Social commerce that entertains customers
The dynamic and active nature of social commerce makes it rather entertaining. Imagine a customer being able to share the products that interest him or her with their friends, in real time. Most people like to take the opinions of their friends before they buy anything from a shade of lip color to booking tickets for a live entertainment show. They are influenced by their friends, and likewise influence their shopping decisions too.
In fact the very nature of shopping is social. That is also why people prefer to read the product reviews and testimonials offered by customers over reading descriptive product details.
Is your social commerce store entertaining?
It is important that your facebook fan page connects well with the target audiences and engages them. It should offer design and content that is fun and interesting. People like to visit pages that they find entertaining. Even if they don’t wish to buy a product right away they often like to keep up with what the brand offers its audience. This also ensures that your brand is on the customer’s mind and he or she is likely to buy it.
There are several brands that offer an entertaining marketing campaign and none more than Subway. The brand doesn’t just talk about its products but does so in relation to the customer’s life and experiences. So whether it is promotion of the business with reference to an upcoming Hollywood blockbuster or empowering customers by giving them the chance to choose the deal of the month, the fans love it. The ‘choose the deal’ concept gains a rather large response from fans and as many as 14,000 fans are known to have responded within a few hours.
The social commerce store
A social commerce store should be exciting and offer a smooth and fun shopping experience. The best way to do this is to ensure that the store offers virtually all the products that your brand does. Next, the navigation should make shopping a breeze, and finally the shopping cart may offer suggestions about products that would complement the one in the cart.
An app like Storefront Social can help your business claim its facebook store in powerful ways. The app offers many different styles of templates that would be apt for companies with different business ethos. You can use a template that best suits your company and utilize corporate colors and logo that the brand is associated with. Customized banner can be used to offer a colorful and entertaining shopping experience. The essential idea is to create a facebook store that a person would want to share with friends and would be encouraged to shop on.
The language that the content is presented in can be chosen by the company and this helps it connect effectively with regional markets. Customers can pay for their shopping with several currencies and with PayPal.
Some brands also use social media sites to allow customers to buy experiences. This includes tickets to a concert, play or a film. Disney used the ‘Tickets Together’ app to sell tickets to its film, Toy Story. The concept was great as it allowed friends to plan a fun experience together and buy tickets to it.
Sharing hobbies on facebook
Every day people of varied age groups and backgrounds log into facebook to catch up with their friends, and to explore their interests. Hobbies are defined as activities that one takes on during one’s leisure time. They are essentially meant to add fun and interest to one’s day and offer an experience quite unlike anything a conventional day brings. For many the joy of having a hobby lies in sharing their experiences with fellow hobbyists. There are many who share their hobbies on facebook and even find facebook shops where they can buy essentially supplies to support their hobby.
Discovering hobbies on facebook
When it comes to sharing hobbies on facebook, there is a lot that one can do. The simplest and most obvious way is of course to include information about the hobby in one’s posts. This could include photographs of the pet projects. Often people have a group of friends with whom they share an interest in a certain hobby and facebook offers a great platform to share that interest. One can also ‘like’ hobby and interest pages that they would like to follow. Quilters can not only check on the most traditional and the most contemporary designs, they can also shop for books, patterns and much more. Best of all, they can interact with fellow quilters, share insight, gain advice and tips.
Hobbyists also like to see on facebook brands that they use and love. It gives them a great space to voice their opinions and recommendations, and to be heard! The Handi Quilter is one such brand. It uses its posts, photographs and YouTube videos rather effectively. The facebook fan page also has a forum for its fans. At LilyPad Craft Supplies fans and customers can buy craft supplies.
Gardeners from across the globe find facebook to be a fertile place to share their ideas. Some pages like Gardener’s Supply Company offers their fans tremendous support in terms of ideas and guidance when it comes to issues such as choosing the right plants or irrigation system.
Scrapbooking is another hobby that has plenty of takers on facebook. There are many pages such as The Scrapbooking Club and Scrapbook.com that focus on this activity and have plenty of ideas to share with scrapbookers. However while these generate a lot of interest what a lot of fans would really like is to find a brand that sells its products on the social network. Imagine being able to buy supplies on facebook and then posting the finished project on one’s page. The social network is the best place for a hobbyist to showcase his or her work. And for related businesses facebook is a great place to engage fans and sell their products.
Storefront Social is a unique app that helps a business set-up a facebook storefront. The shop can be customized to meet the needs of the business and its target audience. This includes the use of company colors, logo and photographs. The business can choose a language that their target audience is most comfortable with it. The facebook shop also allows customers to buy products with multiple currencies and with PayPal.
