The continued rise of social media popularity has left many ecommerce store owners and managers left wondering how they can capitalize on social trends for their businesses. While ecommerce stores may feel as if they will have a harder time attracting an audience or building buzz, this is just a fallacy. Successful ecommerce stores are just as capable as any other company or organization when it comes to leveraging social media to build their brand.
1. Be Authentic
As an ecommerce company, you need to use social media as if you were actually interacting with a potential customer in real-life. If someone called into your sales or support line and asked a question, you would not have a representative read a scripted answer and then hang up, so your social media should not be on autopilot either. Companies that just schedule all of their updates in advance and auto-respond to messages are missing the point when it comes to effective use of social media.
Take the time to monitor your profiles regularly so that you can respond in a timely manner and be authentic with your response. Allow your brand voice to show and be helpful and welcoming. This is what social media users are looking for when they interact with brands through social media, and they can get turned off quickly if they feel that a company is just phoning in their social media efforts.
2. Be Visual
Visual content on social media has never been more popular. Social media platforms like Pinterest and Instagram feed off of our love for everything visual. Sharing a photo or creating an infographic is a great way to grab the attention of your followers and attract new ones. One way to add to your visual content if you are light on in-house content is to encourage followers to share visual content with you through contests and incentive programs. These types of tactics can be very effective when it comes to creating brand buzz.
While ecommerce lacks the traditional in-store shopping experience that many customers enjoy in brick in mortal stores, your site can still deliver a positive experience with an attractive visual interface. Tools like Shopify give ecommerce stores stunning design templates that encourage shoppers to enjoy the online shopping experience, leading to more time spent on the site and greater sales conversions.
Even things that would normally be mundane or boring can be made fun and sharable by giving them a visual element. Industry data and statistics can be dressed up and spun into an infographic that actually gets your audience excited about what you have to say. Even product photos, packaging images, office pictures or team profiles can pull in views because people just tend to be naturally curious about who is behind a company and what their day-today operations look like. According to E-Commerce Times, "Many businesses have flocked to Instagram to provide followers with an up-close-and-personal, behind-the-scenes look at their operations. These candid images and videos allow users to connect with the business on a personal level, thus building relationships."
3. Build Relationships
Building relationships is the driving reason behind using social media. However, it can be difficult to establish a meaningful connection with someone in 140 characters or less, which is why your social media efforts should not be solely based on posting updates on your own accounts and hoping to reach people. You also need to seek people out to help you build your social media awareness - influencers that are well connected and well-respected in the community.
Pratik Dholakiya, for Search Engine Journal, explains, "There is no reason to confine the discussion to social media. Many influencers have email addresses listed on their blogs so that you can contact them directly. As long as you start the discussion off by offering value (not asking them for something), this is often much easier than you may think. Once you have built relationships with influencers, getting attention on social networks is relatively easy."