How to Dominate in Social Media for Your eCommerce Business?

 

Have you heard of Social Commerce? Social Commerce is utilizing social media platforms to promote and sell products or services. Social media is used by half of the world’s population today and you should take advantage of this. A report made by Datareportal shows the increase in numbers of social media users with an average of 2 million new users every day. 

When you establish your presence online, you reach a wider audience and increase brand awareness. This can help you generate online sales and you don’t even need a large marketing budget to begin. With that in mind, social media is the best place to market your business. 

Given that there are many options to choose from, keep on reading to know where and how you should start. 

What are the Best Social Media Platforms to Invest In?

When choosing a platform, you must focus on where you can visually engage and connect with your customers. In this way, you can promote your products while building a relationship with them. Connecting with your audience develops trust and loyalty to your business. You can consider the demographics of your target market and research but to narrow down your choices, here are my top 2 social media platforms that you should invest in – Instagram and Facebook.

Instagram

I cannot stress enough how photos and videos play an important role in your business. Your products must be in the spotlight to grab the attention of your potential customers and the perfect platform for this is Instagram. The main purpose of Instagram is to let its users share photos and videos through its mobile application. 

Did you know that Instagram has over 1 billion users monthly? Aside from the fact that Instagram is free to use, Instagram is popular because it’s an easy-to-use photo sharing and social networking app, plus it’s also a great marketplace. Instagram is good for eCommerce especially with the recent updates, it makes it easier for you to advertise your products and reach your consumers.

Instagram Business Account

Instagram Business Account has a lot of features that will help you monitor your profile and business. Through Instagram Insights, you can get real-time metrics on how your post or stories went. An overview of your followers and how they interact with your posts. It gives you an idea of what content works and what doesn’t.  Instagram Business Account also allows you to have a Contact button to let your audience reach you instantly and add links to your Instagram stories.

Facebook

Sell your products, create an event, join groups, send messages or share photos and videos. Basically, this platform allows you to do anything. Facebook is a  social networking service that has evolved in several ways. Being the most used social media platform in the world with 2.7 billion monthly active users, there’s no doubt that your target market is here.

Facebook Business Page

Facebook Business Page is a free resource that helps businesses promote their products and services to their audience. The great thing about this is that it’s easy to set up (you’ll learn more about this below). It has essential tools that can help you enhance your page and engage with your audience such as organizing events, setting up a shop, and building a community by creating groups.

Facebook Ads

Facebook’s own way of advertising is through Facebook Ads. With the right strategies, this will help you connect to your consumers. You can reach your audience based on their demographics, interests, and behaviors using advertising filters on your paid campaigns. Facebook ads are worth it, easy to set up, and work fast. Results are shown in real-time and you can make any adjustments in your campaign unlike other forms of advertising. 

Setting Up Your Business Accounts on Social Media

In order to build a successful presence online, these are the things that you need to take note of.

Branding

Make it easy for your consumers to recognize and remember your business. Create a brand identity that you can stay consistent with along with all of the content that you will be posting on your business accounts. Aside from the decorative parts, your brand can make or break your customer’s impression which can affect your customer experience. Ensure that you put your best foot forward in order to gain the attention, trust, and loyalty of your audience.

How to Create an Instagram Business Account?

Instagram Business Account is free and simple to use. Here are the simple steps to create one:

1. Download and start the Instagram mobile application. You can download it from the App Store, Google Play Store, or Windows Phone Store.

2. By any chance, you have an existing profile that you’d like to switch to a business account, follow the next step. Otherwise, tap Create New Account and fill in needed information or choose to Log in with Facebook to sign up with your Facebook account.

3. Within your profile, tap the ≡ and go to Settings>Account and scroll down to Switch to Professional Account.

4. Provide all the details needed such as business category and contact information. If you’d like you also can connect your Facebook business page with this account.

Just like that, you already have your own Instagram Business Account.

How to Post on Instagram?

Posting on Instagram is a piece of cake. Follow the instructions below to know-how.

1. Tap the + icon at the bottom of your screen. 
2. Choose an image or video from your gallery or capture one using the camera. You can upload multiple photos at a time by choosing Select Multiple Photos.
3. Edit the image. Crop to fit it or add filters if you like.
4. Add your caption. Be creative and don’t forget that you’re trying to sell your product. Use relevant hashtags to help people find you when they search for your items.
5. Once you’re done, click Share.

How to Create a Facebook Account?

Before creating a Facebook Business Page, you need to have a Facebook account. If you already have one, make sure to log in and follow the steps in the next section. If not, these are the steps you need in order to create a Facebook account:

1. Go to Facebook and click Create New Account.

2. Provide needed information and click Sign Up.

3. You will be redirected to your News Feed. Explore the interface and you can also start adding people that you know.

After doing so, continue below to start creating your business page.

How to Create a Facebook Business Page?

You only need to have an existing account to create one. Don’t worry about your personal information since it won’t be visible on the page. Make sure to log in to your account before following the steps below.

