Social Commerce Archives | Sprout Social

How to use social media ecommerce effectively in 2024

Chloe West — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 20:57:54 +0000

When social media first came onto the scene, it was designed for people to connect with one another. But as platforms developed and user bases grew, businesses saw an opportunity to reach their customers in innovative ways. Nowadays, it seems unimaginable for a new business to launch without any social media presence.

One of those new opportunities is social commerce, or the ability to promote and sell products on social media. With millions of people logging onto social media apps each and every day, it presented the ideal outlet for growing a business.

Throughout this article, we’re going to touch more on what social media ecommerce is, benefits of using this ecommerce channel and how your brand can create its own social media ecommerce strategy.

Let’s get started.

Table of Contents

What is social media ecommerce?
Benefits of social ecommerce
3 Examples of social media ecommerce
How to create a social media ecommerce strategy
Create your own social media ecommerce strategy today

What is social media ecommerce?

Social media ecommerce is the practice of marketing an ecommerce business using social media through generating brand awareness, increasing online recognition, growing a customer base and even increasing sales.

We mentioned social commerce, which is a facet of social ecommerce — the act of selling products on social media. There’s another facet called mobile commerce, which is the act of selling products on mobile devices (think: dedicated apps, mobile browser transactions, etc.).

Social media ecommerce comes into play often as 99% of all social media users access the apps from their mobile devices.

Benefits of social ecommerce

For direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands that exist solely online and retailers shifting to an online-first presence, you need all the tools in your arsenal to push sales on your website. You can’t rely on foot traffic so social media replaces this tactic.

Social media ecommerce brings in new customers and provides you with a ready-made online platform — but those aren’t the only benefits.

Expand your reach and generate brand awareness

There are nearly 5 billion social media users worldwide. And while not every single one of those 5 billion will be your target customer, social media gives a massive opportunity for those who are to discover your business. When you post on your social profiles, you’re giving users a chance to find your brand, follow your accounts and potentially share your products with others they know.

Engage your target audience

Through both organic and paid social means, you can create content directly for your target audience to reach and engage those most interested in what you’re selling. Create social media posts that elicit some kind of response from your audience, such as a comment, message, like or share. Always interact with comments in order to facilitate conversations amongst your target customers.

Drive additional traffic and revenue to your business

And finally, drive traffic to your website—and even better, drive sales. Promote your products. Showcase how they can be used and what pain points they solve. Make your audience want to purchase your product—then make it easy for them to do so.

3 Examples of social media ecommerce

Curious what social media ecommerce looks like in action? Let’s take a look at three of the top B2C social media platforms—Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

1. Solo Stove

Solo Stove sells portable, smokeless fire pits, and it uses social media to help promote its products, mostly through video.

Here’s an example of one of these videos.

The lowest price ever on fire pits starts today for #BlackFIREday.Unlock a free Cinder, Torch, or Titan when you spend $200 on holiday gifts. Just use these codes at check out:🔥 Sticks and Tools – code: FREETOOLS🔥 Cinder – code: FREECINDER🔥 Mesa Torch – code: FREETORCH

Posted by Solo Stove on Friday, November 24, 2023

What makes this video stand out is the fact that it’s promoting a major sale. Both text overlay on the video and the video’s caption share details about a promotion: customers can get bonus items after spending at least $200 (more or less the price of a new Solo Stove, anyway).

Videos like this do a great job of drumming up new business and leading interested parties to your website. Solo Stove could even have taken this a step further and set up its Facebook Shop so viewers could immediately make a purchase directly from the social media platform.

2. WallyGrow

WallyGrow is a company that sells wall-hanging planters online and on social media. It uses Instagram as a place to promote its products—and even has an Instagram Shop set up for social commerce.

However, one great tactic the brand uses on its Instagram is a plethora of giveaways. Not only does WallyGrow share stunning photos of its products in action, but they’re always giving away planters as well, like we see below.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by WallyGrow (@wallygrowplanters)

As an up-and-coming brand, regularly hosting giveaways is a great way to let potential customers test out your product. If they love it, they’re likely to buy more as well as tell their friends and family about it.

3. Spikeball

Spikeball is a company with a fun, easy-to-play outdoor game. And it has a great presence on TikTok to promote its game. It also has its own TikTok Shop set up—though the brand doesn’t always tag its products in its video content.

One of its recent videos promotes a fun idea for playing its game—at night with glow gear on.

Because Spikeball is an active game, using video to promote the product is a smart tactic. Showcasing people having fun while playing is the perfect way to inspire potential customers to want in on the action.

How to create a social media ecommerce strategy

Curious how to start promoting your own business and products on social media? Let’s walk you through our six-step strategy.

1. Set up social ecommerce channels

Shopping within a network is easier than ever on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Use these platforms’ features to make shopping and product discoverability on social media a seamless experience for your customers.

Instagram and Facebook share the same backend operation for shopping, called the Meta Commerce Manager. After loading in your product catalog or linking your website’s ecommerce platform (such as Shopify and WooCommerce), you’ll be able to start tagging products on your posts.

When products are shown on Instagram posts, they can be tagged, allowing customers to view purchase details with a tap. Clicking on the tagged product will lead you to the product’s website page for you to purchase. The browser pops up within Instagram so when you close out or finish your purchase, you can go right back to browsing.

TikTok also allows you to create your own shop and is a great place to promote your products. And while Pinterest removed its in-app shopping features, it remains a place where people research products, so your ecommerce store will also want to have a presence there.

2. Find your authentic voice & be unique

Five years ago, DTC brands in the furniture retail segment were few and far between. Now, there are dozens of mid-century furniture manufacturers alone vying for your social attention. The same story has been repeated with DTC brands specializing in dozens of different market segments. How do you set yourself apart when the field is so crowded?

One way to do this is to find a brand voice that is authentic to your company. Paired with brand visuals, this is one of the first steps to getting noticed. Next, identify what makes you unique and different from others in your field. It could be your company’s story, a specialization or even your customer service.

Research has found that 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for a great customer experience. If all of your products are similar to your competitors’, then providing excellent social customer service can set you apart from the pack.

3. Use organic and paid strategies

On social media, a combination of organic and paid strategies is usually the preferred way to go. Paid social media can help you reach an even wider audience—but your organic content is what’s going to keep them coming back.

Here are a few tactics your ecommerce business can use to combine these two powerful strategies.

Organic social media strategies for ecommerce

Presence of and use of product reviews on your social media accounts
Adding relevant hashtags to increase the discoverability of your brand
Personalized interaction with customers on your accounts and theirs
Providing excellent social customer care
Using user-generated content to further your social proof
Use social listening to improve your product and discover new customers

Paid social media strategies for ecommerce

Paid advertisements and post boosts
Using lookalike audiences and website visitors to supplement your advertising
Running influencer marketing campaigns
Creating a brand ambassador program
Forming brand partnerships
Creating a referral or affiliate program
Running advertisements and boosts of any of the organic strategies mentioned above

4. Use social proof

Word-of-mouth and reviews are still tried-and-true tactics for encouraging purchases, and are great examples of social proof. Social proof is a concept in psychology that declares consumers are more likely to buy from companies they see other happy consumers using.

So things like customer reviews, user-generated content and influencer marketing helps in gathering social proof to share with your audience.

For networks like Facebook that allow reviews as a feature, it makes business sense to allow your customers to leave reviews. Ask for more reviews from your customers on a continuing basis and you’ll be supplemented with social proof. Reviews are even better when they’re managed and responded to from the brand.

Another way of boosting your social proof is to use an influencer marketing strategy. Pair Eyewear does a great job of influencer marketing all over TikTok, and using those influencer videos for both paid and organic content (shoutout to our last point here).

5. Use social listening

Social listening can benefit all departments of your company. But for sales specifically, you can use social listening to identify gaps in your competitor’s strategy and see what your industry’s customers are talking about. These discussions can lead to new products, strategies and better customer service.

For an online-only company, social listening is imperative because you rely more on interactions and online activity to guide your strategies. Which leads us to setting yourself apart from others in an increasingly crowded social space.

6. Use analytics to guide your ecommerce sales

We mentioned social listening before but there are additional analytics you can take advantage of when approaching social selling. Using social media data to inform your sales plans on an ongoing basis will only help your ROI.

From social media analytics, you can find a multitude of ecommerce-related data:

Website clicks
Profile visits
Social shares from your website
Mentions from customers
Ad offers and click throughs
Mentions of new products or campaigns

Some analytics, like Instagram impressions from the Explore page, are part of an organic ecommerce social strategy. Others, like website clicks or social-only offers, are more specific analytics that can help define your social ROI.

Create your social media ecommerce strategy today

There are many tactics an ecommerce or DTC company can use on social media. But what most would agree with is that a social media presence is necessary to elevate your marketing. Social media helps your customers discover your brand, look at reviews, receive referrals from trusted sources and shop.

To make sure you have all the right tools in your arsenal, give Sprout Social a test drive. Access tools that can help you monitor your online presence, market to the right audience and keep an eye on your social media analytics.

The post How to use social media ecommerce effectively in 2024 appeared first on Sprout Social.

How to integrate TikTok Shop into your social strategy

Jasmine Williams — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 15:00:17 +0000

TikTok Shop presents a massive opportunity for brands, combining TikTok’s powerful discovery engine (#TikTokMadeMeBuyIt) with in-app e-commerce capabilities to create a new shopping experience (#IBoughtItonTikTok). Still, these new TikTok shopping features come with a learning curve.

For example, you might be wondering how to integrate it into your social strategy in a way that fits the platform and doesn’t overcomplicate your current approach. Or maybe you’re already managing other social media storefronts and you want to know how to add TikTok Shop to the mix.

This article provides an in-depth overview of TikTok Shop and how to make the most of it for your brand by covering the following topics:

Table of contents:

What is TikTok Shop?
How to set up TikTok Shop
7 ways to sell with TikTok Shop
8 tips for integrating TikTok Shop into your social strategy
Upgrade your social strategy with TikTok Shop

What is TikTok Shop?

TikTok Shop is a suite of e-commerce features that allow brands, merchants, and creators to sell products directly within the TikTok app.

From drink tumblers to hair dryers to pickle sweatshirts, you’ve probably heard of at least a few products that became massively popular after going viral on TikTok. This phenomenon even spawned the hashtag #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt with over 73.3 billion views and a seemingly endless array of promotional videos from brands, influencers and everyday consumers.

With the launch of TikTok Shop, the app is evolving from a product discovery app to an all-in-one marketing and sales platform. Once a product catches a user’s eye, they can buy it in just a few clicks without leaving the app.

TikTok Shop is currently available in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States. The TikTok Shop experience and eligibility requirements also differ for creators, partners, shoppers and sellers.

Keep reading to learn how to use these features as a brand, user or influencer.

TikTok Shop for Creators

TikTok Shop allows creators to showcase and promote products they love to their community and launch new revenue streams. For example, through TikTok Shop’s Affiliate Program (more on this later), creators can earn a commission from products they promote in videos and livestreams.

