Social Media for eCommerce: Choosing the Right Platforms

By Zeeshan Riaz

 

In the modern era, online brands that neglect the power and reach of social media marketing are missing critical opportunities to target potential customers. According to Social Trends Report by Hootsuite 2022, around 80 percent of marketers are confident in the power of social media to provide a significant Return on Investment (ROI).

A properly executed social media strategy can improve your brand products’ search rankings, driving more website traffic and increasing conversion rates.

But the question is, how can you create an effective social media strategy when you are unaware of the most suitable channels for your brand? Of course, there are multiple social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok where you can start marketing your products. First, however, you have to figure out the best option among these social media channels for your brand.

There are multiple points for you to consider while creating a perfect social media strategy and selecting appropriate channels that best suit your business.

 

Do You Need Social Media Channel for Your Ecommerce Brand?

In the modern era of aggressive business competitiveness, almost every brand has social media presence. So, the answer to this question is “yes.”

If your organizational goals, KPIs, and targeted audience are aligned without social media, you may perform well without it. However, if you want to reach out to new customers and enhance brand exposure, you should consider using social media.

According to a report by Sprout Social, nearly 31 percent of the consumers prefer social media channels to share feedback, and almost 33 percent of them reach out for any customer service or issue. In addition, the same study illustrated that nearly 88 percent of the marketers reported that their social media strategy has positively impacted their sales, and 90 percent of them believe that social media helps them to stay ahead of competitors.

So, having a social media channel is a lucrative option for selling your online products. Now let’s look at the things to emphasize while choosing an effective social media channel for your online business.

 

  1. Your Desired Goals

Different Social Media platforms are destined to provide varied advantages. Fundamentally, your social media goals should be aligned with your business goals. Once you have designed social media goals, a few platforms will provide you with the best results to reach these goals.

The social marketers’ top goals are:

  • Increasing brand awareness
  • Leads generation
  • Enhancing customer engagement

After identifying your top goals, enlist them to find appropriate social media channels.

 

  1. Available Resources

Social media strategy needs time and effort to reach the desired goals. The process of content creation and designing social media posts, all of them require effective strategies to ensure efficiency.

Ask yourself these questions:

  • Do you have any social media team?
  • Is your social media time efficient enough to take care of all social media channels you want to get in?
  • How much time will every social media channel take?

The resources are not only limited to employed people or available time. The digital marketing tools you use to analyze your social media posts are also included in the resources. Hence, analyze your resources to choose the best option among social media channels.

 

  1. Types of Content You Have

Few online brands already have a lot of compelling content on their website. You can use that content for your social media posting to create brand awareness and generate sales. But you should consider whether your social media team effectively creates rewarding content?

Marketers say five types of content are the most valuable for your social media goals. If you want to upload video content, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube should be your top priority. However, you must consistently post meaningful content on social media channels.

  1. Your Targeted Audience Presence

Nowadays, the probability is high that your targeted audience is on social media channels. Nearly 4.62 billion people around the globe are using social media, which constitutes half of the world population.

Once you know your targeted audience, it’s easy for you to search out your customers on social media channels through demographic targeting. Once you have this influential data, you can decide your social media strategy.

  1. Competitors Analysis

Research your competitor’s social media profile. Check out what they are posting and where? What kind of social media posts is working for them? How are people responding to their comments? Answers to these questions will give you a clear sketch of your social media channel selection and content design.

When your competitors are present on a specific social media channel, and it’s working for them, it’s a good sign for you to create your channel on the same platform.

 

Key Takeaways

There are multiple social media channels, and finding the most appropriate channel to sell your business products is a tricky task. Consider the five points mentioned above to narrow down your choice and make an effective decision.

In the past few years, social media users have been increasing significantly. As a result, it’s a lucrative time to create social media channels for your e-commerce store and scale your business.

-The Writer is e-Commerce Expert and Chief Operating Officer at Urtasker.