How Social Commerce Is Shaping The Future | Viscap Media
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How Social Commerce Is Shaping The Future Of eCommerce
What’s social commerce? According to Investopedia, “social commerce uses networking websites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter as vehicles to promote and sell products and services. A social commerce campaign's success is measured by the degree to which consumers interact with the company's marketing through retweets, likes, and shares” and this definition does an excellent job of defining social commerce in a concise manner.This is the next evolutionary step for eCommerce as retailers want to stay in front of their customers. Because of the pandemic and the evolution of technology, customers are getting more and more options to choose from while shopping. From an article by TechJury, Americans spend an average of 2 hours and 22 minutes a day on social media. This is up from 1 hour a day from 2012. If customers are spending more and more time on social media, why not just target them there and have the customers check out through the social media platform?[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzV67qHO8fI[/embed][audio wav="https://viscapmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Social-Commerce-Article-Summary-Audio.wav"][/audio]
Key Takeaways
- Social commerce is the next step in eCommerce.
- TikTok is gaining in popularity and could possibly dethrone Instagram as the #1 social commerce platform
- Social commerce is highly effective and has shown proven results for eCommerce growth.
- There are various ways of managing social commerce stores, and some software to help you manage them all in one place!
- When struggling with social commerce video ads, it’s okay to turn to professionals for help.
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5 Key Takeaways Social Commerce Changing Future Infographic[/caption]
What Are The Top Social Commerce Platforms?
Social commerce is all about using social media to increase eCommerce growth. The top 5 platforms for social commerce are:
[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@viscapmedia/video/7005951630017416450?lang=en&is_copy_url=0&is_from_webapp=v1&sender_device=pc&sender_web_id=6991924022397224450[/embed]These top 5 social commerce platforms are competing for the same eCommerce business and some are doing better than others. According to Gary Vee, this competition has turned into a trillion-dollar war between these platforms.Let’s break down the top 5 social commerce platforms to see how they’re doing.[caption id="attachment_8249" align="aligncenter" width="500"]
Top 5 Best Social Commerce Platforms Infographic[/caption]
Top 5 Social Commerce Platforms: Instagram
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Social Commerce - Instagram Icon[/caption]Compared to its competitors, Instagram is doing very well within the social commerce space. They boast the highest average order value at $65 of all the social commerce platforms and boast a conversion rate of over 1%. This is going to be the most popular social commerce platform used for eCommerce growth.The Instagram Shop function is attached to the Facebook Shop, as well as your eCommerce storefront/website. The function is only available on mobile devices, not desktop, and allows social shopping with one click over from the brand’s Instagram page.Social shoppers can browse their products, read the different descriptions, compare prices, and click on a link to their eCommerce website when ready for purchase.Using Instagram Checkout, customers can also make instant purchases through posts they see inside of their feed. This streamlines the process and relieves the pain point of being taken off-app to make the purchase.Instagram is considered the most popular and successful social commerce platform as of right now because of its performance metrics, but with the emergence of TikTok it’ll be interesting to see how long they can hold the crown.[caption id="attachment_8252" align="aligncenter" width="382"]
Social Commerce Article Miracle Instagram Shop Screenshot[/caption]
Top 5 Social Commerce Platforms: Facebook
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Social Commerce - Facebook Icon[/caption]The next social commerce platform we’ll talk about is Facebook. Facebook and Instagram are very similar and growing even more similar every day as Facebook further integrates Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp into a cross-platform mega app.The social commerce platform brags that they drive ⅔ of all the traffic to Shopify based on a recent Shopify Study.Facebook is still an eCommerce company’s best bet at eCommerce growth through impressions as they’re still king of the hill as far as total number of users.Since the Instagram and Facebook Shops are linked, everything you were able to see on the Instagram shop will be up in the Facebook shop. The only difference is that the Facebook shop is accessible via desktop as well as mobile.There’s Facebook Marketplace where, very similar to Instagram Checkout, allows social shoppers to make purchases in-app without having to travel to a separate website to complete the purchase.Using Facebook Marketplace streamlines the process and allows for more conversions as the level of trust with a company can be more dependent on the social commerce platform rather than the actual product seller.[caption id="attachment_8254" align="aligncenter" width="999"]
Social Commerce Facebook Marketplace[/caption]
Top 5 Social Commerce Platforms: Twitter
Twitter introduced their “Buy Now” button in 2015 for social shoppers, and haven’t made much progress in social commerce since. Now, in a recent Twitter blog post, Twitter announced that they’re currently working on a Twitter Shop Module to help companies pursue eCommerce growth.According to a blog article from Oberlo, about 20% of the US population is active on Twitter and over 40% of users on Twitter say they placed a purchase after seeing the product on Twitter. This makes Twitter a viable platform to take advantage of social shopping and have some eCommerce growth.Something to consider when implementing social commerce on Twitter is the conversion rate for Twitter is LOWER than 1% so budgets should be watched and market testing should be done to ensure that the target audience is in fact on the platform.