TikTok Shop Creator eligibility requirements vary. In the U.K., creators must be located in the country, over 18, have a minimum of 1,000 followers and have posted a video on TikTok in the last 28 days. If you’re in the US, you can start selling via shoppable and livestreams even if you have a new account and zero followers. More information is in the FAQs.

TikTok Shop for Partners

TikTok Shop Partners provide e-commerce or marketing support to TikTok sellers or creators. For example, TikTok Shop partners might provide services like short-form video production, account onboarding support, content strategy, short video ideation, live shopping moderation and business analysis. To register as a TikTokShop partner, users must create an account, select their category and market, and submit an application.

TikTok Shop for Shoppers

If you’re a TikTok user based in a country with TikTok Shop, you should have access to the in-app shopping features—no additional registration is required.

TikTok Shop for Sellers

Brands that want to sell their products using TikTok Shop must complete a four-step application process.

Sign up. Sign up for TikTok Shop using a U.S. phone number and email address.
Complete an application. Verify your identity with a certificate of incorporation, a U.S. passport or a U.S. driver’s license. You also need to provide payment and tax information.
Check your email for confirmation of your approval. The application review time varies but is typically three to five days.
Link your TikTok account to your Shop. Once approved, you’re ready to set up your Shop.

How to set up TikTok Shop

According to TikTok’s Seller University, setting up a TikTok Shop involves the following key steps—shop setup, executing sales and fulfillment.

Shop setup

You’ll need to provide more company information and documents during this phase. Here are the following key tasks

Upload shop documents and legal information
Add warehouse and return address
Link bank account
Select your shipping option (shipped by seller or by platform)
Configure shipping template

You may also need to provide product certification and brand authorization at this stage.

Selling and fulfillment

To list products on your profile, either add them individually, batch upload multiple products or integrate TikTok Shop with your existing e-commerce platform. To fulfill orders, use TikTok’s fulfillment services or handle it yourself. If you go the latter route, you must book a courier and pack and prepare your products for shipping.

Other factors brands need to consider

Everything you need to set up and manage your TikTok Shop is in the TikTok Shop Seller Center, which you get access to once you’re account is approved. The Seller Center even has a Growth Center where sellers learn to manage their TikTok Shop by completing ‘missions’ and collecting rewards like ad vouchers and commission deductions.

Still, managing a social commerce platform takes a lot of time and effort. There are a lot of different responsibilities involved, such as

Inventory management
Order tracking and fulfillment
Managing returns and refunds
Customer service
Promotions and ads
Influencer and affiliate management
Financial reporting
Data analysis

TikTok Shop is essentially a digital store, so consider the following questions before you dive in:

How will you balance managing your TikTok shop with any other ecommerce sites you have?
What resources will you need to cover the various aspects of the retail experience?
How will you adapt your ecommerce strategy to fit TikTok’s audience and align with their expectations on the platform?

7 ways to sell with TikTok Shop

TikTok Shop adds even more ways to make money on TikTok. From Home Shopping Network (HSN)-style livestreams to shoppable ads, here are all the different ways to sell with TikTok Shop.

In-Feed video

Include shoppable product tags in your posts so your audience can purchase right from the video.

LIVE shopping

Like HSN for a new generation, LIVE Shopping allows brands and creators to include shoppable product tags in LIVE videos. Promote, sell and engage with your audience, all in real time.

Product showcase

Display your entire product line-up or curate custom collections within your in-app Shop. This feature lets your audience browse product tiles, read reviews and purchase directly from a brand’s profile

Shop tab

This feature enables businesses to display products in a marketplace where customers search and discover promotions. Customers can also view product recommendations and manage orders in the Shop tab.

Affiliate Program

An alternative to brand partnerships, TikTok creators earn commissions on products they promote in videos and livestreams through the Affiliate Program.

Shop ads

Promote your TikTok Shops to potential buyers with paid ads. Boost your reach and increase conversions since customers discover and complete purchases in one platform.

Fulfilled by TikTok

Similar to Amazon, TikTok has fulfillment centers that pick, pack and ship products to customers for sellers.

8 tips for integrating TikTok Shop into your social strategy

Incorporating TikTok Shop into your social media strategy can be exciting but daunting. Most users think of TikTok as an entertainment app, so how do you drive them to your Shop without being too sales-y? From leaning on creators and affiliates to turning viral organic content into ad campaigns, here are some tips to help you make the most of TikTok’s new selling features without exhausting your audience.

Ensure your brand and products fit the platform

Consumers are still getting used to shopping on TikTok, so purchases are usually lower-cost, low-risk “impulse buys”. TikTok is also a video-first entertainment content platform with a large Gen Z demographic. If you feel you can reach your target demographic on TikTok, and have products that translate well to video and hit the right price point, TikTok Shop could be a great fit for you. But ultimately, you should adopt a test-and-learn approach before diving in headfirst.

Optimize your bio

TikTok doesn’t give you a lot of characters, so make them count. Clearly describe your brand, include keywords for searchability, use emojis to add personality and end with a strong call-to-action to drive sales.

Make purchasing instructions crystal clear

Help your audience get familiar with TikTok Shop. Mention where they can buy, include clear links and explain how people can shop from your store.

Use live sessions to launch new products

Build hype around new arrivals or collections by hosting a LIVE Shopping event. Show off your latest products and answer questions—all in real time.

Promote your catalog (but not in every video)

Your audience may get fatigued if all of your content feels like advertising. Keep viewers engaged by posting a mix of promotional and entertaining videos or adding humor to sales-focused content.

Leverage creators and affiliates

TikTok is a video-first platform, so you’ll need to invest heavily in video creative to establish a presence on the app. Partnering with popular creators and affiliates will lighten your creative load and get your brand in front of a wider audience.

@loveandpebble

“Seriously the only mask I use and trust” -@accutanewithannabelle ❤️🙏🏼 #accutanejourney #skincare #skincaretips #skincareproducts

♬ YONCÉ x BIG POPPA BABY Q – Baby Q💖

Connect your organic and paid strategy

Brands like Love and Pebble and MySmile have boosted sales by re-using high-performing organic content as creative for paid ad campaigns. Just make sure you get permission from the original creator first if you didn’t create it.

Tap into your existing community

Use retargeting ad campaigns to bring website visitors to your TikTok Shop. Or use LIVE Shopping to engage your existing TikTok community. For example, skincare brand Glow Hub hosts weekly LIVE Shopping events to showcase products, educate followers and show them how to build a skincare routine.

Upgrade your social strategy with TikTok Shop

TikTok is already a valuable marketing channel. With the launch of TikTok Shop and other platforms like YouTube adding similar shopping features, it’s clear that we’re entering a new social media era—shifting from an awareness play to a full-funnel strategy.

Integrating sales and e-commerce goals into your social media strategy requires research, strategy and cross-functional collaboration. To jump-start the process, we created a tool to guide those initial conversations, define priorities and get everyone on the same page.

Download the Social Commerce Strategy Interview Guide to start building your social commerce strategy.

The post How to integrate TikTok Shop into your social strategy appeared first on Sprout Social.

6 effective ways to increase online sales through social media

Matilda Schieren — Mon, 02 Oct 2023 14:00:32 +0000

If you’re reading this, you probably know the answer to the question, “can brands increase sales through social media?” is a resounding yes.

Social is now a fixture in the customer journey and has a direct impact on purchasing decisions. Starting at the top of the funnel, consumers rely on social to discover new brands, products and services, which is good news for your awareness goals and prospective sales. The consumers in discovery mode that go on to hit the follow button really mean business.

According to The 2023 Sprout Social Index™, 68% of consumers’ primary reasons for following a brand on social media is to stay informed about new products and services. The second most common reason is to have access to exclusive deals and promotions.

Not only are consumer shopping preferences shifting to social, social platform developers are actively bringing sales and social marketing closer together with the steady emergence of new or improved social commerce solutions.

As your business looks to social media to increase online sales and turn a profit, these six tactics will help you bridge the gap between “post” and “check out”.

1. Start selling directly on social media platforms

The pandemic-era surge in social media usage wasn’t just a passing trend. More than half (53%) of consumers say their social media usage has been higher over the last two years than the previous two years.

Social has become a place to discover new trends and interests. In a lot of ways, it’s the new shopping mall—and platforms have gotten the memo.

Social commerce encapsulates the entire customer journey, allowing consumers to move from discovery to purchase in a single channel. And with a frictionless shopping experience and streamlined checkout process, consumers are more likely to make purchases in the moment.

There are a variety of network-supported commerce tools that marketers can use to reap revenue from social. Popular social commerce platforms include:

Facebook Shop
Instagram Shopping
Pinterest Product Pins
TikTok Shop

As social platforms increase their investments in commerce solutions, businesses are following suit—63% of business leaders say they’ve already adopted social commerce features available in their social media management platform of choice.

Connecting your product catalogs to a social commerce solution also gives brands a chance to curate collections that align with larger campaigns.

Sprout’s dedicated integrations with Shopify, Facebook and Instagram Shops will accelerate your entry to social commerce. Once you upload your product catalogs into Sprout, your team can create new direct sales opportunities. Adding product links to social content or including them in responses to consumers who have reached out directly is an easy win.

2. Find your highest converting social content—and make more of it

Data and social best practices suggest that easily digestible, visual content—like static images, for example—help marketers hit social goals more than text-based posts. But maybe your audience is different. The only way to know is to dig into the data and make more of what works.

For the sake of understanding how social media can increase sales, focus your analysis on owned content that includes information about your products or services, promotions and links to your website. Ideally those links will include UTM parameters so you can effectively track the behavior and path of people who have clicked the link via Google Analytics.

What data matters most? Here’s a quick breakdown of the KPIs you should be on the lookout for.

Organic: Engagement rate, click-through-rate, social traffic referrals, website page actions (e.g., form submissions, purchases)
Paid: Conversion rate, return on ad spend (RoAS), cost per conversion

Marketers who are diligent about tagging outbound content have the ability to conduct more granular analysis. For example, fashion retailer River Island has over 160 active tags they apply to content to track more qualitative insights like consumers’ preferences for UGC content versus official brand photography.

Using Sprout’s Tag Performance Report, they analyze and compare performance, which helps them decide how to allocate budgets for different creative assets and ad campaigns.

Once you identify your audience’s preferred content formats, look for ways to transform them into shoppable posts. Thanks to emerging functionality across social platforms, everything from video to UGC can turn into a conversion opportunity.

3. Use conversational commerce to nurture buyers on social

One of the obvious benefits of social media is that it gives both consumers and businesses a convenient, accessible way to communicate with one another—and that value cannot be understated. Research from The 2023 Sprout Social Index™ shows that the majority of consumers (76%) place equal value on brands that prioritize customer support and brands that respond quickly to customer needs.

Conversational commerce combines messaging and shopping, enabling consumers to use chat or voice assistance to make purchases from a brand. Chris Messina, who coined the term, says it’s all about “delivering convenience, personalization and decision support while people are on the go, with only partial attention to spare.”

If you’ve ever received a promotional code or discount in your direct messages, booked a haircut appointment through Facebook Messenger or asked a product question in WhatsApp, that’s conversational commerce at work. Across platforms, messaging allows digital marketers to deepen customer relationships by offering more personalized recommendations like a digital personal shopper.

