Social Commerce: How to Turn Your Social Feed Into Sales

Social commerce is where customers shop for things directly through social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and more. If something is advertised on one of these platforms that catches your eye, instead of heading to a separate website, you can find, explore, and buy products right from the app you’re currently using. 

You might be tempted to dismiss it as another fad, but make no mistake, social commerce can impact your bottom line in a big way.The social commerce market in the UK is currently estimated to hit £7.4 billion in sales in 2024 and expected to rise to £16 billion by 2028. In the US, unsurprisingly, it’s expected to hit an even larger number of $80 billion by 2025. With over 5.07 billion people currently using social media (62.6% of the world’s population), social commerce is an obvious strategy for expanding your brand’s reach, and turning your business’ social feed into non-stop sales.

Standing out from increasing competition—and boosting your eCommerce sales via social media—is no easy feat. You need a solid understanding of your target audience’s shopping preferences and how you can use social commerce tools to provide a top-quality customer experience. Want to know how? Let’s get started.

• What is social commerce?
• Why is social commerce important?
• Social commerce tools you can use
• Creating a social commerce strategy

What is social commerce?

Social commerce is when businesses use social media to promote and sell their products or services. It allows companies and customers to connect directly, making it easy for people to shop right within their favourite social media apps. This allows businesses to reach more people (and resultantly potential customers), engage with them better, and increase sales, too.

Social commerce can also refer to everything around making a purchase as well. That can mean responding to comments on posts, making content about new product launches, promoting reviews of products for sale through social commerce, and partnering with influencers for advertising. 

Why is social commerce important?

Social commerce is more important now than ever before – and it’s only going to keep growing. The number of people using social media now sits at 5.07 billion (62.6% of the world’s population) with the average person using social media for 2 hours and 23 minutes every day. 

When it comes to eCommerce, shopping through social media has always been afterthought as a ‘nice to have’ for brands and businesses to expand their reach and, hopefully, generate a few sales, too. But, today, social commerce can no longer be ignored as an instrumental channel and driver in your brand’s success.

Social commerce tools you can use

Now you know how useful social commerce can be – it’s time to start using it. When it comes to the tools you should be using, you’ll likely already know all the favourites: Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Focus your energy there with the right advertisements and strategy and you’ll be well on your way to growing your customer base.

Instagram

Let’s start with Instagram. Instagram’s shoppable posts and stories enable potential customers who make a connection with your content to follow through on that feeling and make a purchase right now. 

Shoppable story stickers are particularly useful for businesses that don’t have 10,000 followers yet, and so can’t add links to their stories. Stickers work no matter your size, so you can still direct followers to your products.

Here’s how it works: first, you create a catalogue of your products in Facebook’s Catalog Manager. Next, you connect your catalogue to your Instagram business account. Finally, you submit your account for review to Instagram for approval by heading to your profile settings, tapping Shopping on Instagram, and following the steps.

Once you’ve been approved, any time you upload a post (or a story) that features at least one of your products, you can tag those products like you would a person in the photo. Whenever a customer taps on the tag, they’ll be taken to the product to purchase it.

After you’ve uploaded 9 shoppable posts, a shop tab will appear on your profile. This will allow customers to immediately identify which posts they can shop from. 

Facebook

Facebook now features Facebook Shops that builds upon the principles Facebook was already exploring with tools like Instagram’s shoppable posts feature. It allows you to set up a full storefront that customers can browse without needing to leave their app. 

Once you’ve set up your Facebook Shop, customers will be able to access it from either your Facebook page or Instagram profile. Customers will be able to save products they’re interested in from your Shop and make purchases without leaving the app—which means a truly frictionless experience for your customer, potentially encouraging more sales.

Customers will be able to send you questions and eventually make purchases directly through Facebook and Instagram messaging features, so be sure you’re monitoring your social feeds and making a point to respond to customers if you’re interested in opening a Shop.

TikTok

TikTok Shop allows users to discover and buy products directly within the app. Businesses can feature their products in short videos which can have shoppable tags or links. 

