How to Sell Through Social Media | Studio Illicit by Studio Illicit

E-BOOK

SOCIAL COMMERCE HOW TO SELL THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA

CONTENTS

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

what is social commerce?

why should your brand care?

social commerce vs e-commerce

how to optimise your social store

learn by example

what about my website? -4-

resources you need

what exactly is

SOCIAL COMMERCE? "the process of selling products or services directly through social media" WE UNDERSTAND THAT IT CAN BE TOUGH RUNNING A BUSINESS AND HAVING TO LEARN ALL THE NEW TRENDS AND FEATURES THAT ARE CONSTANTLY BEING ROLLED OUT. BUT, IF YOU FOLLOW OUR STARTER GUIDE, YOU WILL SOON SEE THAT SOCIAL COMMERCE COULD BE A GAME-CHANGER FOR YOUR ONLINE SALES. SOCIAL COMMERCE ORIGINATED BACK IN 2005 AS YAHOO IMPLEMENTED ITS 'SHOPOSPHERE' AND 'PICK LISTS' FUNCTIONS. HOWEVER, IT WASN'T UNTIL 2015 THAT INSTAGRAM FIRST IMPLEMENTED A 'BUY NOW' BUTTON ON THE PLATFORM. FROM THIS POINT, BUYING PRODUCTS VIA SOCIAL MEDIA REALLY STARTED TO SPIRAL. BY 2022, SOCIAL COMMERCE EVOLVED TO INCLUDE ON-PLATFORM INSTAGRAM SHOPPING, FACEBOOK MARKETPLACE AND PRODUCT PINS ON PINTEREST, ALLOWING USERS TO BUY PRODUCTS DIRECTLY FROM THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA FEEDS. CURRENTLY, SOCIAL COMMERCE IS EXCLUSIVE TO PLATFORMS SUCH AS TIKTOK, INSTAGRAM, PINTEREST, FACEBOOK AND SNAPCHAT WHERE YOU DON'T EVEN NEED TO LEAVE YOUR APP TO MAKE AN ONLINE PURCHASE - SHOPPING HAS NEVER BEEN EASIER! THE BOTTOM LINE IS, SOCIAL COMMERCE IS BOOMING BECAUSE SOCIAL MEDIA IS, AND WE WANT TO EQUIP YOUR COMMERCE ARMOURY WITH ALL THE TOOLS IT NEEDS TO THRIVE ALONGSIDE YOUR WEBSITE.

WHY SHOULD YOUR BRAND CARE? LET'S FACE IT, SOCIAL MEDIA DOMINATES EVERY ASPECT OF OUR LIVES – WHETHER IT’S WORK, PLEASURE OR MORE COMMONLY, BOTH. RESEARCH EVEN SHOWS THAT THE TYPICAL SOCIAL MEDIA USER NOW SPENDS ABOUT 15% OF THEIR WAKING LIFE ON SOCIAL PLATFORMS. SO, TO DISREGARD SOCIAL COMMERCE AS A WAY FOR SELLING YOUR PRODUCTS COULD BE DETRIMENTAL TO YOUR ANNUAL FIGURES PARTICULARLY IF THAT'S WHERE YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE SPENDING THE MAJORITY OF THEIR TIME. ASIDE FROM THIS, SOCIAL COMMERCE ACTUALLY COMES WITH SOME REALLY BIG BENEFITS FOR BOTH YOU AND YOUR CUSTOMERS. SOCIAL COMMERCE IS A MUCH MORE INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE THAT TAKES A LOT OF FRICTION OUT OF THE USER-BUYER-JOURNEY WITH NOWHERE TO GO BUT THE CHECKOUT. BUT BEFORE WE GET INTO THAT, LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL COMMERCE:

Social commerce is growing 3 times faster than e-commerce.

currently 59% of the global population use social media.

by 2025 social commerce is set to double to a 2.5 trillion dollar market worldwide.

1 in 3 people use social media to discover new products, brands and services.

SOCIAL COMMERCE VS ECOMMERCE... social commerce

e-commerce

It's free to get started with social commerce

HIGH POTENTIAL TO SCALE YOUR BUSINESS

Highly targetable audience available on socials

KEY insights are available via tracking and analytics

Removes friction in the user-buying journey

allows for custom design to help stand out from your competitors

Provides a highly interactive experience

websites are secure and reliable

how to optimise your

SOCIAL COMMERCE STRATEGY REVIEW With 93% of online shoppers saying that a review can make or break their decision to make a purchase, encouraging your followers to leave positive comments on your feed POSTS is vital.

