In a previous post on the Yotpo blog, it was mentioned that increased sales, inexpensive advertising, faster customer service and increased traffic were noticeable benefits of what social media can do for ecommerce.
These are huge benefits for any company and it’s hard to deny their influence.
But it gets even better. Unbeknownst to many companies, there are even more benefits of social commerce, some less obvious than those previously listed.
Higher Search Engine Rankings
It’s already been proven that social media increases traffic to your website naturally and can positively influence personalized search results.
Along with traffic, social media usage also creates more links, recommendations, bookmarks, comments, shares, and more.
This natural buildup of measurable content inherently improves your website’s rankings and increases your “digital footprint.”
Therefore, with social commerce you will increase your search engine rankings with minimal effort – it’s a no-brainer!
Customer Loyalty
Getting your business involved in social commerce increases your ability to build customer loyalty.
Why?
Because commerce is a relationship between a company and its customers and whether you like it or not social media makes that relationship closer than ever before.
People want to watch the latest videos on your products, read and write reviews, and interact with other customers. That’s all part of the new experience on how to make customers happy and feeling engaged.
The better you play the social commerce game, the better the customer experience and the more loyal your customers will become.
Repeat Purchases
As you can tell from above you’re not just selling with social commerce, you’re building relationships.
Social commerce helps you maintain those relationships by quickly informing your best customers of special promotions, new products, deep discounts and much more.
If customers are happy with your products and customer service they will be more likely to buy from you again.
Not Your Grandfather’s Word-of-Mouth Advertising:
It’s well known that word-of-mouth marketing is the most powerful type of marketing. In addition to being used as an inexpensive place for advertising, social media sites also offer a platform for virtual word-of-mouth marketing.
Through customer reviews, shared stories, and visual representations, your customers use social media to portray your products in a certain light to hundreds, if not thousands, of other potential and actual customers.
This is word-of-mouth marketing on a massive scale and it is currently much more trustworthy than the traditional “push” marketing that companies put out on a daily basis.
Higher search engine rankings, greater customer loyalty, repeat purchasers, unpaid marketing boosts – it’s not everyday that something that seems so simple can offer you so much (and at a relatively low cost).
Social media is a must for any business, large or small, product- or service-oriented, and you need to get in the game now.
Here are a few ways to improve your social commerce game:
- Create a plan for your Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and Pinterest accounts. If you don’t have a plan to start conversations and build relationships, then what are you doing with those accounts in the first place?
- Install the Yotpo plug-in on your eCommerce website. The social reviews you receive will greatly increase your conversion rates. You’re already on the website so what are you waiting for?!
- Add Disqus to your blog. It’s an easy way to encourage, receive, and manage comments, especially because your blog is often a huge resource for your customers.
- Download some social media management tools. Click on the link for a list of LeapGo’s top 25 picks, including EdgeRank Checker, HootSuite, and TweetDeck. The more you know, the better you’ll be.
Let us know your plan for Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and any other social media platform you are using in the comments section below.
This is a guest post by Jason Corgiat.
Jason Corgiat is the lead business strategist and founder of LeapGo, Inc., a leading professional website development company. He has over 12 years of expertise in ecommerce website development, digital marketing strategies, and business consulting. Jason has worked with small to Fortune 500 sized companies and established a track record for success by offering ‘no-BS’ consultative approach.