It’s important to note that conversational commerce isn’t solely about net-new sales. Offering strong customer service is an equally important benefit, and pays dividends given that it’s the top quality consumers associate with best-in-class brands on social.

No matter where a customer falls in the sales funnel, social marketers need to have a strategy in place to manage inbound messages and provide efficient, effective support. If squaring this advice with your team’s current bandwidth feels like a tough pill to swallow, don’t worry. Providing top quality customer service doesn’t mean 24/7 agent availability.

Brands like Corelle use customer service chatbots to triage DMs on platforms like Facebook and X (formerly known as Twitter). If you’re hesitant about delegating customer requests to a robot, don’t worry. Chatbot quality and best practices have made major strides over the past few years. Now, they offer both agents and customers more control over their support experiences.

If you look at Corelle’s Facebook Messenger chatbot, you’ll see that the option to request human help is always available. However, if a customer is crunched for time and can solve their issue through self-service tools, they’re empowered to do so.

This relieves your teams from the burden of addressing frequently asked questions individually, so they have more energy to devote to complex customer challenges.

4. Use social listening to find which topics resonate with your audience

Social listening lets businesses tap into public conversations that expand their understanding of their customers, industry and competitors. It can give insight into the trends your audiences are engaging with, reveal sentiment around specific brand campaigns and opportunities to differentiate your brand from the competition. Social listening holds the answers to your business’ burning questions and with knowledge comes power.

Combine your findings from social listening with your insights from content analytics and customer service channels to develop data-backed marketing messaging that converts.

Social listening can also surface leads and sales opportunities for your brand, you just have to be ready to jump in. Hy-vee, for example, wasn’t mentioned in the original post below. But with social listening, their team flagged the relevant prompt and responded accordingly.

Harnessing the power of social listening is much simpler if you have tools like Sprout Social that do the heavy lifting for you. Empower your sales team to master social listening with this step-by-step listening guide.

5. Leverage employee advocacy

Increasing sales through social media isn’t exclusive to business-to-consumer brands. B2B brands across industries are driving revenue through employee advocacy.

Employee advocacy is when an individual promotes their employer’s brand throughout their individual social media networks to benefit both parties. The individual is able to establish themselves as a thought leader in their respective industry, and the business receives increased brand awareness while maintaining control over their messaging.

This awareness does more than just build brand’s social media reputation. It drives measurable ROI. For example, Edgio saw $126,000 in earned media value in just three months after adopting Employee Advocacy by Sprout Social. In an uncertain economic environment, that type of brand awareness can push you past your competition in the eyes of your target audience.

Employee Advocacy by Sprout Social makes it easy for employees to find your lead-generating content that aligns with their focus and audience, so they can quickly post approved messages to their social network. On top of that, Advocacy’s deep integration with Sprout means you can compose and publish posts for Advocacy and your brand’s social media channels, all in one place.

6. Check that you’re posting on social at the right time (for your audience)

Posting content at the right time often means more impressions, engagement and conversions. Data will tell you, for example, that the worst time to post on Facebook is Sunday. But your audience is unique. Analyze your social platforms and find what times work best for you, then build a publishing schedule from there.

If you have Sprout Social, the ViralPost® feature will calculate the best times for you.

We spoke to Jonathan Jacobs, Vice President of Social Strategy at Accelerate360, to dig deeper into their success using ViralPost®. Here’s what we found:

Facebook: Optimal send content had 62% more impressions, had 135% more engagement
Twitter: 59% more impressions, 97% more engagement
Instagram: 44% more impressions, 65% more engagement

Publishing at the right time creates more exposure for your brand and, ultimately, more chances to entice a sale.

Prove your ROI by increasing sales through social

Focusing on just one of the ways we’ve outlined above may not move the needle for sales, but the sum of these efforts can make a massive difference.

Is your business ready to step into the social commerce space? Download this interview guide to develop a cross-functional social commerce strategy that will fuel long-term revenue.

The post 6 effective ways to increase online sales through social media appeared first on Sprout Social.

What is social commerce? Stats, trends and tips marketers should know for 2024

Jacqueline Zote — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 13:26:59 +0000

Online shopping has gone social. Imagine scrolling through Instagram, finding something you love. You complete your purchase all within the app and avoid navigating to a product landing page. That’s the exact type of experience social commerce offers. It simplifies the purchase journey by eliminating extra steps and makes consumers more likely to complete their purchases.

As such, social commerce could be the key to success when using social media for retail. In this post, we take a deep dive into what social commerce is and how your brand can make the most of it.

Table of Contents

What is social commerce?
Best social commerce platforms to use in 2024
5 benefits of social commerce for your business
6 social commerce statistics marketers should know
3 social commerce trends for 2024
4 successful social commerce examples
5 ways to increase sales on social media using Sprout Social
Starting out with a social commerce strategy

What is social commerce?

Social commerce is the buying and selling of goods or services directly within a social media platform. It involves taking social media beyond its traditional role in the discovery process. Instead, users will get to complete the entire purchase journey within the same platform. That means they can quickly go from discovery to purchase without leaving their preferred apps.

Leading social media platforms now offer dedicated social commerce tools to retailers. This includes platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and TikTok. Using these tools, you can create digital storefronts right within the respective platforms. That way, people can use these storefronts to discover and buy products without having to visit another website.

Social commerce vs. ecommerce

Ecommerce broadly encompasses the process of buying and selling goods online. It includes selling through different digital channels including online marketplaces, websites and dedicated retailer apps.

Meanwhile, social commerce involves selling directly through a social media platform. Since social media is an online channel, social commerce is a subset of ecommerce but it’s not the same as ecommerce.

Best social commerce platforms to use in 2024

Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest were the first to introduce native social commerce capabilities. Now platforms like YouTube and TikTok have joined in and started rolling out their own social commerce features.

If you’re interested in getting ahead of this potential revenue channel, here are the platforms you’ll want to test out:

Facebook

Facebook’s social commerce tool, Facebook Shops, has a very low barrier to entry. Shops are free to set up and are accessible within your Facebook business profile.

If you’re using a partner platform, you can automatically sync your entire inventory list in seconds. If not, you can use a spreadsheet to upload product information.

The Facebook Shop tab on the platform’s mobile app features products based on user preferences. This helps to encourage organic brand discovery. Once consumers find your products, they can complete a purchase within the app or on your website. Sellers communicate with customers within Messenger to ask questions, offer support and more.

Instagram

Instagram Shopping is directly linked to your Facebook Shop. To set up a shop, users must link their Instagram business account to their Facebook business profile. Once that’s completed, users can upload an existing product catalog or create a new one.

Then you can use Instagram Product Tags to make your content shoppable and your products easier to discover. Product Tags allow you to highlight items from your product catalog directly in your videos and posts. Users can tap on a tag and immediately learn more about the product.

The “View shop” button lets them browse your other listings and enjoy a seamless shopping experience. Like Facebook, purchases take place within the app or on your business website.

Pinterest Shopping has made it easier for retailers to sell on Pinterest. It lets you upload your product catalog to your Pinterest business page. You can then tag products in your Pins so people can click on those tags to learn more about them.

Keep in mind that these Product Pins are not direct social commerce tools. Buyers will still get redirected to a product-specific landing page to complete their purchase. However, it simplifies the buying journey as people can get the product info right within Pinterest.

TikTok

It’s easier than ever for retailers to make money on TikTok since the platform introduced social commerce capabilities. Businesses can now set up a TikTok Shop to showcase their products and drive purchases directly within the app. With this feature, you’ll be able to create shoppable videos and even enable viewers to shop directly on your TikTok LIVE broadcasts.

Source: TikTok

5 benefits of social commerce for your business

1. Reach a wider audience of potential customers

Social media usage is constantly on the rise, with more than 4 billion people using it worldwide. Couple that with the fact that consumers are discovering new brands and products through social media.

According to Sprout Social’s Social Shopping in 2022 study, 40% of consumers were finding the perfect product through a brand’s organic post. Researching products on social media and seeing a friend’s post are other common ways consumer’s discover products.

When you leverage social commerce, your products get in front of a massive audience. You’ll reach more people who could turn into customers.

2. Convert customers where they are and remove friction

Social commerce makes it easy to convert customers where they are since they can directly make purchases on the platform. It eliminates the need to switch to a different app or website to find the product they want to buy. As such, it removes friction and barriers to purchase by shortening the buying journey.

3. Increase reviews and recommendations through social proof

If your business is new to selling online, social media is the perfect place to begin establishing much-needed social proof. When shopping online, your buyers can’t necessarily test or try on your product. Reviews can be the key to making an educated purchase decision.

Managing your end-to-end customer journey on social media creates a positive feedback loop. This will eventually have an impact on your bottom line.

Your social content attracts new followers into your funnel. And offering social commerce gives them a chance to purchase and leave reviews in one centralized location. As your engagement grows with new reviews coming in, it sends a positive signal to social media algorithms. These algorithms will deem your content relevant to even more potential customers.

4. Gather useful data on your customers’ social habits

Social commerce features give you direct access to your customers’ social profiles. This gives you valuable customer data that you can use to inform your existing strategy.

Combine these insights with social media listening to get an even better understanding of your audience. That way, you get an even more comprehensive look into the habits and interests of your customers.

You can create more inspired conversion experiments based on these insights. Findings can inform messaging A/B tests, CTA optimizations and more. So you can make a bigger impact with your target audience.

5. Drive additional revenue than traditional ecommerce

Social commerce is driving an increasing portion of marketing-driven revenue for ecommerce businesses. According to McKinsey, retail social commerce sales in the US amounted to $45.7 billion in revenue in 2022. Experts predict that the number will hit close to $80 billion by 2025.

Although this is just about 5% of the total retail ecommerce sales, it still translates to increased revenue. As social commerce opens up new avenues for your business to drive sales, it gives you the opportunity to grow your revenue.

6 social commerce statistics marketers should know

Facebook is the most popular platform for social commerce. An estimated 5 million users in the US made a purchase on the platform in 2022.
Instagram comes next with an estimated 41 million buyers making a purchase.
TikTok is another popular option with 23.7 million users buying on the platform.
Pinterest draws in about 15.9 million social shoppers on the platform.
Targeted ads are the number one way for social shoppers to find the perfect product. Forty-nine percent of people surveyed in the Sprout shopping study were discovering products through these ads.
Recommendations from friends are the most compelling reasons consumers make a purchase on social.

3 social commerce trends for 2024

Many of the current ecommerce trends we see today influence the trends shaping social commerce today.

Livestream shopping will drive a significant portion of social media purchases. Sixty-one percent of shoppers in the Sprout study already use this social commerce feature. Moreover, 53% were planning to use more of it.
VR and AR experiences will enhance the social shopping experience. Platforms like Pinterest have even introduced a “Try On” feature powered by augmented reality. This allows shoppers to try on makeup products and see how home décor products look in their space.