CONSISTENCY Consider the look of your social media. see it as your very own digital shop window. therefore it's important for it to be organised and consistent with your branding to encourage sales.

AUDIENCE FOCUSED ENGAGE WITH YOUR FOLLOWERS AS THEY MOVE THROUGH THE BUYING JOURNEY. You should strive to build strong connections with your audience so that they feel a part of a community. after all, Your loyal followers will be your biggest advocates.

AI/CHATBOTS A quick and punchy answer to a customers question could be the the difference between a sale and an empty shopping basket.

LEARN BY EXAMPLE IT CAN BE HARD TO KNOW IF WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS RIGHT WHEN IT COMES TO SOCIAL MEDIA, SO HERE ARE SOME OF OUR FAVOURITE EXAMPLES OF BRANDS WHO ARE SMASHING THEIR SOCIAL COMMERCE RIGHT NOW. FROM THE LIKES OF H&M, EXPLODING BAKERY, GYMSHARK AND PATAGONIA, THEY ALL TAKE A FRESH APPROACH THAT HAS REALLY ALLOWED THEM TO FLOURISH IN THE SOCIAL SPACE. SO WHAT DO THEY ALL HAVE IN COMMON? THESE BUSINESSES HAVE CREATED THEIR STORES IN A WAY THAT IS SYNONYMOUS WITH THEIR BRAND. FOR EXAMPLE, H&M'S INSTAGRAM SHOP LOOKS ALMOST IDENTICAL TO THEIR E-COMMERCE WEBSITE AND APP BY INCLUDING PRODUCT PAGES, COLLECTIONS AND EVEN RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS. THIS WILL HELP LOYAL CUSTOMERS TO FEEL AT EASE WHEN CHOOSING TO SHOP ON SOCIALS - IT'S FAMILIAR AND TRUSTWORTHY. SO, BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE, MAKE SURE YOUR STORE FRONT IS CLEAN, USER-FRIENDLY AND REFLECTS YOUR BRAND.

NOW, IS THERE ANYTHING WORSE THAN SCROLLING THROUGH PINTEREST OR TIKTOK LOOKING FOR INSPIRATION AND NOT KNOWING WHERE TO FIND THAT ONE PRODUCT THAT SPIKES YOUR INTEREST? PATAGONIA AND GYMSHARK CLEVERLY SOLVE THIS PROBLEM WITH THE LIKES OF PRODUCT PINS AND TIKTOK SHOPPING. USING PRODUCT PINS OR TIKTOK SHOP ALLOWS CUSTOMERS TO SEE YOUR POST AND HEAD STRAIGHT TO YOUR PRODUCT AT JUST THE CLICK OF A BUTTON. THIS CREATES A SEAMLESS JOURNEY FOR THE BUYER, PROMOTING THE 'SEE IT, CLICK IT, BUY IT' MENTALITY - IT'S TIME TO WAVE GOODBYE TO CART ABANDONMENT!

BUT, BEFORE YOU GO FULL STEAM AHEAD WITH SETTING UP OR OPTIMISING YOUR SOCIAL COMMERCE STRATEGY, MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE CHOOSING THE RIGHT PLATFORM THAT RESONATES WITH YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE... AND WE SUGGEST YOU DO SOME RESEARCH AS SOME PLATFORMS MIGHT SURPRISE YOU! IF YOU ARE PART OF THE MAJORITY WHO THINK TIKTOK IS JUST FOR 16-25 YEAR OLDS, ALTUM MEDIA SHARE THAT ACTUALLY 53% OF TIKTOK USERS ARE OVER 30! SO, COULD YOU BE MISSING OUT ON A HUGE PERCENTAGE OF YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE?

WHAT ABOUT MY WEBSITE? IF YOU’RE SERIOUS ABOUT MARKETING YOUR BUSINESS, THEN YOUR WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA MUST WORK TOGETHER IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE AN EFFECTIVE MARKETING STRATEGY. WE SEE A LOT OF BUSINESSES LEAVING THEIR WEBSITES ON THE BACK BURNER IN FAVOUR OF THE INCREASING POPULARITY OF SOCIAL MEDIA BUT IT’S A MISTAKE TO SEE A WEBSITE AS A LESSER PRIORITY WHEN IT COMES TO DEVELOPING BRAND AWARENESS. BIASED WE MAY BE, BUT THE EVIDENCE STACKS UP TO SHOW JUST WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER DEMOTE THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR WEBSITE. HERE’S WHY:

It’s an integral part of your sales funnel – your website is responsible for attracting customer interest, and converting it to an enquiry or purchase. Websites provide key analytics – see invaluable insights such as traffic source, session durations, devices used and the number of visitors. You don’t own your social media profiles – We understand that a huge ‘perk’ of only having social media is that it’s free … but the lack of control is the price you really have to pay if something goes wrong It gives you authority and credibility – Anybody can make a social media profile, but 56% of consumers say that they don’t trust businesses without a website.

