Over the last two decades, social media has progressively become a pivotal aspect of our everyday experience. It is a vital part of the way we communicate and build relationships. Interestingly, the benefits of social media can be extended beyond the realm of interpersonal relationships. Social media offers a cost-effective means of marketing your products to your target audience in a way that resonates with them and encourages them to begin their buying journey.   

Importance of Using Social Media in Your Ecommerce Strategy  

The most significant advantage of incorporating social media in your ecommerce strategy is that it allows you to showcase your business to a broad audience at a low cost. According to recent studies by Datareportal, the world currently has over 4.6 billion social media users, with the average user spending about 2 hours and 27 minutes per day on various platforms. Correct utilization of social media in your e-commerce strategy puts your business in front of more faces, which increases your brand's top-of-mind awareness, boosts sales, and builds you an army of loyal customers.   

Choose a Relevant Network for Your Audience   

To reap the full benefits of social media, your business needs to be on the right network. Each social media platform has its purpose and specific user demographics. To choose a relevant network for your audience, you first need to decipher who constitutes your target market.   

Who is your target customer? How old are they? Which social media platform(s) do they use?   

Identifying the platforms your potential customers use helps you know the exact channels to put your business on and how to tailor your content to suit your audience. For example, Facebook is most popular among 25 to 54-year-olds and is majorly used to build relationships and keep in touch with friends and family. If your product does not fit this demographic, investigate other platforms like Instagram or Pinterest to build your brand. Using the correct platform boosts the effectiveness of your social media campaign and prevents you from wasting time and resources in attempts to market to an uninterested audience.   

Stay Active on Your Account   

Having an active presence on your social accounts increases your brand's visibility and frames your business as an authority figure within its industry. An active social presence allows you to build and maintain regular communication with your existing customer base while creating room for interactions with new leads. Posting sparsely or "Ghosting" on your social media creates an appearance of inconsistency, which could significantly lower the online credibility of your business.   

Speaking on credibility, active social media pages tend to have more followers, often a perceived form of social approval. Similar to positive reviews and testimonials, having more followers online makes you more credible. Your potential customers will assume you are (and rightly so) an established business and will be more willing to trust your company.   

Purchase Ad Space   

With many businesses competing for a space on your target audience's feed, relying on the organic reach of your social pages may be insufficient in drawing customers' attention to your business. Purchasing a social media ad space helps you break through the noise and guarantees you a spot in the appropriate user's feed. Paid advertising is a sure-fire way to beat the algorithms and acquire more valuable leads that'd have been unreachable otherwise.   

Facebook and Instagram ads   

Facebook and Instagram help business owners create and promote targeted ads based on their audience's location, demographics, interests, behaviors, engagements, and partner connections. This kind of specific targeting zeroes in on an audience that'll most likely translate into valuable leads, thereby boosting the overall effectiveness of the paid promotion. These platforms also offer a pay-per-click model that only charges you when users engage with your ad to minimize cost.   

Get involved in the community   

Social media creates the opportunity for two-way interactions between your brand and a large community of consumers. Getting involved with this community allows you to build authentic human connections with your target audience, giving off a positive impression of your brand that fosters trust. Here are ways to get involved in the consumer community via social media:  

Influencers   

Influencers are individuals, groups, or organizations with a social media following and a degree of social influence in their field. These people are followed by active audiences who respect them and believe their opinions. Engaging with these audiences through influencers improves your brand awareness and drives sales by leveraging the influencer's authority and the trust their followers have in them.   

Contests and giveaways   

If implemented correctly, contests and giveaways can grow your social media following, boost engagements on your page, and even increase sales. Contests provide an avenue for potential customers to interact with your brand and get familiar with the products or services your business offers. These interactions stay at the top of their minds and make them more inclined to patronize your business.  

Let GoShip Handle the Shipping   

Just like social media offers cost-effective methods of promoting your products, GoShip helps you cut shipping costs by connecting you with reliable and affordable freight carriers. GoShip.com is an online marketplace that assists business owners in securing efficient and budget-friendly shopping options around them. Simply enter your shopping details in our online quotation tool to get a free quote and a list of the best shipping companies in your area.