Customer involvement boosts social commerce
Experts and the common man agree on one crucial aspect of marketing. Word-of-mouth has something of a ripple effect when it comes to how well-liked a brand or product is. For the last few decades researchers have been studying the impact of word-of-mouth recommendations on sales and conversions. Social commerce is a unique platform where the results can be seen firsthand. To boost social commerce, brands have to seek ways to improve customer involvement.
When do people like to recommend brands
People like to recommend products to friends and also to strangers when they feel strongly about the brand. This happens on several occasions and these include the following scenarios:
- When the brand has been selling products in the market for a long time and has built a great reputation.
- The brand offers a novel experience that surprises and delights the customers and motivates them to share the experience with their friends.
- The brand offers excellent customer service and interaction and makes the customer feel valued. This improves customer loyalty effectively.
- Exclusive offers that give some customers a heads-up on forthcoming products or gives them the privilege of gaining access to products that have not be launched into the mainstream market as yet. This strategy makes the customer feel special, and he or she is motivated to share the information.
- The type of product also determines how willing customers are to share information about it. Such products include those that are high on functionality, reflect the customer’s taste or style, have an emotional value to it and finally those that are considered to be risky. In other words a customer will recommend and talk about products that in some manner encourage the customer to invest their emotions in it.
- Great incentives are also a good way to get a business’ fans talking about it.
Improving customer involvement on facebook
In order to improve customer involvement a business has to ensure that it is able to connect with its target audiences via the facebook fan page. Very few platforms allow businesses to interact and connect with their customers on a daily basis. With social media and a site like facebook your social media manger can ensure that customers would like to follow the brand. Starbucks is a great example to emulate. The brand uses its facebook fan page to connect with them and elicit a response. Every time Starbucks posts a photo or message, its customers respond warmly and in great numbers.
It is important that fans and customers can see a business’ product line on a facebook shop. You can showcase your products with an app such as Storefront Social. It helps your social commerce manager set up a store in no time and customize it. The shop will offer great navigation that will help customers find what they are looking for. The business can choose a language that its target audience is comfortable with. Furthermore, customers can pay with multiple currencies or with PayPal. This essentially means that the app is useful for businesses from across the globe.
3 strategies for social commerce success
It is a strange world that we live in, where trends seem to come and go in a matter of months, if not weeks. Social commerce however is more than a trend; it is a phenomenon whose time has come. When social media began, it truly empowered the internet user who until then had been a passive participant on the World Wide Web. With social media sites, such as facebook, they received a platform to voice their opinions and thoughts. And the last few years have been evidence enough of how powerful this medium has become.
Set up shop
When social media users access their accounts they discuss everything under the sun, and this includes products and brands. They prefer to go with brands that they like. People actively seek out the opinions and recommendations of their friends before they invest a single dollar in a product. They want value for their money, and to this end they prefer to depend on the testimonial of other customers over detailed product descriptions.
If your target audiences are discussing your brand or products that it offers, it is vital that your business offer them on the social commerce. There is no better time to make a sale than when a customer is considering a product or shows interest in it. Set up a facebook storefront with the help of one of the several apps available. Storefront Social is an excellent option to go with. The app is tailor-made to meet the needs and requirements of all kinds of businesses. A business can choose to offer content in a language of its choice; making it friendlier for its regional audience. For a more global approach the app allows customers to pay for their shopping with PayPal and with multiple currencies.
Offer it all
The worst thing that a business can do is to open a facebook shop and then store few products on it. This puts off customers and doesn’t inspire confidence in the brand. They are unlikely to shop at such a store. It is vital that you offer an extensive collection of your products. The design and navigation of the store are two key elements that help customers complete their transaction and make a purchase. It is important that the app you select offers many templates for the social commerce manager to select from. This will ensure that the business gets a social commerce store that truly befits it.
Coordinate on and off social commerce efforts
It is important that social commerce and conventional marketing efforts are coordinated well. This would mean that you use all the resources at your behest to interact and engage with your target audiences. The facebook store should be popularized by means of conventional business communication, such as including social commerce details in business cards and letterheads.
All the information that a business gathers from its social commerce and social media efforts should be put to good use and to refine product development and marketing.
