linkedin to promote your E-commerce business
Often overlooked as a part of an e-commerce marketing strategy B2B marketing is crucial for when your business is looking to expand or partner up with other businesses. It has never been easier to connect with any business professional in the world. Stories where E-commerce business owners have shown lookbooks to big name retailers only to be picked up through Linkedin are becoming more and more common. The world is becoming smaller thanks to social media and now is the time to capitalise on it.
How to use Linkedin to promote your business
But how do you use Linkedin? and what sort of content should you post to get the most out of it?
The masters of LinkedIn marketing in an E-commerce capacity is Showpo. Showpo’s founder Jane Lu is constantly posting professional content such as blogs, videos, behind the scenes videos all of which strengthen the legitimacy and professionalism of her brand. Her content comes from her personal Linkedin account which really makes her brand seem human and her business approachable both from a consumer and business to business point of view.
This one is a bit of a wild card but Reddit is an underutilised platform that is often overlooked by E-commerce owners.
Why use Reddit to promote your E-commerce site
Reddit is the front page to the internet. There are subreddits (forums) of basically any topic and niche imaginable no matter how large or small. Marketers are using Reddit to activate the members of subreddits to drive traffic to their websites through valuable content.
How to use Reddit to promote your E-commerce site
If you are thinking about getting into Reddit marketing it’s important to understand how Reddit works because like most online forums there is a certain amount of “reddiquette” to follow to avoid being downvoted to oblivion.
Here are some tricks for you to follow so you can get the most out of your Reddit marketing efforts.
Participate in the Community
Before you do any sort of marketing on Reddit its important that you participate on the platform yourself and become a redditor.
It’s a good idea to comment and post links, as you’ll build up karma. Karma reflects your standing in the community based on comments you’ve made or links you’ve submitted its important to build up your karma before you start marketing your brand to your niche on sub-reddits as redditors do look at your karma rating to make sure you are not another spammer.
Join Sub-Reddits
There are sub-reddits for basically every topic imaginable. Go through each sub-reddit that is related to niche and your business and again provide value to the community in each of these sub-reddits and find out what they like and what they don’t like.
Be transparent
Redditors can smell marketers from a mile away this is reason why most Reddit marketing strategies fail. They are all about selling and not providing value through content and transparency. As they say, the art of selling is not selling at all.
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