Online shoppers have become more comfortable buying products via social media platforms, and many give greater preference to products they see advertised on social media. In fact,recent dataindicates that social media marketing is every bit as effective as traditional outbound marketing, and in some cases even more so.One study foundcustomers were six times more likely to buy an item if its product page featured images from social media. With this in mind, it makes a lot of sense for ecommerce entrepreneurs to expand their social selling efforts.
Learn about the benefits of social selling and which platforms are available on Shopify.
Table of Contents
What is social selling?
Social selling is a strategy that focuses on directly engaging with potential customers online, particularly onsocial media platforms. Asocial selling strategydeparts from traditional outbound advertising and the traditionalsales processby creating a one-way channel from advertiser to customer. Social selling requires a series of social engagements designed to build trust and communicate with potential buyers about a product.
Most social selling efforts focus on leading social media networks such as LinkedIn, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. They also involve social-media-adjacent sites like YouTube, Reddit, and Pinterest.
Here’s how it works: Marketing teams establish a presence on these social selling platforms and post content designed to engage atarget audience. After posting, the marketers remain active on social platforms, conversing in comment threads and replying to direct messages. The social seller’s goal is to create—through a mixture of posting and personal engagement—brand equity with potential buyers. This, in turn, produces lead generation and, through consistent engagement, sales.
What are the benefits of social selling?
When small businesses embrace a social sales strategy, they access three major benefits.
- Social selling opens new market opportunities.Some buyers, particularly those in younger generations, spend more time on social media, so they’re more likely to engage with content online. They’re also more likely to call social media animportant factorin making a purchase. Social selling might be the most reliablesales funnelfor sales teams hoping to reach these customers.
- It teaches you about your own customers.销售是社会的一个关键方面听, the process of monitoring social media threads to learn more about customer preferences and behaviors. Marketing teams can monitor which posts get the most engagement, and take notes about what customers are writing in comment threads. Sales reps can then report on the content of direct messages with customers—valuable information about customer wishes and interests. The customer data gleaned on social selling platforms might shape futuremarketing campaignsor inspire new product designs.
- It builds brand equity.Whether you’re promoting your company or yourpersonal brand, social selling lets you play the long game and build relationships with your target audience. Both individuals and business-to-business (B2B) clients express a preference for sellers who seem to understand and have a relationship with them. Building brand equity is a long-term project. You can’t expect instant sales. Start by posting meaningful content and engaging in sincere discussions. In time, you’ll build up your reputation among your target audience.
What is a social selling platform?
A social selling platform is a social media site or any platform where people can post user-generated content and engage in comment threads. Themost used social platformsin the US include TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. YouTube covers a variety of uses, but meets the criteria of allowing user-generated content and commenting. Pinterest, Reddit, Snapchat, and Twitter also count as potential social selling platforms, although their traffic is lighter on the aforementioned platforms. ForB2Bnetworking and social selling,LinkedIn dominates.
10 popular social selling tools available on Shopify
- Instagram Shop & Facebook Shop
- TikShop
- TikFeed
- Facebook和Instagram购物
- Instagram Feeds - TikTok Video
- Facebook Instagram Tiktok Feed
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator
- Facebook, Google Shopping Feed
- Instafeed ‑ Instagram Feed
- Instagram Feed+YouTube+Reviews
Reach customers everywhere they are with Shopify
Shopify comes with powerful tools that help you promote and sell products on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Google, and YouTube from one back office. Make sales on multiple channels and manage everything from Shopify.
Explore Shopify’s sales channelsSocial selling tools are digital products that enhance your ability to sell products on social media. Some of these tools are optimized for specific social platforms, and others function across many platforms. A number of them are available in theShopify App Storeand integrate seamlessly with an existing Shopify storefront, therefore letting you bring your ecommerce business to social media. Here are some social selling tools worthy of taking a closer look:
- Instagram Shop & Facebook Shop.Made byThisCallButton和可用的Shopify App Store,Instagram Shop & Facebook Shopis a tool designed to let customers shop your store and pay within the Instagram and Facebook apps.
- TikShop.Also available in the Shopify App Store,TikShopbrings your Shopify store to TikTok by creating shoppable video feeds that showcase your offerings.
- TikFeed.TikFeedis another strong option for selling on TikTok, and you can also install it via the Shopify App Store. It uses a slider and grid layout to capture the attention of TikTok users.
- Facebook和Instagram购物.这个程序from CedCommerce is among themost popular in the Shopify App Store. It syncs your Shopify store with both Facebook and Instagram, taking advantage of how Meta Platforms has increasingly unified these two services. The app lets you do everything from plan marketing campaigns to conduct sales to monitor inventory.
- Instagram Feeds - TikTok Video.If you want to hit TikTok and Instagram using a single tool, check outthis app from Orichi. It integrates with Shopify via the App Store, and focuses on boosting website engagement—as opposed to landing sales on the social platforms themselves.
- Facebook Instagram Tiktok Feed.这个程序from WoolyTech can be found in the Shopify App Store, and helps you create and manage multiple feeds highlighting your wares. It’s mostly designed for Facebook and Instagram, but it can also aid your TikTok efforts.
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator.This product ismade by LinkedIn, which is theleading B2B social networking site. You might think of LinkedIn as a place for job listings and employee advocacy, but it’s a hotbed for B2B sales. The LinkedIn Sales Navigator provides you with aSocial Selling Index, LinkedIn’s proprietary profiling tool.
- Facebook, Google Shopping Feed.Entrepreneurs who want to include Google Shopping in their sales portfolio can look tothis product, available in the Shopify App Store, as a way to post listings on Google, Facebook, TikTok, and more. It will auto-sync up to 10,000 SKUs at a time.
- Instafeed ‑ Instagram Feed.Thistool from Mintt Studiogives you many options for posting Shopify offerings on Instagram. You can useInstagram Reels, standard video, or still photos to create shoppable Instagram feeds.
- Instagram Feed+YouTube+Reviews.Instead of bringing your Shopify storefront to social media, you can bring social media to your Shopify storefront.这个程序from Tagembedmakes that possible by letting you add various social media feeds and reviews to your existing Shopify store. It also cleanly integrates YouTube videos, which are another tool for establishing social capital.
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