Can You Drive E-commerce Sales Using Social Media?

 When it comes to social media marketing, one of the most commonly asked questions is, “Can it drive sales?” The short answer to that is YES, and we’re here to explain exactly how, specifically when your brand has e-commerce available. While we know that email marketing is the more spearheaded approach to drive e-commerce sales, it is high time to give social media marketing efforts a try and see how they compare for your brand! Here are several ways social can support online sales:

 

Boost E-commerce Sales Using Social Media

Direct catalog promotion on social media

Highlighting your available products for purchase on social media platforms is one of the easiest ways to drive sales. Facebook is a great option to support this because it allows marketers to create a Facebook catalog that features your products on both Facebook and Instagram. You can then group products from your catalog in posts and tag them in pictures, providing audiences the option to click the product and be taken directly to the link to purchase.

Promoted content

Among all social platforms, you can create posts featuring products and the link through which they can be purchased. When it comes to images for these posts, consider a simple product shot to show audiences exactly what they can buy. Vary your copy on these posts to promote any special sales and also offer inspiration for how exactly audiences can put this product to use. For brands in the fresh produce industry, posting recipe inspiration and noting health benefits are both excellent ways to encourage audiences to purchase.

Targeted ads on social media

Does one of your products clearly fall into a specific nutritional niche or trend (think Whole 30, gluten-free, etc.)? Use this to your advantage by ensuring these specific audiences are reached with ads for these products. And of course, making sure your ads reach your target audiences, it’s not uncommon to see a corresponding increase in sales! Once these audiences give your product a try, you can then nurture them to become repeat purchasers by providing ads that contain a coupon code.

Building brand awareness through social media

Believe it or not, Pinterest is one of the best platforms to gain brand awareness for your e-commerce products. With capabilities similar to Facebook and Instagram, Pinterest allows you to tag products in your pins, which then redirect consumers directly to the page to purchase. By developing a strategy that includes these types of promoted pins, you are building brand awareness for anyone who sees your product on Pinterest—while also driving sales for anyone who clicks through and buys.

Have you found success using social media marketing to support your e-commerce? We would love to hear your experience. Leave us a comment below, or tweet to us at @TheCoreBlog!

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