When it comes to social selling, the following aspects play an important role:
- Active participation of the customer (for example, through comments, likes, shares, etc.)
- Direct integration of the customer in the design and development of products
- A personal connection and good communication among customers – word of mouth via the internet, messengers, or apps is particularly important, as it helps brands boost sales and customer engagement through offers or competitions
- Personal and emotional long-term connection between the customer and the brand
Social commerce harnesses these factors to reach its goals: social talk helps to advertise products and the brand. By tying a product to a target audience, entire communities can be built and fostered by a single brand. At the same time, social commerce is all about sharing product and brand information with customers. Businesses can even recruit brand ambassadors for their special events and campaigns. With social media usage spreading, customer conversion has become an increasingly important task among retailers. But how can you turn a targeted (and interested) individual into a potential customer of your products? Brands that succeed at turning a target audience into customers are said to have high conversion rates.
As social media became increasingly differentiated, marketing methods evolved. With the success of Instagram, for example, the connection between creators and fans has moved into the foreground. That’s where influencers come in. Influencers and creators are often treated like idols across popular social media apps. This has created an entirely new arm within marketing – influencer marketing – which harnesses the endorsement of branded or sponsored products by influencers. It’s a more organic way of achieving conversions compared to the often disruptive advertisement.
These strategies are useful because they boost the acceptance of sponsored posts and intensify the connection between the customer and a product. Customer willingness to engage with a product and their desire to own it increase. The emotional involvement and direct link to a product (for example, via a web shop link) make the purchasing experience much more efficient.
But trust remains the most important factor in turning potential customers into buyers. By using social media, brands can establish a more personal connection with their customer base.
Social proof is another important aspect of social commerce. Customers tend to trust in the collective intelligence: if other users in a community purchased and liked a product, it cannot be a bad product. That makes product likes, comments, and positive customer reviews all the more important as part of a successful social commerce strategy. If a product has positive reviews, other customers are more easily convinced to purchase the same. That psychological and social phenomenon is particularly evident on Amazon: Products with few or dominantly negative reviews rank lower in search results and are rarely bought. Sellers with positive reviews, on the other hand, profit from the social conclusiveness and tend to make more sales.