The Success Of Social Commerce
Social commerce not only provides another avenue for sales generation, but also gives brands an opportunity to create a stronger connection with followers.
According to Statista, global sales through social media platforms are estimated to reach $992 billion U.S. dollars in 2022 and will become even more popular in the future. Social commerce sales are forecasted to reach approximately $2.9 trillion U.S. dollars by 2026.
“Discoverability is going to be huge in 2023 as consumers are not only using social media to socialize anymore. They are actively using social media as a search engine to find and purchase niche products. Consumers can’t buy from business they can’t find, so strategically implementing SEO on social media is key and there are very specific ways to do so, such as manicuring the bio, using a hashtag strategy, creating shoppable content, collaborating with competitors to increase social capital, and more,” says Adebukola Ajao, Digital Marketing Consultants of Bdy Consult, a marketing services company for small businesses.
Leveling The Playing Field
“While traditional e-commerce is great for consumers to search and find what they need or are looking for, social commerce allows for the discovery of new products and brands through social media, in a way that’s closer to real-life shopping with friends and family. Social commerce has created new opportunities to level the playing field for smaller brands to compete with larger brands by leveraging the power of social sharing and a single path to purchase from platforms such as Meta and Snapchat,” says Rachel Autumn Lee, Co-Founder of Prism Bags, retailer of sustainably-made, functional bags and backpacks.
“Social shopping features on social media platforms have become more ingrained - more people are becoming more comfortable with making purchases through the platforms,” she adds.
Discoverability
“The nature of social commerce impacts shopping behaviors and product discovery. The seamless and single path to purchase from a social media app allows for quicker purchases and easier sharing of new products between friends. With fewer barriers to purchase – for example, not having to go to a separate site or app to complete a transaction – and the trust of a friend recommending a product, it can encourage a quicker conversion or even impulse purchases for lower priced items in your shop,” says Lee.
Working With Content Creators
Content creators allow others to speak for your brand, and are often more trusted by consumers than messaging that comes directly from brands.
“Build relationships with your community, as they can be powerful advocates for your brand. Especially within social media and social commerce, influencers and customers can play a pivotal role in driving sales and bringing awareness to new audiences and networks. For our brand, we’ve noticed that satisfied customers were advocating for our products and sharing social proof as micro-influencers, which was powerful and drove more engagement,” adds Lee.
It’s important to differentiate between celebrities or influencers and more authentic content creators. "Go with creators rather an influencers. Let creators create in their own voice, with no briefs or very limited briefs, keep the rules to a minimum and shoot for people who are similar to your customer base. Fame and its reach always feel inauthentic and customers can tell what is branded from a mile away,” advises Katharine McKee, Founder of Morphology Consulting, a digital commerce consultancy.
Nano influencers, those with fewer than 10,000 social media followers, and micro-influencers, who typically have between 10,000 to 100,000 followers are becoming more popular with brands.
“Nano and micro-influencer's will continue to outpace mega-influencer's in terms of driving new and recurring consumers to brands. Nano and micro-influencers will still be a major component in marketing as we move into 2023. Consumers strive for authentic content and the micro-communities that influencers have cultivated rely on personal recommendations from the influencer. Evidence of this continues to show in engagement – nano and micro-influencers have not seen a drop of engagement on platforms while mega influencers have, “ says Ashley Rector of Laura Alexandria Marketing, a social media micro-agency.
“The big takeaway in social commerce is how well it mirrors customer’s wants and needs. It has opened up a way for brands to be able to see in real time, what customers want, think, and how they view the product or service on offer. This is the biggest and most pure shift into ‘authenticity’ marketing ever. Brands need to lean in,” says Mckee.