Social commerce start up to watch out for
Social media and commerce has thrown open a plethora of opportunities for entrepreneurs. Social commerce can be used in versatile ways to make sales and generate income. People love to recommend brands and products to their friends, and like wise, seek out recommendations from them. Social media makes this process simpler and more fun. There are many small and big businesses that are choosing social commerce as the platform on which they wish to address and interact with their target audiences.
A storefront for the budding entrepreneur
Most fashionable women have a secret desire to own a boutique that sells beautiful things and brings in a source of income. This idea is the focus of Kitsy Lane’s venture into social commerce. Interested entrepreneurs can create a storefront and curate it with products from the Kitsy Lane store. Thereafter, they can share information and recommendations on social media networks and earn a commission on every sale that is made through the storefront. There are several facebook storefronts that offer products from the Kitsy lane store. This includes Langs Luxuries and Southern Charm Kitsy Lane Boutique.
Local Response is an interesting social commerce tech startup that focuses on keeping brands informed about what their customers and target audiences are doing or considering. The intent is what this app focuses on and gives brands a chance to swoop in to make an offer or recommendation at the opportune moment. The app offers businesses a chance to market their brand and products just when customers would need them the most. This improves the chances of a sale and also strengthens brand identity.
Social commerce like social media is all about story telling. How this basic premise can be used in creative ways to help target audiences associate and identify with brands and products is the priceless question that marketing managers need to answer. Its all in your actions believe the people behind the Karma Gifts app. The app can be downloaded onto smart phones and connects users to facebook. It helps people find relevant social information about their friends such as birthdays and special occasions and then makes gift suggestions. The gift message is sent to the friend and shipping details are requested for. In some instances the receiver can make changes to the style of gift that they will receive.
It is important for business of all sizes to invest in a facebook storefront where their product line will be showcased. Customers can buy products they like and share their experience and opinions with their friends. Shop and tell has always been a fool proof method of marketing.
Storefront Social is an app that helps businesses set up a customized facebook store. Social commerce managers can choose to offer content in a language of their choice. This makes the app great for businesses from across the world. The storefront will use the business’ colors and photographs so that it can truly claim its facebook storefront. The store offers great navigation to offer a smooth shopping experience. Customers can pay with multiple currencies and with PayPal too.
How brands are adapting social commerce to suit their business
In the hands of marketing managers social media is a rather creative tool. It can be used in versatile ways, to elicit a reaction, and to make a connection with the brand’s target audiences. Brands are using social commerce in varied ways to suit their business. While some are selling actual products on the social media site, others are promoting gift cards on networks such as Facebook. Experts estimate that in the next 3-5 years 10-15% of consumer shopping will be done through social commerce. This estimate refers to total shopping and not just online shopping.
Creating a large social commerce community
Brands such as P&G make social commerce about more than just buying the products that the company offers. They make active efforts to connect with their customers and to give them a space where they can express themselves. Customers also appreciate the fact that the brand has a facebook community where they can interact with other likeminded people. Best of all, customers can buy their desired products without leaving the social media site. The fan page also finds space for customers to share their every day stories of environmental acts.
Why a facebook store is crucial
Starbucks has a 34 million fan following on facebook. The brand offers Starbucks Card eGifts that can be bought and sent to friends. The card can also be set to be delivered for a future date. Unfortunately the app seems to be out of order for long stretches of time, and can be an irritant for customers. It would be a great idea for the brand to have its own facebook Starbucks shop, where customers can order coffee and other products.
An app like Storefront Social would be valuable to this end. The app helps businesses set up a customized facebook shop quickly. It helps showcase the brand’s product line and offers efficient navigation that helps customers find the products that they are looking for. Businesses can offer content in a language of their choice and can accept payment for shopping in multiple currencies and with PayPal.
Some brands such as Zumba offer fans a great place to interact with other Zumba dancers. The fan page is a great blend enthusiasm and fun. Not only that, they can also find a class that is close to their location. The Surfrider Foundation is a non profit organization that focuses on keeping the beach and the waters clean and safe. The brand has a facebook storefront where fans can buy t-shirts, towels, sweatshirts and many other products that indicate their support towards the cause.
Virgin Wines takes the time to educate and entertain its fans and visitors. From the basics of wine making to some terrific offers that are difficult to resist the facebook fan page offers it all. What makes this experience more fun is the fact that customers can shop on the facebook shop. Businesses that sell everything from candy and desserts to craft supplies and fashion, offer their customers a chance to interact with their brands and to shop on social commerce. Marketing on facebook is viral and with a good product and a great storefront you can’t go wrong.
