[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/06\/01\/social-commerce-strategy\/#Article","articleBody":"Consumers have grown used to social media over the last two decades, but how can brands find a profitable home on these platforms? What\u2019s the best social commerce strategy?\nWhat was once a chance to engage with friends or spend a bit more time than intended looking at puppy videos has now turned into a full-blown commerce opportunity.\nSocial platforms provide brands with a unique window to meet shoppers where they are most engaged. They must meet the moment with relevant offers that encourage shoppers to checkout and share. But how can brands square the increased audience with the decreased control and data that goes along with social commerce?\nHere are some tips to help you develop a winning social commerce strategy:\nStart with a smart social media program that\u2019s timely and relevant\nFocus on enhancing the customer experience with social value-adds\nCome to terms with the decreased control on social platforms\nView social commerce as an opportunity to bring consumers to your owned platforms\n \nWhat is social commerce? Definition, examples, stats\n   Social commerce is the use of a social platform for e-commerce sales, and it's huge: By 2027, it's projected to drive $604 billion in sales.  \nWhy you need a social commerce strategy\u00a0\nWith lookalike audiences on social sites, brands can get hyper-targeted and present social media users with products they\u2019re much more likely to buy. And the social aspect of your social commerce strategy really matters.\nSocial media offers a chance to introduce products in a social setting. It\u2019s so easy for consumers to send a friend a product they might like or get a second opinion on something they found interesting. Consumers are already in the mode of sharing and commenting when on social media and products can get a boost from word-of-mouth advertising when they get into the feed of the right potential customers.\nThis built-in engagement that brands can tap into can\u2019t be experienced to the same degree on owned websites. Brand websites are about education, exploration, and transactions, so social media is a necessary commerce channel for any brand seeking to create a buzz.\nBut not every worthy product benefits from the bump of word-of-mouth advertising.\nBrands have to adopt the right approach on social media first. They have to be timely and relevant to make the intrusion worthwhile to consumers and continue to delight them when a potential customer gets to their profile. The current sophistication level of advertising makes this much easier for the savvy brand that\u2019s willing to put in the time.\nSocial marketing vs. social commerce\nTo help brands nail down the metrics they need to be tracking and improving, Jason Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis, differentiates between social marketing and social commerce.\n\u201cThe distinction is the outcome you\u2019re seeking and how you measure it. Social marketing is generally about building awareness, and so your KPIs are going to be things like reach or impressions or unaided brand recall or CPM. In social commerce, the outcome you\u2019re seeking is revenue or profit or customer lifetime value,\u201d he explains.\nWith the right strategy, social commerce isn\u2019t an intrusion, it\u2019s offering up a product that the customer is likely to want at a touchpoint at which they\u2019re likely to buy. Instead of adding friction, it makes their life more seamless, and can help them learn about a product that will save them time or get more enjoyment out of life.\nIn a nutshell, the best social commerce examples are value-adds that enhance the customer experience instead of detracting from it.\nSocial commerce strategy: Getting real \nWhile social media is a great way to grow awareness and sales to a lesser extent, it\u2019s important for retailers to acknowledge that they don\u2019t own their customer data or branding on the platform.\nHaving someone check out after seeing an Instagram ad is a win, but converting that shopper to make a purchase on the website is not guaranteed. A social site could have an outage or boot a brand and then they would lose any data and sales coming through that channel. Brands must approach social commerce carefully and strategically.\nThis is where competing interests start to emerge. Brands must meet shoppers where they are, but social sales can be opaque data-wise and create extra work for a brand in terms of upkeep for yet another sales channel. Brands must have dual goals: Make it as easy as possible for customers to pass through discovery to checkout on social, and also get the data and relationships they need out of each sale.\n \nHere we are now, entertain us: The future of shopping\n   The future of shopping is entertainment. It's not enough to just have an online storefront. Brands have to do more. Consumers today are looking for novel, immersive, and entertaining shopping experiences.  \nCustomers want ease of use, and social commerce provides that on a golden platter. They can discover products while scrolling through vacation pictures and check out without having to leave the social property.\nBrands must humble themselves and provide the service shoppers are looking for, instead of adding the friction of requiring potential customers to check out using their site. They must provide moments of delight that grow loyalty in new customers and intrigue them enough to explore the brand on their owned channels.\nSocial media might offer more constricted methods of commerce, but an excellent first experience through these social channels can be the first step toward owning the relationship and data. This provides the opportunity to improve the customer experience, offer more payment methods, and keep in touch from owned channels.\nThe future is social\u00a0\nSocial commerce in Asia provides a potential look into the future. Social commerce is starting to pick up in Western markets, but it\u2019s already booming in Asia.\nSites like Alibaba powered by Taobao Live tap into the social aspect of social media and get customers checking out at several times the rate seen in Western countries, according to Goldberg. With the help of engaging content creators, these sites excel in \u201cshoppertainment\u201d \u2014 using entertainment as an effective selling tool.\nThe allure of social media is hard for brands to ignore. When viewed honestly and with a firm set of attainable goals, it can open the aperture to new customers.\nGetting a social commerce strategy right requires a balance of accepting the site for the revenue-generating opportunity that it is with the much harder goal of using it as a gateway to owned-selling channels. This will be an ongoing project for brands as the role of social commerce continues to evolve.\nIf you\u2019re not reaching customers on their preferred channels, you\u2019re not reaching customers. Think bigger. Think better. We can help. Find out how HERE.","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/06\/01\/social-commerce-strategy\/#Article_Person","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/06\/01\/social-commerce-strategy\/#Article_Person_ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/lisa-m-james-150x150.jpg"},"name":"Lisa James","sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/thebookoflisa","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/thebookoflisa"],"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/lisa-james\/"},"dateModified":"2021-12-07T18:16:25+00:00","datePublished":"2021-06-01T06:24:05+00:00","description":"A social commerce strategy is a must-have for brands today. Find out how brands can build a profitable social commerce strategy.","headline":"Like and buy: How to strike gold with social commerce","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/06\/01\/social-commerce-strategy\/#Article_ImageObject","height":"630","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/SocialEcom_1200x375-1200x630.jpg","width":"1200"},"mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/06\/01\/social-commerce-strategy\/","name":"Like and buy: How to strike gold with social commerce","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/","additionalType":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q1193236","description":"Relevant, timely information & analysis on commerce trends, both consumer-facing and B2B.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","height":"96","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","width":"500"},"name":"The Future of Customer Engagement and Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/a-call-for-a-better-experience\/id1479742201","https:\/\/twitter.com\/FutureOfCEC","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/4844282","https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/feed\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/"},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/06\/01\/social-commerce-strategy\/#Article"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2021","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"06","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/\/06\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"01","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/\/06\/\/01\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Like and buy: How to strike gold with social commerce","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/06\/01\/social-commerce-strategy\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]