IT MIGHT SEEM LIKE TWICE THE WORK BUT DESPITE THEIR DIFFERENCES, SOCIAL MEDIA AND WEBSITES HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN DESIGNED TO WORK IN PERFECT HARMONY. SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGES AN AUDIENCE TO THEN DIRECT THEM TO A WEBSITE – AND THE WEBSITE HELPS TO SHAPE THE IDENTITY OF SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES IN ORDER TO CREATE A STRONG AND CONSISTENT DIGITAL PRESENCE. THERE SHOULD NEVER BE A CONVERSATION THAT FAVOURS ONE PLATFORM OVER THE OTHER.

how can we help?

WE'VE GOT THE TOOLS AND TEAM TO GET YOUR DIGITAL STRATEGY NAILED ALL UNDER ONE ROOF. OUR EXTENSIVE KNOWLEDGE OF WOOCOMMERCE AND SHOPIFY MEANS THAT WE CAN EASILY SMOOTH OUT THE JOURNEY BETWEEN YOUR WEBSITE AND SOCIAL STORES WITHOUT YOU NEEDING TO OUTSOURCE. WOOCOMMERCE OFFER CUSTOM PLUGINS TO HELP SYNC YOUR PRODUCTS DIRECTLY WITH YOUR CHOSEN SOCIAL PLATFORM, WHILST SHOPIFY PRIDES ITSELF ON BEING ABLE TO AUTOMATICALLY SYNC YOUR PRODUCTS ACROSS INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK AND MORE. BUT, IF YOU'RE LOOKING TO GO THAT EXTRA MILE WE CAN ALSO HELP BEAUTIFY YOUR SOCIAL STORES SO THAT THEY ARE CONSISTENT WITH YOUR WEBSITE BRANDING, AS WELL AS IMPLEMENT SOME RATHER SWANKY TOOLS THAT CAN INCREASE YOUR EFFICIENCY WHEN MANAGING MULTIPLE PLATFORMS.

...to supercharge your selling potential, get in touch with our talented team of web designers we'd love to be a part of your commerce journey!

your go to

RESOURCE LIST WWW.SHOPIFY.COM IN THE US, SOCIAL COMMERCE RETAIL EARNINGS ARE PREDICTED TO REACH NEARLY $80 BILLION BY 2025. WHEN YOU CONSIDER THAT 4.59 BILLION PEOPLE, OR 57% OF THE GLOBAL POPULATION, CURRENTLY USE SOCIAL MEDIA...THE POTENTIAL IS ENORMOUS!

WWW.ALTUMMEDIA.CO.UK THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT SOCIAL MEDIA HAS CAUSED A FEW HEADACHES OVER THE LAST YEAR OR SO. IN A CONSTANTLY CHANGING ENVIRONMENT, THERE IS A DANGER OF FEELING LIKE YOU WILL NEVER GET AHEAD OF THE CURVE...GET A GREAT MARKETING AGENCY ON SPEED DIAL.

WWW.LINKEDIN.COM SHOPIFY SAW A RUSH OF NEW BUSINESSES USING ITS PLATFORM. THE INCREASE IN USERS RESULTED IN NET INCOME SOARING TO US$1.12 BILLION FOR THE PERIOD THAT ENDED MARCH 31, 2021. A LOT OF SHOPIFY'S SUCCESS IS PARTLY DUE TO...THIS SOCIAL GIANT.

WWW.HOOTSUITE.COM THIS BLOG POST MAY BE TITLED “WHAT IS SOCIAL COMMERCE?,” BUT MAYBE IT SHOULD ACTUALLY BE CALLED “DO YOU WANT TO MAKE SOME MONEY?” AS GLOBAL ECOMMERCE SALES ARE PREDICTED TO GROW TO $1.6 TRILLION IN THE NEXT THREE YEARS...MAKE SURE YOU DISCOVER THE TOOLS THAT MAKE MANAGEMENT EASIER!