How to improve conversion on your facebook shop
The social commerce storefront may look a lot different from a brick and mortar store, but the basic principles that guide shopping remain the same. With the advent of social media sites consumers are able to interact with their friends far more easily. Earlier they would have been reduced to calling a friend on the mobile and seek their opinion about a product, while they were actually in the store. Now with social commerce the facebook shop is where the target audiences lie. Friends can share products and seek the opinions and recommendations of their friends. They also like to go by the testimonials offered by other consumers.
The secret to improving social commerce
The secret to improving conversion on your facebook shop lies in understanding your customers and not in some elusive sales and marketing formula. People are more likely to buy something when there interest in the brand and the product is at its peak. With social media your business can interact and engage its target audiences and offer them the opportunity to shop on the facebook store. Customers love to share a great deal and talk about a good shopping experience. On facebook they can do both, and a lot more. They are your most powerful marketing tool. Here are some tips on improving conversion and sales.
- Research indicates that more than half of online shoppers are logged into their facebook accounts while they are shopping. Instead of using the social media site to ask friends for opinions, shopping on facebook would be a satisfying experience for customers. To this end, it is vital that brands offer the complete range of their products and not just display a few. A good facebook app like Storefront Social can help customize a facebook store so that it looks like the space truly belongs to the brand.
- Well planned navigation and a shopping cart that is designed to be considerate of the shoppers’ needs, are two key factors that help a customer complete their transaction. Out of every 10 shopping carts, 7 are abandoned before check out. The reasons for abandoning a cart can be several including the fact that the shopping cart doesn’t update quickly enough or that it may have expired by the time the customer is done shopping. Some brands send out timely messages to remind customers of abandoned or forgotten shopping carts.
- Features such as price comparisons, a shopping cart that doesn’t expire quickly and completion of the transaction with multiple currencies and with PayPal, are some things that would aid a business sell more. Such features would make it fun to shop at the facebook shop and the customer would not be in a hurry to go to other pages to make comparisons.
- The facebook storefront should make it easy for customers to share their pre and post sales excitement with their friends. Word-of-mouth recommendations are the strongest and most persuasive source of marketing.
- Exclusive deals for facebook fans also motivate customers to shop on the social media site. Offers such as 1-800-Flowers’ Group Gifts help friends shop together. The brand also offers customers a discount for joining the community.
Some brands who are making a difference on facebook
An increasing number of businesses are choosing to actively support human interest causes. The range of these causes extends from child care and nutrition to supporting the underprivileged. There are some brands that are making quite the difference with their efforts on facebook. When it comes to issues such as nutrition, Nestle seems to be quite a controversial brand. However, it uses its facebook fan page effectively to inform and educate customers about the brand’s initiatives to offer food and health solutions.
Customer’s viewpoint
A research study reported that if factors such as quality and cost remain equal a remarkable percentage, as high as 94%, would choose to switch to a different product or brand if it supports a cause and makes a difference to society at large. This makes it important for businesses to look at the way they support their community, locally as well as at a macro level. People want to know that the brands they buy and support have a caring side, and social initiatives that support a cause reflect the same. Facebook offers businesses a remarkable platform that can be used to inform customers and visitors about the brand’s social commitment and can also encourage customers to make the same.
A human face to brands
Johnson & Johnson uses its J&J Health Channel facebook app to reach out to customers and fans so they can share a role in supporting a cause. When a fan donates a photo the brand donates $1 towards a charity or cause that the fan supports such as making sports safe for children or repairing a public park. Stayfree, a women’s personal hygiene brand also takes initiative to empower women in developing nations and bring about a change in their lives. P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water encourages customers and fans to support the cause. Each time a visitor clicks the ‘like’ button, the brand donates a day’s clean water in a developing country.
When a customer visits a brand’s facebook fan page, he or she wishes to interact with the brand and also peruse the products that are on offer. There is no point in using an effective medium such as social media to engage the target audience without offering them the chance to buy the products. A facebook shop helps the customers buy products when there interest in the brand or product line is at its peak and a sale is most likely.
Storefront Social is an app that can be used to create a facebook shop. The store can be customized to meet the needs of the business and its customers. The facebook storefront would be akin to the brand’s online and offline store and would make use of brand colors, logo and photographs. The social commerce manager can also choose to use a language of the business’ choice. This helps it reach out to its target audience effectively. This makes this app valuable to businesses from all parts of the world. The navigation is devised to help customers find the products they are looking for while still being able to see other products that are available and may interest them.