Source: Pinterest

Inclusive marketing will be a key purchase factor in social commerce. Sixty percent of shoppers in Sprout’s social shopping study said that inclusive marketing would make them more likely to buy from a brand.

4 successful social commerce examples

Check out these four social commerce examples to find inspiration on how to build your own strategy.

1. The Tiny Tassel

The Tiny Tassel is a retailer specializing in handmade jewelry. It uses Facebook Shop features to create informative, Facebook-native product pages. Each listing features detailed product descriptions, customization options and shipping information.

Brands should follow Tiny Tassel’s lead and post listings that communicate value. This builds trust with potential buyers who are new to your brand, motivating them to make that first purchase.

2. Patagonia

Pinterest boards can serve as product navigation tools for your audience. Take Patagonia’s Pinterest structure: the Product Pin boards mimic its website navigation. This creates a familiar experience for returning audiences. Similarly, new potential customers will enjoy a consistent experience when they click through to the brand’s main site.

Most social commerce platforms offer just enough flexibility to recreate your brand experience. Use these tools to create consistency for your audience.

3. Target

Catalog setup can take a long time If your ecommerce platform doesn’t partner with Facebook. Rather than list all of its products, Target focuses on items that align with its Instagram content strategy. This creates a better browsing experience for its established Instagram audience.

If you’re working with a larger inventory, you can use Sprout’s Instagram Performance Reports. This helps you make smarter listing choices based on content engagement and popular hashtags.

4. Made by Mitchell

Makeup brand, Made by Mitchell introduced a product that was exclusively available on TikTok Shop. The brand took advantage of TikTok’s LIVE shopping feature for its initial launch.

The brand had collaborated with TikTok creator, Melissa Jade for this collection. So the two parties had a duel livestream on both their accounts. This attracted 50,000 LIVE views combined and a total of 2.4 million product views. The livestream session even had a 100% sell-out rate.

Brands should follow suit and take full advantage of TikTok’s LIVE shopping feature to engage shoppers in real-time. You can even maximize your reach with influential content creators.

The brand further encouraged sales through mystery beauty bundles. People were buying these mystery bundles on the brand’s TikTok Shop and creating unboxing videos. This helped to build a buzz around the collection and persuaded others to buy their own mystery boxes.

Source: TikTok

5 ways to increase sales on social media using Sprout Social

1. Know your audience

Align your social commerce strategy with your target social audience for maximum engagement. Choose products and messaging based on this specific customer subset instead of simply repeating what’s on your website.

A social media analytics tool can help you keep up with information as your audience grows. Sprout Profile Reports offer follower demographic data to create platform-wise customer personas. Use these in combination with post performance data to make your initial decisions about which products to list and how to position them.

2. Schedule your content

Once you share a listing, schedule some promotional posts to build interest and drive traffic to your new social storefront. This is a great way to share additional product information, like walkthroughs and close-up shots.

Use Sprout’s built-in social commerce catalogs to add shoppable tags and links to your products while scheduling your content. By adding products to your posts, you can meet customers where they want to shop and streamline their purchase process.

3. Personalize your replies

Asking questions about a product or service is one of the top reasons consumers reach out to brands on social. They may have requests for specific product details, ask about a specific order or want to know which options are available. Not only can you answer those questions by recommending a product, but you can even share a direct link to buy it. It’s a win-win—you’re delivering helpful service and making it easier for consumers to buy what they’re looking for.

Sprout helps you add direct product links to replies using built-in product catalogs from Facebook Shops and Shopify. You can also answer questions about order status, shipping details and more without switching to another tool.

4. Learn what works (and do more of it)

As you dip your toe into the world of social commerce, the best thing you can do is measure, measure, measure. Knowing what’s working can help you repeat your success as you scale your strategy. It can even help to illuminate new opportunities you might have otherwise missed.

Monitor your social analytics to manage performance. Remember to categorize your posts in Sprout by tagging them, giving you an in-depth look at what’s working and what’s not. Combine this with UTM parameters and you can dig in, see which posts drove sales and adjust your strategy to optimize your posts. With Sprout, you can schedule report deliveries on a weekly or monthly basis to stay on top of this process.

5. Automate conversations and increase response times

Failing to provide timely responses is one of the biggest social commerce mistakes. Before people finalize their purchases on your social media storefront, they may need some additional info. It’s your job to ensure that those potential customers get the response they need when they need it.

Sprout lets you build chatbots with customized responses so you can automate those conversations. That way, you can provide quick responses even when your support team is unavailable. And customers will get the answers they need to make informed purchase decisions.

Starting out with a social commerce strategy

Social media has revolutionized the way businesses and consumers interact, and social commerce is its newest frontier. You now know all the basics about social commerce–from what benefits you can enjoy to which platforms you should use. So if you’re ready to get started, download our free interview guide on how to craft a social commerce strategy.

The post What is social commerce? Stats, trends and tips marketers should know for 2024 appeared first on Sprout Social.

How to Unlock the Power of TikTok for Your Business

prasana — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 05:19:20 +0000

80 million people spend an average of 24 hours a month on TikTok. Your brand can use this new opportunity to revolutionize how you interact with customers to dramatically increase your brand’s visibility.

Brands that are truly “killing it” on TikTok are creating content that’s as entertaining as it is authentic–making the audience feel closer to the brand. This trends away from the often polished and perfect posts we’re used to seeing from businesses on other social media platforms.

This 45-minute discussion will cover:

How your business can gain value from TikTok
TikTok audience insights and its potential for your business
Impactful TikTok marketing tips you can begin implementing now

Featuring speakers from Sprout Social:

The post How to Unlock the Power of TikTok for Your Business appeared first on Sprout Social.

13 Ecommerce trends you need to know in 2024

Jamia Kenan — Mon, 13 Feb 2023 13:00:59 +0000

Today, it’s easier than ever to shop online with just a few touches on your smartphone. Not only is ecommerce a crowd favorite, but it intersects with the most popular social media trends of 2023.

Analysts predict US ecommerce sales to increase from the current 23% of retail sales to 31% by 2026. Brick and mortar stores aren’t going away, but modern consumers have more items on their shopping list for preferred brands online. Along with choice and convenience, consumers are concerned about price, brands who align with their values—and that’s just the beginning.

Marketers with sophisticated social presences and ecommerce managers need to keep up with the latest ecommerce trends because consumer behavior is constantly evolving. Product launches no longer take place solely in the physical space. The digital one is just as, if not more, important.

Let’s take a look at the top ecommerce trends you need to know about in 2023:

Accelerated use of mobile shopping
Social commerce continues to grow and evolve
Personalization is a preferred shopping experience
Artificial Intelligence will help brands learn more about shoppers
Zero-party data and privacy are on consumers’ minds
AR and VR enhance online shopping experiences
A rise in voice search
Businesses focus on optimizing for conversion
Subscriptions help retain loyal customers
Consumers are choosing brands that align with their beliefs
Consumers are increasingly mindful of sustainability
Livestream shopping
Conversational marketing

1. Accelerated use of mobile shopping

Mobile commerce is more than simply using your phone to buy items. It includes any purchasing activity (engagement with mobile ads, speaking with sales reps, browsing brands on a smartphone, etc) made on a mobile browser or app. And since mobile shopping intersects with other trending ecommerce features like live stream shopping, augmented reality shopping and in-app purchases, we predict its use will accelerate in 2023.

How to act on this:

Consider your current mobile shopping offerings and experiment with trending commerce features.
Pay attention to new ecommerce product features to stay ahead.

2. Social commerce continues to grow and evolve

Social commerce reigned supreme in 2022. But consumers’ wants are becoming more complex and they’re more selective with their purchase decisions, especially in a looming economic downturn.

Sprout’s social shopping report found 98% of consumers planned to make at least one purchase through social shopping or influencer commerce in 2022—and this trend isn’t slowing down. If you haven’t already started selling on social media, chances are high that your competitors already are or are planning to.

With the maturing of creator marketing, the natural next step is for platforms to help creators and companies sell to consumers.

Grove Collaborative utilizes Instagram Shop to offer customers a unique browsing experience and the ability to check out within the app. Along with photos, they include tutorial videos to illustrate how to use their products. Users can also send a direct message to Grove Collaborative if they have a question.

Why make someone leave Instagram if they can just click on a product tag and purchase something in less than a minute? In the buyer journey, it’s one less click for customers and that’s one less chance for them to abandon the cart.

In our Q1 2023 Sprout Pulse survey, 47% of consumers say they plan to use shopping features within a platform (Instagram Shops, Facebook Shops, TikTok Shopping, etc.).

Even across generations, consumers anticipate using in-app shopping features over the next year.

How to act on this:

Consider implementing new in-app shopping features on social media.
Meet your customers where they are. Which social shopping platform or feature do they engage with the most?
Reward social shoppers with exclusive in-app discounts and sales.

3. Personalization is a preferred shopping experience

B2C and B2B consumers alike are seeking custom ecommerce experiences and are more likely to remain loyal to retail brands that offer a personalized experience. According to the State of Personalization 2022, almost half (49%) of consumers say they will likely become a repeat buyer after a personalized shopping experience with a retailer.

Personalization can include product recommendations, offers and discounts and a cohesive retail experience across multiple channels (website, mobile and social). It can also include offering a variety of payment methods. If customers have a preferred payment method and it’s not available, they could easily abandon the website without completing their purchase.

Brands that are expanding their personalization efforts are reaping benefits. According to BCG’s Personalization Maturity Index, retailers that scale advanced personalization capabilities earn on average four times the revenue compared to those with less advanced features.

How to act on this:

Scale personalization efforts by offering product recommendations and exclusive offers.
Consider offering modern payment methods, like Apple Pay, or buy now, pay later services like Klarna.
Prioritize improving customer care across your social media channels.

4. Artificial intelligence will help brands learn more about shoppers

With the rise of custom shopping experiences, artificial intelligence (AI) is growing quickly. AI can collect data on customers’ shopping behaviors. This can include how a customer shops, their preferences when browsing for a product/service and time of purchase. Brands can use this information to offer a personalized shopping experience.

It’s like your favorite sales associate, but with a techy twist. Instead of your favorite associate, AI can show a new shoe you might like or share details about relevant upcoming sales.

You may be familiar with the science fiction trope of an AI robot learning how to express human emotions. Well, we are not quite there yet—and perhaps we never will be.

But more practical use cases for AI and customer service are emerging. While not every AI scenario goes well, companies have tapped on AI to compose responses for more practical customer care engagements like searching for an item status. Using AI will improve efficiencies as customer paths are projected to become more complex over time.

As a bot learns how to communicate better, brands can also teach them how to provide more complex customer service, along with offering products based on a customer’s moods and preferences.

How to act on this:

Research best use cases for AI ecommerce.
Experiment with AI tools to get a hands-on learning experience.
Pay attention to industry news surrounding artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Tap into solutions like Sprout’s upcoming Queries by AI Assist feature to build more robust listening capabilities and capture emerging customer preferences.

5. Zero-party data and privacy are on consumers’ minds

While some consumers want a personalized experience, others are concerned about their data and privacy rights. More consumers are aware that ecommerce sites collect data, but they don’t always know how this data will be used or whether the collection puts them at risk. There are mixed sentiments about the benefits of big data and how it impacts personalized shopping experiences.