1. In the upper right-hand corner of your feed click Create and select Page to create your Facebook Business Page.

2. Fill in your business information and proceed to Create Page.

3. Start enhancing your business page by adding your username, profile photo, and cover photo.

4. Add other details about your business through the Page Info tab.

5. Explore Settings and learn how to use tools that the business page has such as buttons, page roles, and advanced messaging.

6. Invite people to Like your page. Start by inviting your Facebook friends.

How to Post on Your Facebook Business Page?

Creating a post on your Facebook Business Page is similar to how you usually post on your personal account. On your business page, click Create Post and a dialog box (just like below) will appear. 

Start writing your post and add photos or videos. Click Post when you’re ready to publish it.

What to Post?

Now that you have set your business accounts and learned how to post on these platforms, it’s time to know what you need to post. Aside from promoting your products, these are some of the things that you should post in order to keep your accounts active and engaging.

Giveaways

Who doesn’t like giveaways? Doing giveaways will excite your followers. This will help you increase your audience as the news of your giveaway spreads. It is also an opportunity for them to try your products firsthand. 

Reviews

Posting reviews from your customers will help your audience develop trust in your business. This is proof that you are doing your business well and giving products that are worth their money.

User-Generated Content

Repost your customer’s photos of your product. Acknowledging her post and ideas will help you gain a loyal customer in return. By sharing this post with your audience, you’re also giving them an idea of how they can use your product.

Behind the Scenes

Add a human element but make sure that your post is for your business. Images of the people behind the business or your staff. You can also include photos of how their orders are handled, packed, or even how they’re made!

Connect with Your Audience

One of the reasons why you created your business accounts is to reach your consumers. Allotting time to reply to their messages or comments will do you well in the long run. This will make them feel seen and heard thus they develop a bond with your business. Below are some of my tips that can help you connect with your audience.

Make Time

When you don’t include this in your schedule, it’s easy to forget it, especially when you’re used to putting it on the back burner. Squeeze in at least an hour each day to check on your messages, notifications, comments, and respond to each.

Be Genuine

Do not reply for the sake of replying. Be polite and respect your clients as if you’re talking to them in person. You don’t want to give them the impression that you’re not interested in anything that they are saying. 

Leave Room for Improvement

Accept their feedback – good or bad. Your customers now have firsthand experience with your products and they will always have something to say. You might’ve overlooked a thing or two but always keep in mind that their reviews will help you and your business grow. 

Dominate Social Media

Social media has become a great place for promoting business and building brand awareness. If you are not utilizing it yet for your eCommerce business, you are missing an opportunity to expand your market and cater to a wider audience. As mentioned, famous social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have billions of active users. There are also dozens of other social network sites that millions of people visit on a daily basis. Undoubtedly, it is a huge part of our daily lives. 

This means that your business can take advantage of all these people. It is also a good place to share other content that connects to your business such as a blog post or pictures of your products that people can purchase online. It is a great tool to drive traffic to your website and ultimately improve your sales.

However, you have to be consistent and strategies in order to build a strong presence on social media platforms. Here are some tips on how to capture and retain your target audience:

1. Be Active. You need to constantly update your business account to keep you visible to your audience. Promote your products, post giveaways, as well as share stories every now and then. 
2. Engage with Your Audience. You need to make time and effort to respond to their queries and comments on your posts. 
3. Give Valuable Content. You need to provide your followers with content in the form of videos, e-book, or articles that contain valuable information. In this way, your page will look less sale-sy. 
4. Learn Your Audience.  Learning your audience makes it easier for you to promote your products. Know what generation they belong to so that your advertisement would be generation appropriate. 
5. Be Sincere. Your sincerity allows you to connect with your customers and earn their trust. If you are not sincere to them, especially of the products you are selling, they will not continue following you. 

Different Tracking Metrics to Evaluate Your Success on Social Media

The content you post on your social media pages is meant to be shared with your audience and will determine whether or not people continue to follow you on each of your social media accounts. While some people focus on the number of followers that they have acquired, there are other factors that can help you to determine your overall success on each of your platforms. In fact, based on my experience, having too many followers won’t guarantee your success. 

What I recommend are the following tracking metrics: 

Reach

Reach is a metric created to help you measure and determine how far their online messages have been disseminated. It is important to remember that social reach does not mean social influence. It is determined by the number of people who are able to see your post as well as how many times that the post is seen. The higher the reach of a post, the more people are able to see it. 

Here, you need to look at your Audience Growth Rate to know if your audience is growing in a steady and consistent manner. It can be calculated by comparing the number of followers you have for the previous and current month. As a social media marketer, understanding it is very important especially when you are selling your products or services to your potential clients. The more audience you have, the better your chances of success. 

Engagement

Engagement is the metric that would tell you how many people are interacting or engaging with your content. It helps you identify what content performs best among your audience. There are various sub metrics that you can use to track whether you are getting a higher engagement rate. These are the likes, shares, and comments. You can utilize these sub metrics to push your social media marketing campaign to the next level. 

