Ever stumbled on something on social media that you just had to have, like a mug with a skeleton sipping coffee? Prefer to make all of your purchases in comfy pajamas? Identify as a sucker for convenience and personalization?
Yeah, us too.
Social media is a powerful way to get your brand into the right hands. Whether you’re growing organically with awesome content or boosting sales with a paid media campaign, social media connects you with the people who are the most stoked about what you have to offer.
Now imagine the power of a digital storefront right on Instagram or Facebook. Your audience sees your ad, falls in love with your product, and a few clicks later they’re transformed into happy customers eagerly awaiting your package.
This is social selling: the future of e-commerce.
Why selling social rules
Selling social is all about meeting your ideal customers exactly where they are and making it as easy as possible to buy from you.
By selling social, you can:
- Leverage those impulse buys. Becky wants her “Live, laugh, love” sign, and she wants it now.
- Target the people who want what you’re selling. If you’ve done your research and know your users – their demographics, their pain points, their wildest hopes and dreams – then you can connect with the right people for you.
- Boost your paid media campaigns and keep the party going by allowing your customers to buy from the same platform.
- Sell to a global audience in their own living rooms.
- Tell the story of your brand. The more touch points you have, the easier it is to build delightful, long-lasting relationships with your customers.
How to do it well
Once you’ve opened your shop, it’s time to go buckwild in the playground of social media.
Use these tips to sell more stuff:
- Branding is everything. Your digital storefront should reflect who you are. Not to brag, but our Instagram is alive with our gorgeous pinks, purples, and pups.
- Use a voice and tone that match your brand. Don’t be afraid to get weird if that’s your brand’s thing.
- Use paid media campaigns to connect with the right people faster. If you want campaigns that convert, you know who to call. (Spoiler alert: It’s not Ghostbusters. It’s us.)
- Test, test, test. Use data as your guiding light. If your mascara is selling like hot cakes but your eyeliner hasn’t left the virtual shelf, dig into the why and keep iterating.
- Take advantage of everything that each platform has to offer. Use relevant hashtags so people can find you and continue the conversation. Make highlight stories that reflect your coolest and newest offers. Write a bio that sucks in more viewers than a vacuum cleaner.
- Social proof moves mountains, so be human and show real humans using your stuff. After all, are you more likely to buy a burger from a random joint or order from the local diner that your BFF won’t shut up about?
Want some inspo?
Nalgene, the iconic water bottle brand making adventures out of the everyday, sells on social media beautifully.
As their long-term creative partners, we’ve been crushing their e-commerce goals for months with a new website and ever-evolving paid media campaigns. Now they’ve opened a digital storefront right on Instagram to sell water bottles to all of their adventurous followers, and it’s going swimmingly.
Check out our case study if you want to know more about how we tripled their revenue in 6 months – and how we could do the same for you.
Before you dive head-first…
Opening a digital storefront on Facebook or Instagram holds huge potential, but before skipping off to sign up, make sure you:
- Have something awesome to sell
- Meet all of the eligibility requirements
- Run your business in a supported country
- Want to make lots of sales
Sound like you? Cool, go forth and conquer.
If not, don’t sweat it. Check out some of our other good reads, like 5 Ways Video Can Help Your Business or Using Artificial Intelligence for Marketing.