In light of top companies like Google planning to end the support of third-party cookies in 2023, brands are beginning to adopt zero-party data. Collecting data directly from consenting customers is an attempt to avoid the issues that come with using third-party cookies.

Our Q1 2023 Sprout Pulse survey shows 63% of consumers are concerned about zero-party data while shopping online.

However, our Pulse survey also revealed over half (55%) of consumers are okay with brands using their personal information to deliver relevant content and offers, or if the recommendation aligns with their identity.

With the future moving toward zero-party data, marketers will have to learn how to balance the interesting dichotomy between personalization and data/privacy concerns.

How to act on this:

Consider adopting zero-party data and collect customer data in-house.
Identify and implement the appropriate security and privacy protocols to protect your customer data.
Be transparent with customers about how your brand collects, stores and uses their data.

6. AR and VR enhance online shopping experiences

Our Q1 2023 Pulse survey revealed 48% of marketers anticipate using Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) or Extended Reality (XR) technologies like the metaverse. Some 43% of consumers say VR/AR/XR will play a significant role in how they engage with brands over the next 12 months.

“Try before you buy” takes on a whole new meaning with augmented reality (AR) commerce, which uses 3D mapping to help customers try out products or preview experiences before making a purchase. AR has been a game changer across industries, especially fashion, beauty and home decor because it brings the product/service within the fingertips of customers. Brands don’t even need brick-and-mortar storefronts to take advantage of AR commerce.

A few advantages of AR ecommerce include:

Customers can get a feel for a product without seeing it physically in person
Helps customers who don’t have access to a store nearby due to time or proximity
Since customers can preview products and experiences without purchasing, their purchase decisions are more informed, leading to fewer returns
Offers consumers the ability to test on their own time, making this marketing and sales channel cost-effective

Some examples of AR ecommerce include virtually trying on glasses frames, placing a piece of furniture in a room to see how it’ll look and applying various makeup products to see what compliments your skin tone.

Within its iOS app, Target uses AR to improve the customer shopping experience. Common furniture items are able to be superimposed into customers’ spaces so they can actually picture how they’ll look. If customers are able to see how well a leather armchair fits into their living room, they’re more confident in their purchasing decision and less likely to return the item.

How to act on this:

Consider investing in AR ecommerce features through your brand’s app or an AR app like Snapchat.
Showcase how customers can use your brand’s AR offerings on social media.

7. A rise in voice search

In 2023, marketers are using emerging technologies like voice search to level up their social commerce strategies. Many consumers rely on smart speakers and voice assistants to complete daily tasks. Customers can explore a brand’s various collections, choose product sizes and colors and ask questions directly within their shop.

As more people adopt these systems, they will likely start using voice search to make purchases from clothing to food.

According to our Q1 2023 Pulse survey, 25% of respondents say they plan to use voice search in 2023, a 3% increase from 2022.

How to act on this:

Optimize voice search by using traditional search engine optimization and semantic strategy
Optimize product/service descriptions for search using natural speech like “who,” “what,” “where,” “why,” “when,” and “how”

8. Businesses focus on optimizing for conversion

In today’s economic landscape, consumers are spending less and less often. According to Shopify’s The Future of Ecommerce + Trends 2022 report, in a survey of global Shopify Plus merchants, 35% have seen shrinking average cart sizes, and 50% are seeing less site traffic and lower conversion rates.

With so many brands embracing multichannel marketing, marketers need to focus on optimizing for conversion on social media and search engine advertising. Gone are the days of identical messaging across traditional channels like billboards and postcards. Today, companies have to craft a cohesive brand presence while curating the appropriate messaging and content across various social channels.

How to act on this:

Prioritize customer care across your brand’s channels.
Include a call to action link or button in content.
Showcase testimonials and reviews across your channels.

9. Subscriptions help retain loyal customers

Brands are adopting subscription models to attract loyal customers while boosting profitability and retention rates. Subscriptions and/or memberships are becoming more popular due to economic instability and inflation.

B2C brands in particular are marketing subscription plans as an opportunity to save money, some even promising lifetime price rates as a registration incentive. Gated membership communities like Fabletics and Lululemon are rising as well. The model leans on FOMO, offering members VIP-style treatment with exclusive access to products, events, etc.

Got my @lululemon yoga mat & I’m so excited for yoga tomorrow! I told myself that if I went to yoga consistently for the month and used my unlimited subscription, I’d treat myself and voila 😌 pic.twitter.com/wQOho8QbCP

— AmandaLeigha† (@amandaleigha) August 2, 2021

These benefits are so attractive to customers that Lululemon expects 80% of customers to sign up for membership within the next five years, according to Shopify’s The Future of Ecommerce + Trends 2022 report. Lululemon also stands out because of how they promote their subscription and community. The athletic apparel retailer frequently interacts with customers on social, sometimes even surprising and delighting their customers with subscriptions.

Thank you @lululemon for the gift!! I will definitely be using these flashcards & the meditation subscription : ) pic.twitter.com/HqSBNpPrAF

— Kerri Lynn (@kerri_0011) December 20, 2015

How to act on this:

Reward subscribers with limited-time offers.
Market the benefits of your subscription service.
Engage with subscribers online to shape a sense of community.

10. Consumers are choosing brands that align with their beliefs

Consumers want to spend their dollars on brands that align with their beliefs. Our Q1 2023 Pulse survey reveals aligned values are a top priority for many consumers. They want to spend their dollars on brands that don’t just talk the talk, but walk it too.

For example, if an ecommerce brand values environmentalism, they could allow consumers the option to minimize the number of shipments an order is sent in. Beauty and apparel brands that champion diversity, equity and inclusion are expected to feature diverse models and offer inclusive sizing or foundation shades.

Our Pulse survey shows 77% of consumers are more likely to increase their spending with brands they feel connected to, a 57% increase from our 2018 Brands Get Real report.

Our Pulse survey also showed, across generations, consumers are more likely to spend on brands they feel the most connected to.

How to act on this:

Get creative with how you showcase your brand values.
Collaborate with like-minded businesses, content creators and influencers.

11. Consumers are increasingly mindful of sustainability

Staying true to the trend of consumers choosing brands that align with their beliefs, sustainability is becoming an important staple to shoppers. With factors like the environmental implications of fast fashion and emerging technologies like NFTs (which are known for having large carbon footprints), many consumers are becoming more aware of sustainability.

Consumers are looking for sustainable packing, pivoting from plastic and paying attention to brands’ environmental activism efforts.

How to act on this:

Evaluate how your brand can embrace sustainable business practices.
Consider how your product or service can be more eco-friendly.

12. Livestream shopping

Livestream shopping allows consumers to enjoy the best of social commerce and live streaming. Brands, influencers and creators can promote products/services while interacting with customers in real time. The experience is similar to shopping in a store with associates answering questions, but now it’s from the comfort of home.

Some 49% of consumers plan on watching live streams in 2023, according to our Q1 2023 Sprout Pulse survey.

Even traditional television shopping networks like QVC are embracing livestream shopping. Viewers can tune in via Facebook, Youtube and the QVC streaming app.

13. Conversational marketing

Imagine a customer starts a conversation with your brand on Facebook Messenger.

With the help of a chatbot or a live agent, the customer can get answers to their questions about your product/service. And they can even complete a purchase without leaving the platform. Conversational commerce is a lot more personalized and interactive on a one-on-one basis.

Our Q1 2023 Sprout Pulse survey reveals, some 26% of marketers plan to use conversational marketing in 2023, a 6% increase from 2022.

On top of text-based conversational commerce is voice shopping, like we mentioned before. Having a natural conversation with your Amazon Echo or Google Home that leads to a purchase is another example of conversational commerce.

Next steps for marketers

Consider optimizing conversational marketing efforts for conversion, like chatbot call to action prompts or using live agents with chatbots.
Implement chatbots on your brand’s website and social messaging platforms.

Evolve your emerging social commerce strategy

Keep an eye on these emerging ecommerce trends over the next year. New technology is helping ensure smoother customer journeys and a better brand experience, helping both the customer and the company.

Get ahead of the latest ecommerce trends with our social commerce strategy tool.

The post 13 Ecommerce trends you need to know in 2024 appeared first on Sprout Social.

How the Sprout Social Salesforce integration strengthens your team

Tim Clarke — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 14:58:11 +0000

There’s a reason more and more companies are linking their CRMs with social media management tools like Sprout Social: Optimizing your customer experience should be at the forefront of your social media strategy.

Through a global partnership with Salesforce launched in 2022, Sprout and Salesforce are ushering in a new era of social customer care. The Sprout Social Salesforce integration empowers your brand to deliver world-class social customer care—all without interrupting your team’s workflow.

The Service Cloud integration ensures Salesforce customers can manage all of their social customer care requests directly from within Service Cloud while enriching customer CRM profiles with social data to provide a holistic view of customer interactions.

Want to speed up internal collaboration and uncover valuable customer insights at the same time? Our Salesforce integration empowers your social, sales, marketing and support teams alike.

In this guide, we’ll break down exactly how the Sprout Social Salesforce integration works. We’ll also highlight how the integration streamlines tasks across your entire business and makes it easier to prove the effectiveness of your strategies.

Why you need to integrate your CRM with social media ASAP

The importance of social media integrations with your business’ tech stack can’t be overstated. And your CRM platform should be a top priority.

This is especially true as customers rely on social media as a research tool, support channel and place to sound off about brands.

Looking at the top challenges of B2B marketers, the growing need for social media CRM integrations is clear. These challenges include:

Engaging buyers at the right time in the right channel (57%)
Giving the sales team relevant content to engage target buyers (23%)
Dealing with internal data silos and inefficiencies (17%)

The Sprout Social Salesforce integration addresses all of the above.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, let’s dive into some of the key upsides of linking your CRM with your social presence.

Create a 360-degree view of your customer

Empower your agents with a complete customer 360 view before responding. Sprout Social enriches your Salesforce customer CRM data with social data to provide a comprehensive view. With this integration, agents can engage in real time with the right context.

Sprout’s Tableau Business Intelligence (BI) Connector takes it a step further by combining social data in an omnichannel view, customized with the exact visuals and metric combinations companies need. This delivers rich data options and visualizations that give users a complete view of their customers, without requiring time-consuming work.

With a more complete picture of your customer, you can create meaningful customer journeys and segment audiences based on their social interactions with your brand. Leverage the robust social data shared with Salesforce to ensure you’re delivering personalized messages that convert contacts to lifelong customers.

Monitor make-or-break moments in the buyer’s journey

CRMs help businesses assist leads and customers on the path to purchase.

And social media is where so many crucial moments happen during that journey.

This rings true for B2B and B2C alike. Let’s assume that the typical B2B buyer’s journey is around eight months. Social interactions are a given for folks doing their homework on a product.

Meanwhile, recent research from TikTok describes consumer behavior as an “infinite loop” in B2C. The modern path to purchase is far from linear when people are bouncing between so many channels.

