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Social Media for Generating E-Commerce Traffic
For quite some time Facebook was the undisputed king of social media, however, in recent years, a lot has changed with numerous new social media platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc. catching the imagination of users. The total number of users of social media, according to https://www.statista.com, has risen from less than one billion in 2010 to 2.77 billion in 2019.
While Facebook remains the big daddy of social media with 2.23 billion monthly average users, it is networks like Instagram that have galloped past the one billion mark in just a few years due to its popularity with the younger generation’s love for sharing photos on the go with their smartphones.
Marketers have also been very quick to discover the huge potential of the popularity of social media networks for both organic and paid for e-commerce traffic. However, the constant changes that social media keeps on making to their algorithms can make it difficult for e-commerce platforms to gain traction consistently.
Since it is very evident that success cannot be achieved with random actions, you need to implement extremely robust strategies to generate e-commerce traffic from social media. Some of the top methods of getting ahead of the competition:
Don’t Ignore the Current Database of Contacts and Customers
Many owners of e-commerce businesses are disappointed that the traffic to their website or the e-commerce platform does not surge immediately after they have established their accounts on some of the leading social media platforms.
For the results to pay off, it will obviously take time as you will need to get a critical mass of friends or followers who can be persuaded to visit your website for the conversions to take place. At this juncture, while you are doing your best to add to your user base by posting engaging content. You should not forget about your existing customers and lead that you have acquired through various means including previous transactions and email marketing campaigns.
It is important for you to keep them informed of your new presence on social media and encourage them to join you. This will help you to keep them engaged and build customer loyalty. With a ready base of users on your social media, you will find it easier to convince others to follow you.
Post When Target Audience Is the Most Active
There was a time when not so long ago, social media sites like Facebook and Instagram used to display posts in a chronological order on your feed, which made it easier to followers to track your brand more easily if they really wanted to do so. However, now the algorithm uses a number of inputs to decide which posts are most suitable for you keeping mind your past behavior and interaction with users.
Since your Instagram followers are also following other accounts, it can be very easy for them to miss seeing your posts in the clutter of their feed if they are not logged in to their accounts at the time you post your contents. It is very important for you to establish the time when your followers are most active so that you can publish your posts at that time and increase the chances of them being seen.
While there are numerous studies suggesting the best times for you to post, the most optimum times are best established by you over a period of time by studying the engagement level of content posted at various times of the day and days of the week. Using one of the numerous social media analytics tools can give you an insight into the behavior of your audience, and you can tweak your content publishing strategy accordingly.
Remember to Include the Link to Your Website
The reasons why social media is important to e-commerce businesses is that firstly, it helps to raise brand awareness and engagement, and secondly, it acts to drive traffic to the website for enabling conversions. There are many online businesses that set up social media accounts but fail to reap the fruits of their investment in time, effort, and money for the simple reason that they have omitted to include the link to their website in the profile or bio section of the social media accounts.
Instagram, for example, allows a clickable link to the website only in the bio section. To draw attention to the link, you can use posts with compelling CTAs and the promise of attractive freebies to encourage users to click on the link and go to your website. It can be especially helpful to create a special landing page that can assist in converting the traffic being generated by your social media account.
Create Content That Engages
There is completely no point is creating and posting content at random because they will serve no purpose. You should first think hard about your objective and establish the profile of your target audience and then only go about creating content that they will find entertaining, engaging, and useful.
It is a no brainer that whatever content that you post, it must be absolutely original and of very high quality because social media users are typically very discerning. Pay a lot of thought to the content you create and only publish if you are confident that it will meet the objective that you have identified.
It is not necessary, even counterproductive to publish too many posts; rather, you should post according to a calendar that keeps your brand alive in the minds of your followers without overdoing it and irritating them. While using images, make sure that they are high definition and composed in such a manner that they immediately draw the attention of users.
Typically, studies have established that content that is humanized with the faces of people are perceived to be more authentic and have a better connection with the audience, which results in better interaction and engagement. Videos are generally preferred over still photographs as they connect with audiences better. Always create your content with the target audience in mind – keep the focus on users and not on the product.
Conclusion
When you want to drive traffic to your e-commerce platform from social media, it is important to fully understand your objectives and also the profile of your target audience. This will help you to create content that they will find engaging. Remember to insert the link to your website; otherwise, all the effort of using social media will be wasted.
