8 Smart Social Media Marketing Tips for eCommerce

Social media is a valuable marketing tool for any online business. Follow these social media marketing tips for success.

In our last blog, we shared three inspiring eCommerce stories of entrepreneurs that have become wildly successful. It’s safe to say their social media marketing strategies are on point. So, how can you follow in their footsteps?

Social media is bigger than ever. One look at the latest social media stats highlights how important it is. There are around 3.5 billion social media users worldwide – that’s 45% of the population. For eCommerce stores, that’s one helluva market.

To make the most of this captive audience, it’s important that your eCommerce store has effective social media marketing strategies in place. These techniques will not only help to build your online presence, but also increase your sales.

However, we know that identifying the best techniques isn’t always a straightforward process. So, in this blog, we’re listing some of the best social media marketing tips and tricks for all eCommerce stores.

Of course, these techniques may need some tweaking depending on your industry or niche. Think of this blog as a starting point you can then build on – let your imagination run wild and your creative juices flow!

The Social Media Marketing Tips Every Online Seller Should Know

This list of social media marketing tips is suitable for businesses in any industry – so read on for more!

1. Know Your Brand

The first of our social media marketing tips is about knowing your brand inside and out. Before you dive headfirst into the social media waters, it’s important that you know and understand your brand.

Knowing your brand involves:

• Analyzing your target demographics. Know who you’re targeting. Understand how they use social media.
• Focussing your brand message. Every brand has its own message – whether it’s to champion eco-friendly living or deliver luxe sportswear to those on a budget. Focussing your message will help to inform your content.

Once you know your brand and understand your goals, you can start to dip your toes into the water.

2. Identify Your Perfect Platforms

There are tons of social media platforms where your business can share content – but that doesn’t necessarily mean you should. Each plays a different role in user’s lives, and has a different use for businesses.

Not every platform is right for every business, so working out which ones match best with your business goals is the first step on your social media marketing journey.

If you sell technical products that require video demos, YouTube is a great place to post them. If you sell Instagram-worthy jewelry, head to the photo sharing app to show them off.

On Instagram there are many ways one could boost his or her Instagram likes & followers. Services like MegaFamous are quite useful when it comes to this.

3. Utilize Each Platform’s Marketing Tools

Some of the major platforms have been quick to recognise (and embrace!) the connection between social media and eCommerce. As a result, they provide ways for businesses to use the platforms to their advantage.

On Facebook you can create a dedicated business page. They even provide a separate mobile app, the Facebook Business Suite, to help you better manage your profile. On Instagram you can create a virtual shop – tagging your products in any photos you share with a link to your store.

Other social media platforms are beginning to follow suit, too. You can even create a business profile on Pinterest or TikTok.

Businesses, large and small, are increasingly important to social media sites. It’s in their interest to provide you with the tools to market yourself – so make the most of what they offer!

4. Invest in Ads

Unfortunately, not every business is going to go viral through organic posts. The reality is that paid advertising is the most reliable way to gain higher visibility online.

You can now place Facebook ads, or invest in Sponsored Posts for Instagram.

Ad policies vary from platform to platform, so take some time to research how your chosen platforms handle advertising. While it might be difficult when you’re just starting out, it’s a good idea to set a portion of your budget aside for paid ads.

5. Keep An Eye On Trends

Social media trends tend to change at a mile a minute, but keeping an eye on them is worth the effort. This way, if something is trending that fits your niche and brand messaging, you can capitalize on it.

Avoid jumping on every bandwagon you come across. This is where knowing your brand really comes into play. Jumping on trends that have little relevance to your audience is a good way to alienate them. Keep your brand messaging in mind when creating content.

6. Create a Content Calendar

Setting up a social media content calendar can help keep your ideas organized and focussed.

There are plenty of tools online that can help you to build a content calendar, like SocialPilot or Loomly.

These tools enable you to create and schedule posts across platforms from a single dashboard. It removes the stress and hassle from sharing content. Having a social media calendar with access for multiple users can also help to foster communication between you and anyone else on your team – as well as get ideas bouncing around!

7. Run Contests and Giveaways

Everyone loves a freebie!

The next of our social media marketing tips is hosting contests and giveaways. They’re a great way to boost engagement and amp up your following is to host contents and giveaways.

The recipe for creating an awesome contest is something like this:

1. Know your goal. Are you hoping to gain more Instagram followers? Up the number of Facebook likes? Having a clear goal in mind is important before you arrange your giveaway.

2. Set the rules. Should participants like a certain post? Follow your page? Your contest or giveaway needs ground rules in accordance with your goal.

3. Offer good value prizes. You don’t have to break the bank, but definitely offer something that’s worth winning. Make sure the value of the prize is proportional to the effort you’re asking participants to put in.

4. Amp up excitement. Anticipation helps to build hype. Put out posts announcing the giveaway or contest ahead of time to drum up plenty of interest.

8. Measure Your Results

The last of our social media tips is this: make analytics your best friend.

Too many businesses don’t make the most of the analytics features available on social media platforms, and they’re missing out because of it.

Each platform has different metrics used to analyze performance. For example, on Facebook you should monitor reach and engagement. On Instagram you should look at likes, comments, and mentions. On Twitter it’s impressions, retweets, and mentions that are often most important.

Analytics are there to help you. Use them to track how well your posts are doing, and build on that in your future content.

Social Media Tips: A Summary

Social media isn’t static. New trends emerge all the time, and platforms are constantly evolving. Adapting your strategy as you go is the key to success.

These social media tips are just the starting point.

Before you go headlong into signing up for every social media platform available think carefully about your brand and its goals.

Only then can you start to look at platforms. When you’ve picked your platforms, start to use their tools to your advantage – free marketing tools and paid advertising alike.

Keep afloat by monitoring trends, and host competitions and giveaways as a well to boost audience engagement.

And, perhaps most importantly, don’t neglect your analytics!

Check Out Our Blog for More eCommerce Advice!

At CreativeMinds we’re dedicated to helping eCommerce stores grow. Check out our blog for more tips and tricks, as well as industry news!