As customers bounce between platforms and content, social media serves as a place to make valuable touchpoints along the way. This includes answering questions and publishing educational content to nurture leads.

The same rules apply to existing customers. Data from The Sprout Social Index™ 2021 notes the majority of people that follow a brand on social intend to buy from them (or buy again).

Earn (and track) more social sales

The growth of social selling speaks for itself.

Do activities such as customer care and content marketing contribute big-time to closing and retaining leads? Of course.

Still, they’re difficult to track without a CRM.

With integrations like those between Sprout Social and Salesforce, it’s so much easier to attribute sales from social. The ability to quickly answer questions and handoff cases between social, sales and support likewise makes it easier to respond to people quickly.

Gather meaningful customer insights you might otherwise miss

The more info you have about your customers, the better.

Consolidating touchpoints between social media and your CRM gives you a more in-depth understanding of your audience. And by tapping into Sprout’s Tableau BI Connector, your team can access all consumer data in one place to get a birds-eye view of how social media fits into the larger picture.

Fact: 90% of marketers say data from social enables them to differentiate their brands in the market and stand out from their peers. Also, consider how many people use social media as a place to sound off about brands.

These conversations and activities provide insights for sales and support, including:

Sales objections
Pain points and challenges
Wants and needs
Competitor advantages (and disadvantages)

With all of the above on hand, your team can approach leads and customers with a much-needed sense of confidence.

Reimagine the role of social in your business

A powerful, all-in-one social media management platform

Start Your Free Trial

How does Salesforce integrate with Sprout Social?

Here’s a quick snapshot of the Sprout Social Salesforce integration and what you can do with it:

Create Salesforce contacts, leads and cases directly in Sprout. This means you can route social customers to support and sales without leaving Sprout or Salesforce.
Paint a complete picture of your CRM contacts with information and conversations via social media.
Tie your social presence to actual business results with analytics and reporting.
Personalize audience segments and journeys in Marketing Cloud based on your social data.

Respond directly within Service Cloud where agents work, reducing the need for multiple tools wrapped in a layer of governance and security.

As an added bonus, our Salesforce integration is available on all Sprout plans. Features and requirements below:

Requirements: Salesforce account
Data types: messages, contacts, tickets
Key functionality: create leads, edit contact information, create cases, edit cases, auto-sync

What entities are available with the Sprout Social Salesforce integration?

The Salesforce social media integration with Sprout Social allows the creation and editing of these entities directly within Sprout’s dashboard:

Leads: Kick off the sales process by identifying potential customers through questions, comments and other social media interactions.
Cases: Route customer issues or concerns posted on social to your support team without leaving the platform.
Contacts: Beyond customers, you can keep track of social interactions with contacts such as company partners.

To learn more, check out this detailed breakdown.

Sprout + Tableau + Salesforce

We understand there are times when you need to take social data outside of Sprout to combine with other data streams (including customer care and other marketing data), and to further customize it based on your company’s own internal preferences.

With Sprout’s Tableau BI Connector, you can combine the power of social data with other business channels. The tool enables you to analyze data, create custom metrics and merge different data sources.

This seamless and customized view gives you a consolidated source of truth for wider business insights and performance.

The integration:

Consolidates wider business updates
Builds your perfect dashboard
Accesses data without the dev network

For Salesforce users, this ensures social data and insights are included in your 360-degree view of your customers.

4 key benefits of using the Sprout Social Salesforce integration

To wrap things up, let’s look at some of the specific benefits of using a Salesforce social media integration like Sprout.

1. Provide better customer care

According to The Sprout Social Index™ 2022, there are two specific actions brands can take to earn consumer trust over a competitor:

Respond to questions and concerns in a timely manner.
Demonstrate an understanding of customer needs.

Our Salesforce integration can help you in both departments.

Again, logging social activity means a more comprehensive understanding of your customers’ wants and needs. Not having to bounce between your CRM and social tools is a huge time-saver. In turn, you speed up your response time.

Not only that, our intelligent case routing feature improves agent productivity and optimizes the customer experience through automated case creation and routing. Ensuring that inbound messages reach the right agent speedily—right inside of Salesforce.

The end result: Responding to customers faster and coming up with better solutions to meet their needs. Doing so is a recipe for long-term loyalty and retention.

2. Align your marketing, sales and support teams

Consider that 36% of marketers say they struggle with cross-team collaboration.

When marketing, sales and support are aligned, each team is empowered to do their best work. There’s so much room for error if you only log your customers’ social interactions sometimes.

Think about it. If marketing or sales leave out key customer details in your CRM, your support team is left in the dark. On the flip side, marketing should be aware of sales objections and concerns to better speak to customers’ desires.

Here are some specific ways that Sprout’s Salesforce integration can help:

Save time by eliminating needless back-and-forth between vendors, managers and social managers.
Swiftly route cases to avoid bouncing between tools.
Provide each team the context they need to serve your customers.

3. Boost the value behind your marketing content

Learning what makes customers bounce or stick around is invaluable for marketers.

Tracking these touchpoints can lead to the answers you need to create more impactful content, meaningful marketing messaging and personalized customer journeys. This includes:

Blog posts
Social posts (think: how-tos, tutorials and content you share to nurture customers)
Reports, white papers and other lead magnets
Webinars

For example, marketers might learn that high price points are the most common sales objection among lost leads. This information encourages the marketing side to reframe their messaging and how they speak to their audience.

4. More meaningful attribution via analytics

Perhaps most importantly, social integration with your CRM highlights the ROI of your team’s efforts.

This is an ongoing struggle for marketers, in particular. Although social media is a must-have for businesses, determining its business impact can be tricky.

That’s where Sprout comes in. Through our marketing and analytics features, brands can see how social engagements correspond with dollars and cents. Proving how these interactions contribute to revenue reinforces the value of social to stakeholders.

And with our reporting functionality in Salesforce, you can keep track of your full omnichannel experience, including seeing which channels (e.g. phone, email, social) and social channels (e.g. LinkedIn, Twitter) cases are being created from.

Food for thought: Sales strategy is the number one use case for social data, especially as social has more impact on the bottom line. However, 43% of social teams still feel siloed.

This speaks to the importance of integrating social with your tech stack to advance the sophistication of your customer care.

When you need to aggregate all of your marketing, customer care and social data in one place, Sprout’s Tableau integration will help you best tell the story of your brand’s success on social and beyond.

Checkout this article to understand why is Sprout the best alternative for Salesforce Social Studio.

Ready to try the Sprout Social Salesforce Integration?

From customer insights to better service, the upsides of linking your social presence with your CRM are crystal clear.

Thankfully, getting up and running with the Sprout Social Salesforce integration can be done sooner rather than later. Our platform makes it a breeze to beef up your tech stack while bringing your team closer together.

If you haven’t already, we invite you to request a demo of our Service Cloud integration or get set up via the AppExchange.

Don’t forget to take a peek at our other business integrations to see how else Sprout can help you level up your company.

The post How the Sprout Social Salesforce integration strengthens your team appeared first on Sprout Social.

16 unexpected ways to use WhatsApp for business

Jessica Coleman — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 14:55:34 +0000

Conversational marketing is on the rise, driven largely by consumers’ increasing expectations for convenience and tailored digital experiences. In fact, 90% of global consumers say they’ll spend more with companies that personalize the service they offer.

Coupled with recent government- and self-imposed restrictions on in-person shopping, more brands than ever before are turning to WhatsApp and similar messaging platforms to interact with customers in meaningful ways.

Today, millions of brands are using WhatsApp Business to build personal connections with consumers at scale. In this article, we’ll establish the growing importance of WhatsApp across business functions (not just marketing), showcase the ways some brands are using the app and highlight a few innovative tips for making the most of the network.

The benefits of using WhatsApp for business
Inventive ways to use WhatsApp for business
7 WhatsApp Business account features to use
WhatsApp Business account vs. WhatsApp Business API
16 brands that demonstrate how to expertly use WhatsApp for business

The benefits of using WhatsApp for business

For brands that use WhatsApp to engage with customers, there are a number of clear benefits.

Expand your global reach. WhatsApp, the most popular messaging app worldwide, has upward of two billion active users across more than 180 countries. With a potential audience that large, it’s easy to engage with new prospects that may not yet be aware of all your business has to offer.
Improve the customer experience. Research from Zendesk found that leading companies offer customer support across twice as many channels as their peers. If you are looking to expand your opportunities to support customers, WhatsApp provides a seamless platform for doing so.
Enhance employee satisfaction. WhatsApp’s messaging capability can also be a win for your internal team as customer support personnel report that they are 50% more likely to want to engage with customers via messaging platforms versus more traditional methods because it affords them the freedom to multitask.
Increase profitability. When customer service is streamlined, operating expenses often shrink. Gartner predicts that by 2025, 40% of customer service will go from a major organizational expense to a significant profit driver as direct messaging streamlines sales pipelines.

Inventive ways to use WhatsApp for business

WhatsApp is more than just a place to answer one-off customer questions. Consider these ideas for integrating WhatsApp into your social media, sales or customer service strategies.

Optimize your profile: Use your WhatsApp business profile to share important information about your brand and provide answers to common customer questions.
Use digital catalogs: Create a digital catalog to help your customers discover your products or services.
Support customers: You can significantly reduce your reliance on call centers by outsourcing simple customer requests and queries to a WhatsApp-powered chatbot or digital assistant.
Share content via the Status feature: Use the Status feature to share content the same way you already do in your Facebook or Instagram Stories.
Develop creative marketing campaigns: Engage customers with an out-of-the-box marketing campaign.
Replicate core business processes: Identify key areas of your business that might be possible to replicate on WhatsApp.
Level up with ads: Use Facebook and Instagram ads that click to WhatsApp to initiate customer conversations that lead to sales.

7 WhatsApp Business account features to use

Once you create your WhatsApp Business profile, you’ll find a suite of tools you can use to scale your 1:1 messaging strategy on the platform. Here are seven that can help you make the most out of your presence on WhatsApp:

1. Quick replies

Quick replies are a great way to take some of the work out of addressing those frequently asked questions, like “when are you open?” or “is this in stock?”.

To set one up, all you have to do is click Quick Replies under the Business Tools section of WhatsApp. From there, you can create up to 50 unique replies that you can access via keyboard shortcuts.

A word to the wise: Start with 5-10 Quick Replies and add more as needed. That will make your new shortcuts easier to remember and use when talking to customers.

2. Automatic away messages

Adding 1:1 messaging to your strategy doesn’t mean you need to be available 24/7. You can use away messages to set appropriate expectations with your customers and to give yourself a break as needed.

Away messages can be triggered by a few different scenarios, including:

When a customer messages you outside of business hours
During specific periods, like holidays or extended closures
When receiving high volumes of inbound messages

When you set up an away message, be sure to clearly state when a customer can expect to hear back from you. Remove as much ambiguity from the situation as possible for an improved customer experience.

3. Contact and message Labels

You can use labels to organize inbound messages and contacts on WhatsApp, similarly to how you might use labels to organize your email inbox.