Top 5 Social Commerce Platforms: Pinterest
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Social Commerce - Pinterest Icon[/caption]Pinterest has recently rolled out a new feature for social shopping as of June 2021! This new social commerce feature is called Pinterest Shopping List. Shopping List will allow social shoppers to browse pinned products, shipping costs reviews, and price drops.These tools will allow for eCommerce growth through new social shoppers that can browse and compare products all in one place.The successes of Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok has inspired other social media platforms to jump on the bandwagon to keep up with modern demands for their platforms.Very similar to Twitter, their conversion rate is UNDER 1% and it’s best to do some research, market testing, and be very observant when launching a social commerce shop on Pinterest.[caption id="attachment_8257" align="aligncenter" width="551"]
Social Commerce Article Pinterest Other Products Page[/caption]
Top 5 Social Commerce Platforms: YouTube
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Social Commerce - YouTube Icon[/caption]Youtube is part of the Google family and can be managed through the Google Ads portal along with the Google Search and Google Display campaigns. People frequently watch top product lists, product reviews, and drool over unboxing videos.With a projected amount of over 82% of online purchases to be driven from video ads by 2022, the platform has a better model to increase eCommerce growth for businesses over some of its competitors.Youtube is testing out a new feature where social shoppers will be able to click on a shopping bag in the corner of the screen for in-app purchases. This will increase the effectiveness of paid video advertising on YouTube as well as allow for eCommerce growth through their organic product videos.93% of consumers also stated that seeing UGC content from eCommerce brands helped them make purchase decisions. This becomes even more powerful when they’re made into video format for social shoppers to watch.Similar to Facebook and Instagram, YouTube has a conversion rate of ABOVE 1% making it one of the more profitable social commerce platforms to help with eCommerce growth.Companies can already list products and merch in the description, but the new social commerce features being tested will help with eCommerce growth by allowing social shoppers to place purchases without having to have their page.[caption id="attachment_8264" align="aligncenter" width="1007"]
Social Commerce Youtube Marketplace[/caption]
Top 5 Social Commerce Platforms: TikTok
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Social Commerce - TT Icon[/caption]Although TikTok didn’t make our top 5 picks, it’s certainly a social commerce platform to watch and look for in the future. With its explosion in active users and Tiktok quickly climbing to the #1 social media app, some brands like Walmart have seen shockingly good results through the platform.Walmart launched a TikTok campaign where they began the first-ever TikTok shoppable live stream experience called the “Holiday Shop-Along Spectacular” where 10 creators show off their favorite Walmart fashion and allow social shoppers to watch to make an in-app purchase.Other brands are hopping on the trend after seeing the results from WalMart’s campaign and it’s going to revolutionize the social commerce space in exciting new ways!It’s like having an “As Seen On TV” ad that’s actually clickable through the screen!I’m very excited to watch this trend and to see which other social media platforms will be using this structure in the future.If you'd like to learn more about marketing on TikTok I highly recommend our other articles Organic Marketing TikTok Strategy Guide and The Guide To TikTok Paid Advertising.[caption id="attachment_8266" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
Social Commerce Walmart and TikTok Shop Along Spectacular[/caption]
Is Social Commerce Effective?
