Does the thought of social media conjure up images of people sharing and pinning products — without ever buying a single item?
If so, it’s time to update your understanding of the current social media landscape. Research shows that close to half of users are making product purchases that start on social media. In fact, as much as 37% of consumers buy items in direct response to ads on Facebook and Instagram.
This is the social landscape that e-commerce companies are now competing in. Until you’re up-to-date on the latest advertising options, you run the risk of falling behind.
The good news? The social channels that hold the most promise for brands and retailers — namely Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest — are now filled with a wide array of options for highly targeted advertising.
For example, with Instagram alone, e-commerce companies can now reach consumers through:
- Taggable products to help users explore and buy popular items.
- Shopping in Stories to share compelling stories and the inspiration behind your products.
- Shopping collections that allow users to save product tags as they discover them, and save items to lists for later viewing.
- Shopping on business profiles that lets Instagrammers see all product information at once, from pricing to posts featuring favorite items, when visiting your business profile.
- Instagram Checkout is a brand new feature that allows users to complete a transaction without ever leaving the site. The program is in closed beta at the moment, but will expand to more sellers this year. (If you’re a ChannelAdvisor customer, contact your account manager today to discuss your options.)
On Facebook, you can leverage:
- Facebook Marketplace to reach consumers as they filter shopping options by categories, pricing and more.
- Facebook Stories, which influence well over half of the current 300 million users to take action after discovering products.
- Messenger Ads with Payments that help move consumers from consideration to action, and let people purchase products without having to leave Facebook.
- Dynamic and Carousel ads, two of the easiest, most effective ways for e-commerce sellers to connect with consumers through personalized promotions.
As you explore these and other options, it’s important to keep in mind that while social media advertising can be very lucrative, it also requires constant attention. Platforms evolve. User behavior changes. And sellers that don’t keep up with the latest offerings often get left behind.
That’s precisely why we decided it was time to once again update our popular eBook: Social Media Marketing Guide for E-Commerce Sellers. You’ll find the latest updates on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest, and it includes a checklist you can use to test your preparedness for what’s coming next. Ready to dive in? Get your free copy here.
Want to hear advertising advice from the experts? Download the slides and watch the on-demand recording of our webinar The Big 3: Advanced Advertising Strategies for Amazon, Facebook and Google.