When it comes to creating a label strategy, it’s a choose your own adventure game. However, if you want to keep your social media response times low, we recommend that you create a label specifically for unresolved issues. This will help keep them top of mind as you work to find the answer to a customer’s question.

4. Catalogs and collections

Use your WhatsApp Business account to drive social commerce sales by creating an inventory catalog within the app. Aside from the product title, all additional fields—price, description, website link, product code—are optional, so you can make your listing unique to your sales process.

You can also use collections to sort your catalog for easier browsing. For example, you can create a holiday-specific collection or one that features products currently on sale.

5. Catalog links

Once you create a catalog, you can share items in your catalog in conversations with customers. All you have to do is find the item you’d like to share and click Send link via WhatsApp Business.

Use this tool if a customer is asking about a specific item or to provide alternatives for items that have sold out. You can also use it to send loyal customers updates on items that have gone on sale.

6. Cart

While you can drive customers directly to your site using WhatsApp Business’s catalog feature, you can also create a more seamless checkout experience by encouraging them to complete their purchase in-app using the cart tool.

All you have to do is enable the Add to Cart feature within your catalog and your customers can handle the rest from there.

7. Broadcast lists

If a customer adds your business to their address book on WhatsApp, you can add them to a broadcast list. These lists help you send the same message to multiple customers at once, saving you a lot of time and effort.

Use this tool sparingly and with SMS marketing best practices in mind. If you use it too often, you risk alienating customers who appreciate your business enough to consider it a personal contact.

WhatsApp Business account vs. WhatsApp Business API

If you’ve been looking into setting up a WhatsApp Business account, you’ve probably also come across information on the WhatsApp Business API (also known as WhatsApp Business Platform).

Think of this as the next evolution of a WhatsApp Business account, designed for medium and large businesses to manage conversational marketing at a wider scale. The WhatsApp Business API provides access to the tools listed above, along with advanced marketing and customer care features, including:

Multi-agent access
Profile verification
Multimedia message templates
Message variables for personalization
Interactive messages

Of course, advanced tools come at an advanced price point. WhatsApp Business API also has a conversation-based pricing model whereas WhatsApp Business Accounts are free. Businesses using the WhatsApp Business API receive 1,000 free conversations per month, with monthly rates increasing depending on the number of user- and business-initiated messages sent within the billing period.

16 brands that demonstrate how to expertly use WhatsApp for business

Brands are using WhatsApp in a variety of ways that expand their customer-facing and internal capabilities. The following examples highlight use cases in customer service, financial services, marketing, human resources and pipeline growth.

Customer service

1. Vodafone, a German telecommunications company, has embraced WhatsApp for customer messaging, reaching more than 200,000 customers via this channel each month. Their artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, TOBi, recognizes more than 250 customer needs and will only pass requests over to employees if it encounters an issue it is not equipped to solve. More than half of these interactions result in a solution for the customer, removing the need for live customer service support in many cases.

2. Estée Lauder was the first major beauty brand to use WhatsApp to offer personalized skincare consultations for customers. Liv, an AI chatbot, was developed in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to replace over-the-counter consultations customers previously had in department stores. These digital conversations help customers understand how to use the company’s products and gather tips for maintaining an effective skincare regimen.

3. Nissan Saudi Arabia, looking to engage younger customers and reduce its reliance on call centers, began using WhatsApp to handle inquiries and nurture sales. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, people under 30 years old make up nearly three-fourths of the population. To reach that market, Nissan developed an automated chatbot powered by WhatsApp that could answer simple customer questions without the need to transfer them to the call center. After the launch of the chatbot, leads increased 390% and inbound calls were reduced by 33%.

Financial services

4. One of Spain’s leading insurance providers, Mutua Madrileña, offers personalized messaging for customers via WhatsApp on more than 1,000 topics. In the first six months of using this new channel for customer support, the company had received nearly half a million messages, making up 23% of digital customer inquiries. In late 2020, the brand became the first insurer in the country to allow customers to submit automobile accident claims via their WhatsApp virtual assistant, resulting in a process that is now 30% faster.

5. WhatsApp banking is also a thing. Many banks, primarily in Europe, the Middle East and Asia are using the app to make banking simpler and more convenient for customers. India’s ICICI Bank and Pakistan’s HBL Bank both use the app to answer customer questions and to conduct basic transactions.

6. Mukuru, one of the largest money transfer providers in Africa, realized more than $1 million in reduced SMS costs after implementing customer service via WhatsApp. It also improved the reliability and security of wire transfers for the financially excluded communities it serves across the continent. With WhatsApp available, consumers can reduce their dependence on mobile banking apps that traditionally use more unpredictable unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) protocols that don’t require an internet connection. Since the introduction of WhatsApp, the brand’s customer satisfaction has jumped from 65% to 80%.

7. Tikkie, a Dutch peer-to-peer payment app (similar to Venmo or Zelle), created their own set of 11 stickers for their WhatsApp users. The stickers allowed customers a fun way of communicating with each other to thank someone for paying or to remind them to do so.

Marketing campaigns

8. Absolut Vodka, a Swedish spirits brand, used WhatsApp to publicize an in-person product launch event in Argentina. Customers were encouraged to message a chatbot doorman named Sven to try to convince “him” they deserved one of two available tickets. This campaign resulted in more than 1,000 messages from 600 individuals over three days.

9. Carrefour Group, a French-based big box store chain, uses WhatsApp to provide digital coupon catalogs to its client base. These offers were previously printed, but the company wanted to offset those costs and have better targeting capabilities based on customers’ locations and preferences. By inputting their zip code into a chatbot, customers can be directed to their nearest store and also receive tailored deals straight to their phone. According to Meta, 45% of users now engage with the digital catalog versus 10% who open the catalog via email.

10. The Brazilian arm of Hellmann’s, a mayonnaise brand, launched a campaign via WhatsApp to provide its users with on-demand cooking advice delivered by culinary professionals. The campaign, called WhatsCook, allowed customers to converse in real time with chefs to get detailed instruction, answers to their questions, or specific assistance for preparing their meals.

11. Adidas’ 100% Unfair Predator campaign, launched via WhatsApp, helped the brand engage with a core set of customers: footballers. Users were allowed to chat with Adidas to request a professional athlete join their local teams for a single game. For the lucky teams chosen, Adidas-sponsored players showed up in the company’s new Predator20 Mutator shoes.

Human resources

12. BASF Group, a German chemical production company, uses WhatsApp to engage potential recruits. Anilina, a digital career assistant in the form of a chatbot, helps to answer candidates’ questions quickly and on the spot. For more involved conversations, candidates can reach out to representatives Monday through Friday via WhatsApp chat.

13. Logistics company Deutsche Post DHL Group allows candidates to apply to open positions directly from WhatsApp, eliminating the need to fill out lengthy and cumbersome online forms. The company deployed the chatbot to reach their target candidates where they are via a more user-centric application process.

Pipeline growth

14. French newspaper Le Monde used WhatsApp’s status feature to target customers in French-speaking African countries. The company posts content to its status, which is viewable for 24 hours (similar to an Instagram Story), three to four times a day. About 20% of the brand’s follower base typically consumes this content, and over time, Le Monde Afrique has grown its WhatsApp followers by 10,000.

15. Triya, a Brazilian beachwear brand, uses WhatsApp to converse with its customers and also to send order information like receipts and tracking information. After doubling down on their presence on the app, the company 5Xed their annual sales.

16. Centaline Property, one of Hong Kong’s largest real estate brokerages, uses WhatsApp to qualify leads more quickly and increase their sales pipeline. The company integrated the network with its property recommendation engine to allow leads to be funneled to the appropriate agent, along with each customer’s information and communication history. The use of key WhatsApp features like List Messages and Reply Buttons help Centaline Property personalize their outreach, resulting in a 27% increase in sales conversions.

How will you use WhatsApp for business?

Conversational marketing is here to stay. The majority of customers expect it, and companies that strategically engage their audiences via channels like WhatsApp are better positioned to take advantage of the growth it makes possible.

If you’re looking for even more opportunities to use social messaging to build stronger customer relationships, this interview with Martha O’Byrne-O’Reilly, head of messaging developer partnerships at Meta, should give you some ideas.

The post 16 unexpected ways to use WhatsApp for business appeared first on Sprout Social.

Twitter ecommerce: How to embrace the next social shopping frontier

Bani Kaur — Thu, 18 Aug 2022 14:00:27 +0000

People no longer just Google things they want to buy. They find answers through social media trendsetters, conversations in DMs and suggestions from their network. The shopping tide is changing to social commerce, which is predicted to grow three times as fast as traditional commerce between now and 2025.

But where does Twitter (rebranded as “X”) fit into the social commerce landscape, and who is buying on Twitter?

To answer this, we reviewed Twitter’s latest ecommerce features and looked to brands mastering them. We also explain how you can leverage these features to sell on Twitter and best practices to get started.

This guide will cover:

Twitter ecommerce features you need to know
Examples of Twitter shopping in action
4 tips for getting started with Twitter ecommerce

Twitter ecommerce features you need to know

Twitter has rolled out four ecommerce features: Shops, Spotlights, Live Shopping and Product Drops.

1. Twitter Shops

Merchants can use Twitter Shops to showcase up to 50 products from their online stores. A Twitter shop is accessible via a “View Shop” button on your profile. This free, mobile-first feature aims to convert brand enthusiasts to buyers on the platform.

However, the payment option for these shops isn’t hosted on Twitter. The checkout link will take customers to your website or app, where they’ll fill in their details to complete their purchase.

2. Shop Spotlight

The Shop Spotlight is a carousel on your profile that features five products in your Twitter Shop. Shoppers can swipe through the carousel and tap on products to learn more.

Shop Spotlight is a part of Twitter’s larger effort around Professional Profiles, expanding the dedicated space for businesses and creators with ecommerce features that drive engagement and revenue.

3. Live Shopping

Host a Live Shopping broadcast for followers to buy alongside—like an infomercial. The engagement and shopping options are displayed below the video stream, which include:

A “Shop” banner and tab on the event’s page featuring all the products from the broadcast.
The “Latest” tab where new products show up as they appear on the live stream.
A live Tweet discussion about the product(s) that takes place underneath the live stream.

Come shop live with me and @Walmart right now at the link below!https://t.co/0Hru6GzyiU

— Jason Derulo (@jasonderulo) November 29, 2021

4. Product Drops

Product Drops are to Twitter shopping as trailers are to movies. Show potential customers a sneak peek of products and drum up anticipation before they officially launch. You can also track which user profiles engage with the drop to inform future advertising and marketing initiatives. Early brands testing this feature include Dior, The Home Depot and Union Los Angeles.

To our US clients on iOS devices, click the "reminder" button for a product drop alert! You will be notified when the Dior by Birkenstock mule is made available, so keep an eye on the launch.#DiorBirkenstock https://t.co/rR5AQeN47F

— Dior (@Dior) June 10, 2022

Product Drop Tweets show up as regular Tweets on a user’s feed. Users can also set a product reminder, notifying them when it goes on sale.

This Twitter shopping feature is currently limited to iOS in the US.

Now that we’ve covered Twitter’s ecommerce features, let’s look at ways you can use them to expand your brand’s presence and generate revenue on the platform.