Shopping for gifts with social commerce
Shopping for gifts can be a challenging task. There are many issues that you need to keep in mind, the most important being the tastes and preferences of the person you are buying the gift for. Often you may decide on what you wish to buy but may not be able to find a store that sells the product. Social commerce makes shopping for gifts a breeze. There are a plethora of brands and products that you can choose from while you seek the opinions of your friends and read up on testimonials and product reviews by other customers.
One of the biggest advantages that social commerce offers the contemporary shopper is the fact that they can compare products and actively seek the recommendations of others. There are some social commerce brands such as Gifts.com that make it possible for a shopper to buy from a wide range of products. So essentially, you can buy something for your colleague, your mom and your sweetheart, all in one place. What makes the shopping process more fun and interesting is the concept of the Gift Guru. A Gift Guru is a fellow shopper who lists out products that he or she likes or has bought. It is great to read the recommendations of a person who has bought a product that a shopper may be interested in.
Facebook Gifts
Often people forget to pick a gift until the very last moment. Social commerce on facebook Gifts offers an awesome solution to this awkward situation. All a person has to do is pick a gift for a facebook friend and they will be notified about the gift along with a personalized message. Thereafter the recipient can choose a size, flavor or color that suits them before giving the address to which they wish to have the gift shipped. Soon the recipient will receive the gift at their doorstep. This keeps the recipient’s personal details secure while ensuring that they receive information about the gift on their special day.
This app helps friends send out gifts to celebrate the small and big moments of joy. Be it birthday, anniversaries, promotions or just to brighten a pal’s day, shopping for gifts on facebook is a fun experience. It is vital that businesses offer their products on the social network so that fans and customers can buy them without leaving the social media site.
Storefront Social is a wonderful app that helps businesses set up their own facebook storefront in a matter of minutes. The store can be customized to reinforce the brand’s identity and to this end business colors, logos and pictures can be used. It is vital that the store offers a wide range of products quite like a brick and mortar store would. There is nothing more depressing for a shopper than a store with a limited range of products. The app makes it possible to offer content in a language chosen by the business and transactions can be accepted with multiple currencies and with PayPal. This makes the facebook shop truly global.
How social commerce is helping craft businesses
For small and medium sized businesses social media sites are a unique platform to showcase their products. Facebook is a great place for craft companies to bring their business into the limelight and interact with their customers. Craft businesses are essentially of two types, the first offer the resources that craftsmen need and the second sell the crafts. Both types of businesses benefit by being on facebook and offering their wares on a facebook storefront.
A social marketplace
The best way to sell your products is by getting customers to tell their friends about your business. Every word-of-mouth recommendation is trusted and placed higher than detailed product descriptions. People also put faith in the recommendations and reviews written by strangers.
Many small craft businesses wait for fairs and festivals at which they can sell their products. In contrast facebook is the perfect place for a crafts business. On the facebook fan page the company can offer all the pertinent business information, post photographs of the products and offer fans and customers the chance to shop on the facebook store. The facebook storefront would ensure that prospective customers don’t need to leave the site to buy your products.
Some brands such as The Slipped Stitch have a complicated procedure for shopping. The customer would have to PM his or her interest in the product and then the order is processed. In contrast with an app like Storefront Social the business could create a store on the social network. Customers will be able to see the products on offer and buy them conveniently. The navigation of the store facilitates a great shopping experience. The business owner can choose a language of his or her choice and this makes the app viable for craft businesses from across the world. Customers can pay for their shopping with multiple currencies and with PayPal.
The 24 X 7 craft market
One of the biggest advantages that a facebook shop offers business owners is that once the store is set up it can do business 24 X 7. With regular monitoring and social media efforts the business can create a brand identity and a steady list of loyal customers. Little Miss Quilty offers a wide and colorful range of products on its facebook store. This includes bags and purses of all sizes and styles, children’s hats and resources to make bags of your own.
The Cheer Boutique is a store that mainly sells bows and little else. The shop is run by a cheery Australian cheerleader who offers cheerleading bows in a variety of styles and colors. This is the perfect example of how a small business can create a loyal fan following on facebook and sell on it.
Facebook helps businesses interact with customers and engage them on their page. It gives them the opportunity to understand what they like and what they are most likely to buy in the future. This information and feedback can help a craft business tweak its product line to match with the wish list of their customers. For many businesses that are run out of the home it reduces the need to take phone calls regarding product details and orders. A facebook storefront gives the business the professional look that it deserves and helps it improve sales.