8 Social Media Commerce Best Practices to Boost Sales

Did you know that global eCommerce sales are predicted to grow up to $1.6 trillion in the next three years? In 2020, retail social commerce sales also reached around $26.97 billion in the US alone.

As more and more consumers turn to social media platforms to discover and buy products, there’s never been a better time to start selling on social media!  

Social commerce is taking eCommerce businesses and making them available on social media platforms for a better, faster, and much more delightful online shopping experience.  

It's also a great way to widen your brand audience and customer reach by optimizing for SEO in Fort Lauderdale. In this article, we will share with you the best practices to help you sell more on social media.  

What is Social Commerce?

Social commerce is the practice of buying and selling goods and services directly within a social media platform.  

This means that the entire shopping experience - from research and product discovery to checkout - takes place right on the social platform.  

Almost all social platforms have built-in native social commerce features, like shoppable posts, TikTok shop, shoppable Stories links, a marketplace, and many more.  

Reports show that more than half of American social media users aged 18 to 24 have bought something on social media. Make sure you’re taking advantage of these shopping opportunities!

Difference Between Social Commerce and eCommerce

Traditional eCommerce refers to buying and selling through an eCommerce site, online shop, or a dedicated branded app.  

Social commerce, on the other hand, allows customers to buy within their social media experience.  

So, while you're scrolling through your feed and you see something you like, you can just tap on the link and check it out right away. No need to go to another site to complete the sale.

Social commerce is not eCommerce nor is it social selling. Social selling is when sellers cultivate relationships on social media to build out their sales prospect list.

How to Boost Social Media Sales: 8 Practical Tips to Boost Conversions

1. Align Your Social Commerce Strategy to Your Target Audience

To put out social content that your target audience would want to engage with, you need to align your social commerce strategy with your intended customers.  

Create customer profiles to help you get to know your target audience deeper and develop brand messaging that resonates. You want consumers to feel like you know them on a more personal level and that you get them.  

Instead of just sending the same message to your audience, be more intentional and personal with your copy by segmenting your target customers into smaller groups.  

Then, create different visuals and use specific wordings that align with every group's specific wants, needs, and preferences.  

Doing this allows you to present more targeted social content to the right people using the right platform. And, with the help of SEO in Fort Lauderdale, you can boost your content’s organic visibility even more.

It also helps to use analytics to identify the demographic you should be targeting for various social platforms.  

You can check how potential customers discover your products and how they browse your account so you can better position your ads and list your products in the most effective way possible.  

2. Your Social Profile is Your Social Storefront, Optimize It

According to Sprout Social, one in three consumers use social media to discover or learn more about products, services, or brands. One in four people also use social media to buy.  

If you aren’t investing in social media as a storefront, you’re missing out on a lot of potential sales. A social storefront is a functional online store within an established social media network.  

Having a strong presence on social and taking advantage of shoppable content allows you to engage with customers and mold their perception of your offerings and company.  

As a result, you can turn followers into customers and drive sales.  

Social media is interactive, which provides you the opportunity to present visually compelling and engaging content. Plus, you can also use it to generate real customer photos and videos that help drive sales!  

According to Hubspot, 71% of consumers are more likely to buy based on social media referrals. So, how exactly can you optimize your social profile to create a good impression and attract repeat business?

Here are some tips to help you get started.  

• Define your social media persona. It should be someone your target audience can resonate with and connect to.  

• Use your logo as your profile picture.  
• Make use of the highlight feature on Instagram to showcase your offerings, FAQs, current promos, sales, and UGC.  
• Update your bio with relevant information. Make sure to include who you are and what you do. It’s also important to include a link to your website and how they can reach out to you.
• Prepare a template for your branded content. It's for aesthetic purposes and to help reinforce brand recognition.  
• Feature shoppable user-generated content for more personal and relatable posts where people can connect and engage with one another.

• Post at the best times. Depending on your target audience and the industry you belong to, in general, the best times to post on social is between 10 am on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.  
• Optimizing your account for search by using hashtags and optimizing for SEO in Fort Lauderdale.
• Make sure your username across your social media channels is the same. Consistency is very important for brand recognition and recall.  
• Write catchy captions using language and words that resonate with your audience the most. Aim to be more conversational in your tone than promotional. Remember, people don't like being sold to.  
• Give people a closer look at your products and services by posting high-quality images with product information like styles, material, and shipping details.  

The goal is to build trust and provide value through your social media profiles across all networks.  