Acquisition

Acquisition is a term used to describe the process of how customers come to you. There are various ways in which you can acquire potential buyers but for social media, the acquisition process would only focus on two main elements: social media advertising and social media marketing. Social media advertising is the process of buying advertising space on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Social media marketing, on the other hand, is the process of capitalizing on the networks that a business has already built on social media. You can use the Visitor Frequency Rate to track this. 

Conversion 

Conversion refers to the process of converting followers into your customers which leads to higher sales. Usually, conversion occurs when your followers take a desired action such as making a purchase on your site, signing up for your email newsletter, filling out a contact form, downloading your eBook, playing your podcast, or watching your uploaded videos. It is one of the most important metrics you can track. A high conversion rate means that more people are buying your product or clicking your call to action button. However, a low conversion rate may mean that there’s something wrong with your marketing strategy. The conversion rate changes depending on how many people the ad reaches. 

Activity 

Social media activity is how much you create, comment on, and share content online. For this, it is good to pay attention to the following sub metrics: 

• Average Response Time: How long does it take before you respond to your customer’s queries or comments? 
• Content Rate: How much content can you produce per period? 
• Post Rate: How often do you post on your social media per day, week, or month? 
• Response Rate: How many queries can you answer within a certain period of time? 
• Social Media Marketing Budget: How much money do you spend on your social media activity? 

Bounce Rate

Bounce rate is a direct measurement to determine how many visitors come to a web page and then immediately leave the page. A low bounce rate is ideal because it means that visitors are reading your content and staying on your site for some amount of time. If you have a high bounce rate, it might mean that your content is not that engaging that is why the visitors only spend a little amount of their time. 

Click-Through Rate

Click-through Rate (CTR) is a metric that you can use to measure the effectiveness of your marketing campaign. It is calculated as a ratio of the number of times a link or advertisement resulted in a conversion such as a sale, registration, or purchase divided by the number of times the link or advertisement is clicked on. It is an important factor in knowing how successful your paid campaigns are at directing potential customers to your web page. 

Retention Rate

A retention rate is a metric in social media marketing that measures whether a business is able to retain its users. It is the percentage of total customers who return to the site after a period of time. If your retention rate is too low, it means that you are losing your customers. It could be a sign of poor customer service or an unappealing product. 

How to Organize and Schedule Your Post?

The most important part of social media marketing is to keep your page active at all times. You want to share and post interesting content that your followers will appreciate and nobody misses it. So, how do you make sure your content gets posted on time? 

The secret is to use tools to help you organize and schedule your post. There are many available tools you can find on the web nowadays, but the best one is the Facebook Business Suite. This tool is free, convenient, and easy to use. It allows you to manage your business on Facebook and Instagram as well as schedule your posts for up to six months. 

Aside from scheduling, Facebook Business Suite includes the following features: 

• Facebook Ads Manager: An advertising manager that businesses to you plan, create, and manage adverts. 
• Facebook Pages Manager: A tool for businesses to monitor and engage with their Facebook and Instagram pages. 
• Facebook Insights: A tool for businesses to collect and analyze the performance of their pages both on Facebook and Instagram. 
• Facebook Power Editor: An ad management tool that helps businesses create ads for Facebook. 
• Facebook Analytics: An analytics tool that helps businesses collect metrics from Facebook and Instagram.

You can access this both on desktop and mobile. Below is the step-by-step guide to help you get started with this tool. 

On desktop

1.  Go to your business Facebook Page and click on Business Suite. 

2. Click on Create Post

3. It will appear next. Here, you can choose the Placements of your post whether your post is intended both for Facebook and Instagram by clicking the box next to your business accounts. Then, write your caption in the textbox and click on media buttons if you want to add a photo, video, or create a video. You can also include your location. Once done, click on the arrow down next to Publish to schedule your post. If you want to publish your post immediately, you can click on Publish. 

4. A pop-up window will appear. Click on the calendar icon to select a date and on the clock icon to choose your preferred time. Click on Save to finish. 

On mobile

1. To access this on your mobile, you need to download and install the Business Suite app on your phone. This is available in the Play Store. 

2. This will appear once you open the app. Click on the writing icon that you can find at the bottom. 

3.  On the textbox, write your caption and click on Photo/Video to add the media that you want to include in your post. Then, click on Next. 

4. On the next page, click on the Scheduling Options. 

5. Then, click on Schedule Later. If you want to publish your post immediately, just click on Publish Now. 

6. This will pop up. Change the date and time. Once set, click on Set Date to finish. 

Final Thought

Social Media has now become part of our daily activities. We spend ample time on our tablets, phones, and desktop to browse through the various social media sites to keep updated. With so many individuals spending so much time on these sites, one thing has become clear: Social Media has altered the way we interact with the world around us and businesses are no exception. 

That is why it should be part of any eCommerce business. Through social media platforms, businesses are able to reach their target audience in a more personal way. It becomes easier for you to build relationships with your customers and create brand awareness. It also allows you to learn more about them and respond to their needs in a timely manner wherever they are in the world.