7 Ways Social Media Marketing (SMM) Can Benefit Your E-Commerce Business
By 2020 eConsulting
When searching for ways to market your e-commerce business, you'll probably stumble upon social media marketing (SMM). It's a common digital marketing strategy that involves the use of social media networks to engage with prospects and customers.
Your e-commerce business's prospects and customers probably use social media networks. Statistics from the Pew Research Center, in fact, show that 72 percent of all U.S. adults now use one or more social media networks regularly, compared to just 5 percent of U.S. adults in 2005. By allocating some of your time and resources to SMM, your e-commerce business will benefit in several ways.
#1 Audience Reports
With SMM, you'll have a better understanding of who, exactly, is interested in your e-commerce business and the products or services that it sells. You can analyze the ages, interests, locations, job titles and other demographic information of users who interact with your e-commerce business on social media. Using this demographic information, you can then create profiles consisting of your e-commerce typical ideal customers.
Different social media networks offer different reporting tools. Nonetheless, they all offer a dashboard from which you can run audience reports. These audience reports will reveal the type of people who are interacting with your e-commerce business on social media. Social media networks collect data on their users, which they'll share with you in the form of audience reports.
#2 Increased Brand Loyalty
SMM can increase brand loyalty for your e-commerce business. According to Convince & Convert, over half of all consumers are more loyal to the brands they follow on social media. When they follow a brand on Facebook, for instance, they'll feel more compelled to purchase that brand's products or services in the future.
Of course, your e-commerce business needs an official presence on social media to attract followers. SMM is the only way you can create and build a strong social presence. After creating profiles or pages under your e-commerce business's name, you can publish relevant content to attract followers and achieve higher brand loyalty.
#3 Expanded Customer Support
SMM will expand your e-commerce business's customer support. Customers will no longer be limited to seeking support through traditional channels like email or a website ticking system. If they have a question, they can ask it on social media. Customers can either post their question publically, or they can send it privately via a private message.
A survey conducted by JD Power found that two in three customers seek support from businesses on social media. It's often easier and more convenient for customers to ask a question on social media than it is for them to send an email or create a support ticket. Regardless, SMM will open the doors to new methods of customer service.
#4 Higher Search Rankings
SMM can improve your e-commerce business's search rankings. Bing has admitted to using social media signals, such as likes and shares, to calculate organic search rankings. SMM will help your e-commerce business generate more of these signals so that your store ranks higher in Bing's search results.
Even for Google, though, SMM may lead to higher rankings. It will increase your store's traffic by drawing more users to its individual pages. When you publish a new page of content on your store, you can share a link to it on social media. And with more page traffic, your store may attract more one-way links that increase its Google rankings.
#5 More Customer Testimonials
Another way SMM can benefit your e-commerce website is by encouraging more customer testimonials. Customers who have a positive experience may want to share it with others on social media. Some customers may simply post a message of praise on their own profile, whereas others may post it on your e-commerce business's profile or page.
A survey conducted by Sprout Social found that praising products is one of the top three reasons customers engage with businesses on social media. These messages of praise are customer testimonials. They are a testament to your e-commerce business's quality, and like all testimonials, they'll persuade others to visit your store and buy its products.
#6 Tackle Abandoned Shopping Carts
Abandoned shopping carts can restrict your e-commerce business's potential earnings. The more abandoned shopping carts your store has, the less revenue it will generate. Abandoned shopping carts occur when shoppers add one or more products to their cart but fail to complete their order. Rather than checking out, they leave their shopping cart behind.
Fortunately, you can tackle abandoned shopping carts with SMM. Shoppers who leave their carts behind may encounter your e-commerce business on social media. Upon seeing your e-commerce business's posts or messages, they'll remember that they didn't complete their order, which may cause them to return to your store and finish the checkout process.
Facebook is particularly useful for reducing abandoned shopping carts because of its retargeting ads. Available through Facebook's paid advertising service, Facebook Ads, retargeting ads specifically target shoppers who visited your store and added a product to their cart but didn't check out. No one else will see retargeting ads. As a result, you can design retargeting ads to resonate with these lost customers.
#7 Higher Average Order Value
SMM may result in a higher average order value for your e-commerce business. Many shoppers will spend more money if you interact with them on social media. How can SMM increase your e-commerce business's average order value?
Promoting your e-commerce business on social media allows you to nurture shoppers. You can answer their questions, offer them product recommendations and offer other forms of direct assistance. According to BigCommerce, one of the industry's leading e-commerce platforms, shoppers spend 20 percent to 40 percent more on their orders when they receive assistance on social media.
As an e-commerce business owner, you can't ignore the benefits of SMM. It offers audience reports, increased brand loyalty, expanded customer service, higher search rankings, more customer testimonials, fewer abandoned shopping carts and a higher average order value.
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