TikTok, much like Instagram Live, allows users (including influences) to host live shopping events where brands can showcase their products in real-time, allowing viewers to ask questions, and buy on the spot. 

Not to mention, that because of TikTok’s algorithm, videos are shown to users based on their viewing habits, so you’re more likely to find an audience of viewers who might be interested in your brand, product, or more generally, the type of thing you’re selling.

SocialRank

While SocialRank won’t aid you in social commerce directly, it will help you create sales opportunities via social media.

SMBs getting started with social commerce can use SocialRank’s plans to get a picture of your audience and identify influencers to work with. This can help you decide which products you want to launch on social first, and how to reach your target audience by working with micro-influencers. With 75% of respondents on one survey stating that they will still buy from a brand they trust even if a trendy competitor emerges in the market, building trust should be a crucial component of your social commerce strategy.

Social commerce example: Exclucity

Exclucity are a shoe retailer, and Lightspeed customer, that use social commerce through their Instagram account. For Exclucity, the social commerce sales flow goes as follows:

Capture customer attention through giveaways > enable shoppable posts > share positive reviews as social proof.

Here’s how they’re doing it: Exclucity’s focus since the beginning of social distancing measures has been around rewarding their consumers through giveaways. They have done numerous giveaways in the last weeks for different pairs of popular shoes. These contests have led to thousands of engagements on the brand’s Instagram account.

These giveaways have brought product-focused followers to their account. To serve these followers, Exclucity has enabled users to purchase shoes directly from their feed. With a few quick taps, people can order new shoes without having to leave Instagram to find them on Exclucity’s online store. 

Then, when someone tags @exclucity in their story, they then repost it on their own story. This acts as a free testimonial for their company, providing social proof that making a purchase through social commerce is worth it. 

The combination of generous giveaways and reviews help build trust, which helps create an environment where customers prioritise purchasing from Exclucity—in this case, first through social commerce, and then later potentially through sales from their eCommerce site or in-store. 

Creating a social commerce strategy

All this talk of social commerce, what platforms to use, why it’s important, and so on is all well and good, but you’ll need an actual strategy if you want to improve your chances of success. Here’s a short step-by-step guide on how to get the most out of social commerce.

Know who you’re targeting

Start by figuring out who your ideal customers are. Look at their age, interests, and how they use social media. This info will help you create content they like, pick the right platforms, and shape your overall strategy.

Set clear objectives

Decide what you want to achieve with social commerce. Are you looking to boost brand awareness, get more engagement, increase sales, or all of the above? Having clear goals will help you track your progress and adjust your strategy as needed.

Pick the best platforms 

Choose social media platforms where your audience spends most of their time. Each platform attracts different types of people and offers different features. Get to know these platforms so you can adjust your approach to fit each one.

Optimise your profiles 

Make sure your social media profiles are ready for social commerce. Use eye-catching images, interesting bios, and relevant keywords to attract and keep customers. Produce content that grabs attention and resonates with your audience, too.

Show off social proof

Use customer reviews, testimonials, and other social proof to build trust with potential customers. Sharing real customer experiences and success stories can show that your products deliver as promised. 

Work with influencers

Partner with influencers to expand your reach and build your brand’s credibility. Encourage customers to share their experiences with your products by creating fun challenges or campaigns, which can lead to more exposure.

Stay engaged

Social media is about interaction – and constant interaction, too. Make sure to quickly respond to comments, messages, and tags. Engage with your followers, answer their questions, and thank them for their feedback. Building these connections helps create customer loyalty and encourages repeat business. 

Track and improve

Monitor how well your posts are performing by using social analytical tools. Pay attention to metrics like engagement, reach, and conversion rates. Use these insights to tweak your strategy, improve your content, and achieve better results.

Social commerce helps future-proof your business

Branching out into social commerce means you have one more way to make sales and aren’t as vulnerable if one encounters any issues, whether they’re within your control or not. And with more customers than ever ready to shop online, now is an ideal time to get started. If you need any help with your eCommerce efforts, or are just looking for a new point of sale system, Lightspeed Retail could be just what you need.