Digital Marketing - Study Notes:
Social commerce
To begin, let’s clarify an important distinction. You might think that social media and social commerce are essentially the same thing. But they’re not!
- Social media is an ecosystem where people can interact with each other, and brands can direct potential customers to their website to complete a purchase.
- Social commerce, on the other hand, offers customers the ability to checkout directly within the social network rather than going to an external website.
So you can think of social commerce as just one element of the overall social media ecosystem.
Social commerce offers a very important opportunity for digital marketers. With social commerce, consumers remain in the same ecosystem. In other words, they stay within the social platform. This means that social commerce is quite streamlined because there are fewer steps to conversion or purchase. Consumers don’t even have to leave the social platform in order to complete their purchase!
Additional features – such as chatbot checkouts and autofill for payment and delivery details – reduce the number of clicks significantly. This leads to a smoother customer experience, and reduces the likelihood of cart abandonment.
Which products work best for social commerce?
In general, low-cost products work best in social commerce. Now, why might this be the case?
Well, first, ask yourself the following question: Why do people browse social media?
They’re there to look and engage with content. They want to check on their friends, brands, influencers, or simply look at videos or other content. Basically, many social media users are there to waste time in an enjoyable way. Their mindset makes it difficult to sell high-ticket products that need to be considered. However, they are more likely to be swayed by lower-cost and impulse purchases.
Social referrals
After purchasing via social commerce, consumers can then immediately share their purchases with their friends and connections for social kudos.
This can have a positive effect on sales by attracting new customers from the friends and connections of customers when they see purchase being shared on their timeline or newsfeed. Sharing a recent purchase with your friends is known as social referrals.
Social commerce and the customer journey
Let’s now consider how social commerce fits in the purchase journey.
Social commerce can assist sales through other channels. This is because consumers are influenced by referrals and reviews, which are native to social channels. Therefore, it can both assist sales and drive direct purchases because most shoppers will check at least one social media site before making a purchase. For this reason, it’s certainly worth your while to give them the option to buy where they are researching – on social media!
Bear in mind, also, that millennials and younger generations are very likely to make a purchase through social media networks.
The growth of mobile commerce
Mobile commerce is growing in popularity because more people are buying with their phones in Western markets. In fact, in the larger ecommerce markets in China and the other Eastern markets, mobile devices are now the main device for ecommerce purchases.
To align sales platforms to current and future trending consumer device preferences, you must provide purchase options designed for mobile users. Social networks work very well in this context, and they’re a natural fit for mobile device usage. As a result, social networks are considered native platforms.
Social timelines
Now think about how people interact with their social media timelines.
Brands, people, and other content all gather together in social timelines. In among the various updates from friends and connections, you’ll see offers, sales, new products, and promotional activity from brands.
Consumers can engage with these offers in several ways as they decide whether to act:
- Click through to find out more information.
- Watch a video.
- Ask a question in the comments section.
- Review comments and feedback by other users.
All of these interactions influence how consumers make up their mind as they consider their options before committing to purchase.
Back to TopDerek Liddy
Derek is Head of Marketing and e-commerce for Carrolls Irish Gifts. He has over 20 years’ experience developing brands through digital channels, onsite UX/UI, and digital innovation. He has previously worked as the Head of Digital Marketing at Aer Lingus, Head of Online for Anglo Irish Bank, Head of Digital Strategy at Continuum, and has held communications roles at Windmill Lane and Animo Television.
Alison Battisby
Alison is a Social Media Consultant with Avocado Social, she is a Facebook and Instagram accredited social media expert and founded Avocado Social in 2014 having worked in the social media industry since 2008. Alison has worked with a wide range of brands including Estee Lauder, Tesco, and Pringles. Alison has traveled the world training companies including the BBC, Etsy, Canon, and Cambridge University Press. She offers social media strategy, training, and consultancy at Avocado Social across platforms including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and TikTok.
These walkthrough videos give clear, step-by-step demonstrations and guidance on how to apply key digital marketing concepts and strategies, and use industry-standard tools. While relevant to this module, you will not be assessed on this content.
