The ecommerce sector (the electronic buying of products online) is booming, especially with global lockdowns forcing consumers online. A total of 67% of consumers report that they now shop differently than they did years before. But competition for sales is now fierce. And shoppers are more particular than ever.
Barriers to Sales
First, let’s address the elephant in the room. Over 69% of all online shopping carts are abandoned.
Before we look at some hacks for using ecommerce for more sales, let’s look at these reasons for shopping cart abandonment from Shopify.
To improve your ecommerce sales, you should ensure that:
- Your checkout process is simple.
- The costs are transparent from the start.
- The process is seamless and coordinated to retain trust.
So, now we’ve addressed the core barriers, let’s look at how ecommerce can generate more sales through social media.
Discover how to rock ecommerce at our FREE summit on Dec. 15!
1. Share User-Generated Content and Reviews
Potential buyers read multiple reviews before committing to a purchase. This is especially true for higher-value items. Seeing positive user reviews, testimonials, user-generated content, and even product unboxings or demos are proven to sway the sale in your favor. They show that you’re a trusted brand that delivers quality products. With so many fakes and scams on Facebook and Instagram, being trustworthy is essential.
Check out our styled testimonials. We share these to Facebook, so others in the finance space can see that we have genuinely happy and real clients.
2. Choose the Right Social Media Platform for Your Demographic
Another reason ecommerce efforts fail on social media is because brands choose the wrong platform. Ideally, the content on each of your platforms should be different to cater to different audience demographics. This also means that consumers following you on multiple channels don’t get repetitive posts!
Facebook is losing favor with younger audiences, and many Gen Zs admit that they only use Snapchat, TikTok, and possibly Instagram. So, if your ecommerce product is for this demographic, promoting your products on Facebook might be a waste of your resources.
Similarly, if your ecommerce sales are for professional equipment, licensing, or business software, LinkedIn might be a better place for you. There are 65 million decision-makers on LinkedIn. That’s 10% of LinkedIn users who can make decisions on behalf of a company. Your approach will be different there, too.
3. Use Social Proof and FOMO
Not every post has to be a hard sell. Using techniques like social proof (e.g., other people are using it and loving it) and FOMO (fear of missing out) you can tempt users into purchasing tickets or products. This is subtly done in this video post from Web Summit that showcases the high caliber of speakers at the event,
Other ways to create FOMO include using words like:
- New Stock
- Limited Edition
- Sale
- Limited Stock
- Time Is Running Out
- Don’t Miss Out
This can be done in a subtle way like Sensaibeauty UAE on Instagram.
Popular FOMO induced hashtags
These include #fastdelivery, #freedelivery, #sale, #promotion, #discount, #discountshopping, #shopping, #discounts, #retailers, #consumer, #deals, #shopping, #limitededition, and #newstock.
4. Use Shoppable Posts
Using social media to promote your ecommerce products means that you need to minimize the effort it takes to purchase them. With shoppable posts, people can buy your products or services straight from your social media post. That can be set up on Facebook and Instagram, or Pinterest that offers Shoppable Product Pins. Pinterest connects with shopping sites like Shopify and WooCommerce to simplify and accelerate your ecommerce sales.
You can even tag products in your Instagram posts, carousels, and Reels when you are publishing from Agorapulse, making them easily shoppable for your audience.
5. Enlist the Help of Micro Influencers
We’ve all seen Kim K promoting skinny teas, lollipops, sportswear (and, let’s be honest, pretty much anything) on her Instagram channel. But, and it’s a big but, Kim is not a micro influencer, and she charges $889,000 per post. So, I’m assuming you’re not going to go there.
What can you do?
- Ask relevant micro influencers to promote your brand in exchange for free samples or a discount.
- Ask local complimentary businesses to team up for a cross promotion. For example, if you’re selling books, why not do a combined post with your local coffee shop? What’s better than a book and a coffee?
- Utilize your top fans or brand ambassadors. These are easily identified on the Agorapulse platform and are people who engage a lot with your page or post about you. Reach out to them and ask for a review or post that you can share. Sweeten the pot with an ambassador discount or free product!
- If you offer an affiliate program, this is another way to engage micro influencers. When they share their unique referral codes or links with their followers, they get a percentage of the sale. This incentivizes them to write great posts too!
6. Post Flash Sales
A flash sale is like a flash flood in that it comes up unexpectedly and leaves fast. And that’s how it should be. Brands that promote flash sales capture the FOMO social media market because fans want to grab the deals while they can. Who knows if they will get another chance?
Surefire ways to increase ecommerce social media success with flash sales
- Only announce the sale an hour or two before and promote it on all your channels.
- Set an end date or time that isn’t far away. One day is usually plenty.
- Set a timer on your site to the end of the sale and never extend it. Once fans know you mean business, they will be quicker to spend next time!
- If you don’t have a large following, you can run ads on Instagram and Facebook to hit your target demographic.
ASOS does the Flash Sale thing well. They also time it for weekends when fans are more likely to be sitting at home and shopping. Nobody wants a flash sale on a Monday morning!
- Use hashtags that are specific and unique to your flash sale or event
Ecommerce for social media tip: Flash sales will often result in a large volume of orders. (Yay!) But more sales isn’t a good thing when you can’t meet demands. Be sure to watch stock levels and delivery times, so you’re advising customers correctly and setting realistic expectations. You should also watch that the vast volumes of traffic don’t overwhelm your site.
Other Ecommerce Tips for Social Media
Want to boost sales without a huge flash sale? Here are some other winning techniques to try:
- Discount codes. You can tailor these for new customers, loyal shoppers, or those who didn’t shop with you for a while. Birthday discounts also work well.
- Percentage discounts: For example, save 40% when you spend $150 or more.
- Free shipping. We all love free shipping especially around the holidays. And fast shipping is a bonus, too. Surveys found that 69% of consumers stated one-day delivery is a huge incentive to spend.
- Great support. Make sure you utilize chatbots to answer FAQs from consumers wanting to spend money. Your window is very small and providing quick answers about delivery, stock and availability could swing a sale.
Start improving your ecommerce sales now by using social media! Check out our free trial of Agorapulse to help you schedule, track, and measure all your social media efforts.
