The convenience that internet shopping offers to customers has made online stores valuable investments. A business that doesn’t bring its goods to the online consumer risks losing out.
Shopify is one platform that is making it possible for companies to put up a free web store without worrying about the technicalities. However, getting that e-commerce venture established is not all it takes to be successful; you must understand how to market it. Hundreds of other businesses are on the same platform, so you have to make yours stand out, and social media is central to that goal. Here’s how to create a solid social media blueprint for your web store.
Pick a Site
It doesn’t have to be one, but it can’t be all of them. Trying to develop marketing campaigns for ten social platforms will only undermine the bottom line, not to mention that it is too costly. Identify the sites where to focus your marketing messages. Ideally, you want the platform where a majority of your target audience is. If an e-commerce store is geared towards teenagers, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter are great places to start while LinkedIn is perfect for B2B.
Try Micro-Content
Some marketers focus too much on long Facebook posts and 5-minute videos and they forget micro-content can do just as great a job. Consumers have to take in copious amounts of information on a daily basis and so, they can easily ignore some completely. Micro-content is a great solution for this. By making use of services such as Vine and Snapchat, you can have video clips and images that don’t take up too much of the audience’s time. Vine, for example, allows you to post 6-second clips and share them on different platforms.
Maximise on Social Sharing Buttons
Don’t give your audiences interesting information the leave it at that. You want them to share it with their followers, friends and colleagues. Your social media marketing may be concentrated on two platforms, but with the help of social sharing buttons, it can spread further than that. Have buttons to share content to the popular options like Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and Facebook. Make certain that social sharing buttons are visible. The headers and footers of websites or blogs are the best places to display them.
Influencer Marketing Works
Even big brands that consumers already know about use influencers to drum up business to their online stores. Influencers are active personalities on social sites who command substantial audiences, which makes them perfect to use as brand ambassadors. Social media influencers work because consumers tend to value the recommendations of other people rather than the word of the brand owner. Having social influencers in your social media strategy will allow you to target audiences that may otherwise be hard to forge a bond with. Be cautious though to find influencers who complement your web store because they are an extension of it.
A free web store is a strategy that every business should try out to capitalise on the dramatic growth of online consumers. With a well defined social media marketing strategy, you can ensure that your e-commerce business receives the attention it requires.
