What is Social Commerce?

There’s a lot of talk about how to get the most value from social media. With social commerce, brands can generate a strong and measurable return on investment from their customers’ social interactions. In straightforward terms, social commerce is an online marketing model that enables brands to boost sales directly through social media. To help you grasp and promote a social commerce solution at your company, here are some statistics and points from industry experts to support your argument.

Why is Social Commerce so valuable?

Here are three key trends that make the case for social selling:

1. Prospective Customers Are on Social

Previous generations consumed advertising through traditional marketing channels– mainly print and television. As of 2014, 74% of online adults use social networking sites. This is a massive pool of prospective customers that your brand should be directly targeting and engaging with through social media platforms. The best way to access your customers is through the platforms they trust and are already active on.

2. Social Media is the Next Word of Mouth

Facilitate social listening and conversation. Track your brand message and discover influencers who are already advocating for your products. Through social listening, you can research your market and initiate conversations leading to a sale. Furthermore, you can identify and reward the customers who contribute and are sharing positive content about your brand.

3. Social Commerce Shortens the Path to Purchase

Instead of trying to get consumers to leave their social media habitat to come to your ecommerce site– bring your site to them. Functional storefronts inside social networks make it easy to convert browsers into buyers. Customers can organically discover new products and are just a tap away from purchasing.

Social commerce makes it easier for brands to connect social media engagement with ecommerce sales. By incorporating social commerce into your marketing mix, your brand will be able to drive sales through social and generate a concrete ROI from your social investments.

Read The Complete Guide to Social Commerce here.