Examples of Twitter shopping in action

Whatever your product or service, direct-to-consumer brands can benefit from integrating their creative content streams—videos, live streams or carousels—with Twitter’s ecommerce features. Whether you’re an established brand or just starting out, the platform’s ecommerce features make it easy to begin.

Let’s look at brands selling out fast on Twitter:

Trixie Cosmetics

Founded by drag start Trixi Mattel, Trixie Cosmetics sells premium cosmetics in vibrant, whimsical packaging.

Trixie’s Twitter strategy is distinct through their use of scavenger hunts, quizzes and behind-the-scenes content to drive engagement while featuring their products. To get their audience to actually buy, Trixie uses Shop Spotlights to launch new collections and builds hype around them through Tweets.

MOVE, WE’RE GAY 🌈 Celebrate the joys of homosexuality with this stunning lip gloss bundle ($96) that included 6 of your old faves plus new arrival, Hi Gay! (a sheer gloss with rainbow reflect glitter✨) available Friday at 10am pt! pic.twitter.com/8i21e1lqqg

— Trixie Cosmetics (@TrixieCosmetics) June 1, 2022

By leveraging Twitter’s full stack of features, Trixie is able to create a seamless brand and buying experience, building brand credibility and authenticity while promoting products. Look at your current Twitter strategy and identify ways to expand upon it with Twitter ecommerce tools.

Use Live Shopping to host tutorials with influencers or share behind-the-scenes content, like Trixie’s warehouse tours and customer spotlights.

Twitter Spotlights can double as pop-up sales introducing limited-edition products, seasonal specials or influencer collaborations to ignite excitement and give a special reason to buy now.

Arden Cove

Arden Cove is a brand selling theft-resistant travel bags and accessories—empowering women to travel without the fear of being pick-pocketed.

Their consistent posting schedule paired with proactive customer engagement allowed them to integrate Twitter Shops seamlessly. With special discounts available through their Twitter Shop, customers can enjoy a unique experience while shopping in the app. Plus, their live streams amplify special products and give customers the chance to interact directly with the brand.

Less than 30 min away from our Livestream #Giveaways!

We are decorating a cake to close out our anniversary week, and sharing fun stories from running or business for the last 5 years.

RSVP here 👇https://t.co/YB8uMnfF3t

— Arden Cove (@ArdenCove) October 17, 2021

Skip the shipping madness & order early!
Check out the great #BlackFriday deals we have on our amazing Anti-theft Water Resistant Travel Bags & Accessories

— Arden Cove (@ArdenCove) November 20, 2021

Arden Cove creates compelling content that keeps their audience engaged throughout their buying journey, from inspiration and aspiration to conversion. Focus on converting your aspirational Twitter content into direct sales. Spark interest with live streams featuring your products or Q&As with experts, then drive excitement with Product Drops of coveted items. The previews, reminders and limited-time offers will encourage conversion.

All I Do Is Cook

This brand sells ready-to-eat African food products, using Twitter to inspire their audience with recipes that incorporate their ingredients. All I Do is Cook takes it a step further by selling their recipe ingredients directly to customers via Twitter shopping features.

Their structured Twitter Shop is segmented into categories—such as Snacks, Sides and Stews and Soups—to help buyers effectively navigate products.

Get it here https://t.co/JswyNTJMTg

— Adùn (@getadun) July 27, 2022

Their strategy features a guided approach that ushers customers to their products based on interests, reducing friction on the path to conversion. Turning their Twitter Shop into more than a store, but a shopping guide.

Organize your products to make everything easy to find, then layer in other Twitter features so your customers can quickly find the latest products.

Now that we’ve seen how brands are creatively strategizing for Twitter ecommerce, the next question is: How do you get started?

4 tips for getting started with Twitter ecommerce

Before you dive in to your first sale, here are some things to keep in mind when building your Twitter ecommerce strategy:

1. Start small

Don’t feel the need to incorporate all of these features at once. Identify which would make the most sense for your audience and brand. Consider who follows you on the platform and what they’d be most interested in purchasing. Then start with offering products that align with those interests.

If you have more than 50 products to sell, Twitter Shops can double up as “Bestseller” or “Last few pieces” lists for popular items that sell fast.

Twitter Spotlight is well-suited for featuring signature products that are integral to your brand’s identity, such as the Louis Vuitton tote or MAC Cosmetics’ Ruby Woo lipstick.

2. Collaborate with influencers

Twitter has its own band of influencers who are trusted by their communities. Find influencers who echo your values and collaborate with them to host Live Shopping events or co-tweet Product Drops to expose your brand to a larger audience.

3. Integrate ads

Twitter’s algorithm places ads where it makes the most sense in a feed—between actual conversations about products. This is why Product Drops can integrate naturally with Twitter’s conversational ads. Remember to create your ads and Product Drop content in the same brand style for a consistent experience.

4. Align with trends

Twitter is one of the epicenters of conversation around the latest news and trends, and users are also not afraid to share their opinions about brands and products on the platform. Listening to these conversations can uncover content and promotional opportunities relevant to your target customers and products. Leverage Twitter listening data to unearth relevant trends and weave them into your Product Drop content, live streams and more.

Embrace Twitter ecommerce

Twitter ecommerce is not limited to brands that are already popular on the platform. These features can help brands of all sizes start selling directly on the platform. Find your niche and nurture your community with the content and products they want and need.

To learn more about expanding your ecommerce strategy on Twitter and beyond, read our 2022 Social Shopping Data Report.

Use of Twitter nomenclature across Sprout refers to newly rebranded X platform and related terminology.

The post Twitter ecommerce: How to embrace the next social shopping frontier appeared first on Sprout Social.

8 social selling metrics to measure success

Jenn Chen — Wed, 18 May 2022 15:42:53 +0000

Social media is quickly emerging as the go-to channel for salespeople seeking new prospects. According to LinkedIn, 78% of social sellers outsell their peers who don’t use social media.

At its most basic level, social selling comes down to leveraging social platforms to find the right leads and build important relationships. By building your own social selling strategy your sales team can be a step ahead of the competition. But don’t let all that strategizing go to waste. You need to know which social metrics to pay attention to when you’re measuring the success of selling on social media.

In this article, we’ll walk you through 8 social selling metrics to pay attention to.

1. LinkedIn’s Social Selling Index (SSI)

You can’t talk about social selling without mentioning LinkedIn’s Social Selling Index (SSI). The index provides a score on a scale of 0-100 based on what LinkedIn determines as the four most important “pillars”:

Create a professional brand
Focus on the right prospects
Engage with insights
Build trusted relationships

By focusing on these four areas, the company found that a high SSI correlated with 45% more sales opportunities and 51% are more likely to hit quota.

2. Inbound connections and network growth

By 2025, Gartner expects “80% of B2B sales interactions between suppliers and buyers to occur in digital channels.” Social selling is all about building relationships. If you build up your professional brand with thought leadership in mind, you’ll find that people will actively seek to have a connection with you.

But, you can’t establish thought leadership without a network. Network growth by itself is a vanity metric, meaning you could have hundreds of followers across your social media platforms but only a small percentage have the potential of being the right prospect.

If you look at both inbound connections and network growth together, you’ll understand how wide your network is and how influential it may be.

To find the right connections, you need to be right where the buyers are. On social media, this may involve joining professional groups and interacting with industry leaders. By regularly posting and engaging with potential leads, they’ll begin to positively associate your name with the brand. This will help you build a valuable network.

3. Content engagement rate

One of the ways to establish thought leadership is by sharing content that’s relevant to your audience. To know if your content is resonating with them, look at your engagement rate performance.

If you use software to execute your employee advocacy program, this metric should already be available. Drill down to team or individual performance depending on how granular you want this metric to be. Sprout’s Employee Advocacy software offers reports like this and much more.

To get the most out of your content, look at what other B2B buyers are using for distribution. One study on B2B buyer content preferences found that 71% of survey respondents used LinkedIn to share business-related content. After email, two more social networks are used by 43% of respondents.

4. Follower engagement rate

While content engagement rate looks at what you post, follower engagement rate tells you how interested your audience is.

The easiest way to calculate this is to divide the number of total engagements you have by your total follower count. However, this is a rough calculation because the engagement count includes both followers and non-followers. For example, if your post went viral, you’d receive comments and shares from people who don’t follow you.

Using employee advocacy and social selling tools, you can look at how engaged your current followers are.

5. Prospect referrals

Referrals are gold for any business.

More than 75% of B2B buyers prefer to use recommendations from their professional network. Exploring your network’s 2nd-degree connections on LinkedIn is one way to seek out potential leads. If you can, ask your connection to refer you or mention the connection in your first message. Even mentioning the mutual connection increases the likelihood of an appointment by 70%.

To track this metric, use your social selling tools or ask your salespeople to input their lead sources into your CRM.

6. Click-through rate

The click-through rate (CTR) or link clicks metric is measured for content that you post.

When you’re sharing content like informative articles, link clicks are part of the content engagement metric. Looking at link clicks specifically tells you how engaging a piece of content is. They could’ve only read the headline and hit the like button. But if they clicked through? That engagement is worth even more.

To track this, you have a few options. You can use a URL shortener to create unique links, telling you exactly how many times each link was clicked on. To determine CTR, you’ll need to divide it by the number of views or reach the link received.

A more straightforward solution is to look at your social selling analytics. One of the benefits of Sprout’s Employee Advocacy platform is being able to curate content for your employees to share. Once they do so, metrics like CTR are automatically tracked at both the content and individual post levels.

7. Number of conversations started

We already mentioned inbound messages, but what about the ones you send?

Not every social media post is going to generate leads. But with time, you build trust. And trust is a big component of social selling. The conversations you start on social media may lead to conversions later in the sales cycle.

Using a tool like Sprout, you can quickly calculate the number of outbound messages that you send. But even better, you can view your conversation history to fully personalize each interaction.

One way to start conversations is to use social media monitoring. Use relevant keywords to surface people to follow and keep track of conversations to watch.

8. Message response rate

This one is simple: the faster you respond, the more connections and qualified leads you make. With proper training, your salespeople should be able to navigate the social selling software easily.

The message response rate metric is calculated in Sprout automatically. The analytics will tell you how quickly someone is responding, broken down by the hour and day of the week.

Social selling vs. social media marketing

While both take place on social media, social selling and social media marketing are not the same thing. Social media marketing usually comes from the brand, while social selling is from the salesperson.

The goals can also differ. Social media marketing goals involve growing brand awareness and engagement at the brand level, while social selling is very focused on the sales cycle. Each post you make and each connection you reach out to is intentionally done to build a relationship that leads to sales.

Track your social selling metrics

Social selling has become a powerful tool for many industries in today’s business world. As businesses become increasingly opposed to outbound selling methods, social selling helps to create relationships that establish trust and repeat conversions.

Additionally, B2B marketing and sales don’t need to be overwhelming. If you’re already using social media for B2B marketing, then it’s time to turn your social data into a revenue driver.

The post 8 social selling metrics to measure success appeared first on Sprout Social.