YES! Social commerce absolutely is!Social commerce is HIGHLY effective and is evolving the eCommerce industry in new ways that are absolutely incredible.In an article by BigCommerce they mention that 60% of Instagram users find new products to purchase through Instagram and 30% of online shoppers would purchase products through Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and Snapchat.These statistics by BigCommerce show that using social media marketing is highly effective, and mixing in-app purchases with this strategy will greatly increase sales volume as social shoppers don’t have to leave the app leading to lower bounce rates!In the same BigCommerce article, they mention that 51% of millennials are likely to make a purchase over social media and that 84% of shoppers review AT LEAST one social media before purchasing (time to get that UGC content on point).Why NOT sell the products on the same platforms that eCommerce brands are using for awareness? It’s an easier conversion! No worrying about whether or not the click to the website actually converted and the easier it is for a customer to purchase with less pain points increases the likelihood of purchase. This means a better chance at eCommerce growth for your business!
How Do I Use Social Commerce?
Social commerce can be set up across a bunch of different social media platforms to capture as much eCommerce growth as possible. Managing your social commerce channels can be time consuming and should be one of the main factors when focusing on which platforms to sell through.To set up social commerce through these social media platforms, the most common way of doing this is to convert your social media profiles to business profiles, then either build a shop within the social commerce platform, link it to your eCommerce storefront, or sync the eCommerce storefront with the social commerce platforms via different apps and website that are available. A great example of a website that can manage all of your social commerce channels across all the different platforms is Salsify.[caption id="attachment_8267" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
Salsify Social Commerce Platform Manager[/caption]Using these social commerce tools will help with eCommerce growth, help increase impressions, decrease your bounce rates, and interact more with the social media communities.Remember when setting up social commerce platforms to get as close to the native organic posts that are already on the app as possible. This will improve your results and help your content blend into the platform (in a good way) so that users will be more open to your products and services.
Why To Hire A Creative Video Advertising Agency
The process of creating social commerce video ads is not easy. We outline the video, write the scripts, cast the talent, film the videos, edit the videos together, then publish and track the content for the best results. This process is a lot of work and is also very time-consuming. It’s even worse if the social commerce video ads are being made by less experienced individuals as there’s quite a learning curve to everything from writing to filming to tracking & reporting.There’s nothing wrong with finding a really great creative video advertising agency to do the heavy lifting when it comes to video ads creatives. Here at Viscap Media, we’re marketers at heart and not just geeks with cameras. We want you to get the best possible results with your video ads campaigns. We’re here to help and to learn more about us, check Viscap Media’s page on video advertising.When you’re ready, reach out to us and we'll be happy to set up a video call and consultation to see how we can best help your brand succeed.
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Social commerce video ads BTS on phone[/caption]
Summary
To make a long story short, social commerce is the next step for eCommerce as more and more social media platforms jump onboard with the idea of selling through their platforms. Social media platforms like Twitter and YouTube are testing new ways of putting eCommerce business on their websites and all these new technologies will be available to brands to help them with their eCommerce growth!The top 5 social commerce platforms include Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube. TikTok is number six and has been gaining in popularity very recently. It’ll be interesting to watch which of these six will take the crown as the winner of the multi-billion dollar social commerce war as TikTok is absolutely EXPLODING recently.Social commerce has already been shown to be highly effective with PROVEN results ranging from Instagram Shop & Facebook Marketplace to TikTok’s most recent case study with Walmart influencer holiday shopping. These are proven channels to help with your eCommerce growth.There are various ways of managing social commerce stores, but the easiest way is to have some social commerce software help you sync your eCommerce website across the different social media platforms.When struggling with social commerce video ads, it’s okay to turn to professionals for help. When you’re ready to launch your videos, come speak with us at Viscap Media to help you get started!Sources:Social Commerce | InvestopediaTime Spent On Social Media | TechJurySocial Media Marketing Strategy | ShopifyTwitter Shopping Testing Shoppable Profiles | Twitter BlogTwitter Statistics | OberloWalmart's CMO Leans Into Social Commerce | ForbesWalmart Social Commerce on TikTok | Walmart CorporateSocial Commerce Blog | BigCommerceSocial Commerce Manager | Salsify
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