In the modern internet era, we have two remarkable phenomena. First, Social Media. Second, E-commerce. A number of social media users and number of E-commerce websites are on constant growth. An average person spends around forty minutes to an hour browsing on social media. The fact that people are becoming addicted to social media and online shopping, opens up more opportunities for customers and marketers both to make efficient use of platforms to their advantage. However, being present on social media will not get your business the desired growth overnight. It involves a lot of studies, research and correct execution at the right time. Social Media just offers you the possibility, you have to make the right use of it.

Social Media is no longer only a medium to connect and share information about people, it now plays a major role in most of the businesses nowadays. Same as people, brands have also shifted online. Businesses no longer only rely on print advertisements or promotions; in fact, they are pumping a major chunk of their promotional budget on online advertisements. People are highly influenced by what they see online and it has a huge impact on their purchase decision. In Social Media lies a great opportunity, just the approach has to be right.

1. Post Regularly

To start with, you have to have an active presence on social media. Being present on peoples feed every time they are on a social media platform generates a great recall value for a brand. But posting has to be targeted. Businesses have to study the audience they want to target, the timing of when they should post an audience’s reaction to it.

2. Be Crisp

Information overload should never be a way to engage customers. People don’t have much time; they will only see content that is appealing and relevant to them. A post with to the point content and a visually appealing image or a video will generate more engagement compared to a something that lacks any one of them.

3. Make Most of All Platforms

Try to use specific features offered by different platforms. Use hashtags on Twitter, run contests on Facebook and most importantly use ‘buy’ feature on Instagram which redirects the user to the merchant website. Sooner than later, Instagram will allow users to buy products directly from the app as well. All these features offered by various platforms have to used strategically to make the most of them.

4. Focus on Reviews

People’s decision to purchase a product depends highly on the reviews given by previous buyers. Brands should ask users to leave reviews about the product so that it helps potential customers in making the purchase. Reviews also help in creating traffic for the page and ultimately increase sales.

5. Maintain the Social Touch

The primary goal of Social Media isn’t to sell products to people. Being in peoples face and only posting content with the aim of selling products would ultimately make them unfollow the brand. Don’t just be active only when you are making a sale but rather keep people engaged with varied content.

Social media is a significant driver of traffic for websites. It plays a vital role in sales for brands selling their products online, whether it is done by organic content or via paid activities. There are multiple leading social media platforms trying to bridge the gap between social and shopping by facilitating direct purchases within their platforms. The process of buying the product online involves being redirected to the seller’s website from the social media platform. However, redirecting users to the merchant website will also become a thing of the past. With the introduction of direct selling options on Facebook and Instagram, online shopping will never be the same. Further to this, in future, integration of different payment methods on social media platforms will take impulse buying on an all-time high as a swipe of a finger will all it take to get the product delivered to your doorstep.

The bottom line is, social media and e-commerce have got along really well. Back in the old days, a business’s presence was signified by its promotion in the newspaper and other print and locations. That has drastically changed now, social media has become a critical way for a brand to be in the minds of its consumer. However, using social media for e-commerce is a lot of hard work. There’s a constant need to be up to date with the trends, do thorough research, create quality social media strategy and keep consumers in the midst of all of this in order to create a long lasting relationship. It would be interesting to observe how social media and e-commerce go hand in hand in the future with both being a vital part of people’s life.

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