3. Schedule Your Posts for Consistency

Promotional social media shoppable posts, such as short demos, walk-throughs, and close-up product shots, are a great way to share more product details.  

You can even tag links to the items in your posts which helps build brand awareness, streamline the purchase process, and meet customer demands.  

However, despite how aesthetically pleasing and helpful your posts are, there’s no point in posting them if they’re not visible to your intended audience.

Reach your intended audience during the times they’re online, even if that window of opportunity is inconvenient for you, by scheduling your posts in advance!

Timing is so important when it comes to converting followers into customers. You want to make sure your items appear when they’re trying to discover similar products.  

You also want to be there when they’re looking to compare and especially when they’re looking to buy. Here are the top 3 reasons why it’s important to schedule your shoppable posts on social media:

• Scheduling allows you to post content during the best times without having to log in on your phone and do it manually. Your social media scheduler will automatically do it for you. This saves you time and energy, allowing you to focus on other tasks that can't be automated.
• Reach the audience when they're most active and likely to engage with you for maximum visibility and results.

• Give your followers a reason to come back by posting consistently.  

There are various social media scheduling tools you can use to schedule your content, such as SproutSocial, Hootsuite, and ContentCal.  

4. Add a Human Element to Your Conversations

One of the major reasons why people choose to reach out to brands on social media is because it’s just easier to do it there. Consumers can message you directly if they want more information about your products, order process, and other general questions.  

This provides you an opportunity to recommend a product, share a link to purchase and offer a promo code to capture sales.  

This interaction is also an opportunity to add a human element to your conversations and establish a connection with your followers. You can showcase your personality, empathize with customers, and build trust.  

5. Track Your Results and Refine Your Strategy

To create a social commerce strategy that generates the best results, you need data for insights.  

Data is the key to generating actionable tips you can use to refine your tactics and content. You need to understand what’s working for you and what isn’t.  

This way, you can get rid of ineffective social media marketing gimmicks and double down on what’s already effective. Dive deeper into your social media analytics to uncover new opportunities and determine which shoppable posts drive the most sales.  

From here, you can tailor your strategy and make your future posts more compelling to potential customers.  

6. Streamline Your Social Media Checkout Process

Friction at checkout is one of the most major reasons why people end up abandoning their online carts. Prevent this from happening by optimizing your checkout process.

Instead of asking customers to fill out a long form, limit it only to what's necessary, like name, address, contact number, and mode of payment.  

Get rid of any other unnecessary fields so they can check out right away before they change their minds. TikTok Shop is a great example of this.  

All a user has to do is input their name, address, contact number, and mode of payment and you can make repeat purchases without having to go through that process again.  

It's simple and fast, which is what's important when trying to convert a hot lead.  

There are many ways you can make sales on social media, from shoppable links on Stories and shoppable posts, to live to sell and an actual online shop within your profile.  

But all of these wouldn't matter if it's difficult for users to checkout. Here are some tips on how to streamline checkout on social media:

• Optimize for mobile

• Allow guest checkout
• Provide multiple payment options
• Avoid any shipping cost surprises
• Keep it short and simple

7. Work with Social influencers and Brand Advocates

Social media influencers can urge people to go and try out your products. Take advantage of this opportunity to expand your reach and improve social sales by partnering with relevant influencers and brand advocates.

You can ask them to use shoppable tags on IG to push potential customers straight to your social media shop. You can also ask them to do life and feature your products and add a link that allows users to buy within the social app.  

8. Optimize for SEO in Fort Lauderdale

Although there’s no direct correlation between SEO and social media. Optimizing your social media content for SEO in Fort Lauderdale can boost its visibility both within the platform and on the search results pages.  

Here are some tips on how to boost your profile’s visibility and your content too:

• Make your social media icons visible on your site. You can put them on your site’s footer or somewhere above the fold.
• Have your employees include social media icons in their email signatures.  
• Put your social media handles on your business cards.
• Use hashtags to organize your posts and for better discoverability.  
• Share your social media posts within your blog.

Take Your Social Media Store to The Next Level with SEO in Fort Lauderdale!

Social commerce is the next big thing in eCommerce! If you haven't explored selling on social platforms, using shoppable posts, or setting up your own social media shop, now is the best time to get started!

At Digital Resource, our social media experts and SEO specialists in Fort Lauderdale will work with you to create a custom social commerce strategy that will boost your sales and help you achieve business goals.  

Contact us today to get started!

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