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Is your eCommerce business advertising on social media? If your answer is no, then you’re missing out on a prime opportunity to showcase products, build your brand, gain new customers, and engage in communities that are full of people who are interested in your products or services. Businesses who have fallen behind marketing trends shouldn’t worry; it’s never too late to begin. This guide will help you get started building a presence on social media in no time.
Use Instagram to Tell Your Brand’s Story
Instagram, now owned by Facebook, is an ideal platform for any business that wishes to visually highlight products and services. If you are looking to build a brand’s identity or tell a story, Instagram is a great tool.
Fun Fact: Over half of Instagram’s users engage with brands on their platform, BUT less than half the brands that market on Facebook and Twitter are on Instagram. What are you waiting for?
Snapchat: Not Just For Kids Anymore!
Snapchat has many helpful tools for eCommerce marketers. Like Instagram, its a great way to build your brand and share visual content. Use Snapchat stories to string together a series of images or videos that offer a behind-the-scenes look at the daily operations of your business. Target influencers who have a large audience that is consistent with the type of people who use your products. Use Geofilters to let your presence be known at a conference or create a branded filter for your own event.
Target Key Demographics on Twitter
Twitter provides several excellent tools for eCommerce marketing. Use Twitter cards to target audiences and drive website traffic. Twitter cards are also great to increase followers and boost awareness of products.
Pro tip: Use hidden FREE features in Twitter.
Use the Twitter website card for a free way to create a post that will stand out from other tweets. Its a great way to feature eye-catching visuals like infographics and provides priceless extra characters to add more copy!
Feature original video. Don’t just tweet out a YouTube link to your latest video. Instead, upload your video directly to Twitter to increase views and engagement. The video plays directly on users’ timelines and separates you from the crowd of boring YouTube links!
Here’s how to do it:
- In the Twitter ads screen under the “Creatives” dropdown menu, click on “media.”
- In the left corner of the screen click on “upload media” to add your video.
Note: When you use this feature, you are given a higher character limit than you would have with a standard tweet.
Reach New Audiences with Facebook
If you want to gain more Facebook followers quickly, and you’re willing to spend a bit of money to make it happen, you’re in luck! Facebook ads are a perfect way to accomplish this, and they are very cost effective. Facebook gives you the ability to target users by age, location, interests, and more. If you know what you are looking for in a target customer, this feature is the perfect way to introduce your page directly to them.
Tools of the Trade
Use tools like Hootsuite and Tweetdeck to schedule posts in advance and monitor social media communities. These tools allow you to set up streams to follow specific hashtags and users. Target communities in your demographic and find influencers in the field to engage with.
How Will You Know if This Stuff Works?
Facebook and Twitter have native analytics that will help you track the success or failure of your efforts. Measure how many people saw your post and who clicked on your link. Identify successful techniques, and repeat them in future campaigns. If something you are doing is falling flat, make adjustments until you achieve the results you’re looking for.
In an economy fueled by personalization and instant access to information, social media is an essential tool for e-commerce business owners. If you are new to this space, you may want to start by choosing one or two of these channels and running a pilot campaign. If your brand has social media pages, but you’re unsure what to post, contact a member of our team to learn how we can help!