Social commerce refers to the use of social media platforms to facilitate the buying and selling of products and services. It is a new way of doing business that leverages the power of social networks to reach customers and create a more interactive and personalized shopping experience.
The evolution of social media marketing includes social commerce, a marketing tactic that has existed for a long time but never really caught up until recently. Two platforms that have brought a new meaning to social commerce are Instagram and TikTok. Instagram has 1 billion users, and 90% of them already follow active shopping brands, with many visiting these profiles daily. Here’s a list of features you can use to sell on Instagram.
- Live Shopping: This is an implementation of live streaming
- Shop Tab Ads: Perfect for e-commerce stores that want to promote their ads on users’ shop tabs.
- Reels Ads: Just like Stories ads, but for Reels.
- IGTV Ads: The same as before, but for IGTV.
- Instagram Checkout: A seamless and secure way to sell your products directly on Instagram.
With 1 billion monthly active users, TikTok isn’t far behind behind. In 2022, they launched TikTok Shopping, which allows creators to add a shopping tab to their TikTok profiles. A Shopify integration will pull products from their Shopify product catalogs and show them on a creator’s TikTok profile — basically, the same as the Shop Tab on Instagram.
The rise of social commerce has been driven by the increasing use of social media by consumers, who are using these platforms not only to communicate with friends and family but also to discover and purchase products. Social commerce offers a unique opportunity for businesses to build relationships with their customers, understand their needs and preferences, and drive sales through social networks.
One of the key advantages of social commerce is that it allows businesses to reach a large and highly engaged audience on social media platforms, which have billions of active users. This can help businesses to drive more traffic to their e-commerce websites and increase sales. Additionally, social commerce also enables businesses to engage with their customers in real-time and offer a more personalized shopping experience.
Social commerce can take various forms, including shoppable posts on social media platforms, social media marketplaces, and chatbots for shopping. Shoppable posts allow businesses to embed product links in their social media posts, enabling customers to easily purchase products from within the social media platform. Social media marketplaces are dedicated platforms for buying and selling products, similar to e-commerce websites. Chatbots for shopping provide an interactive and conversational shopping experience, allowing customers to find and purchase products through messaging platforms.
In conclusion, social commerce is a new and exciting way for businesses to reach customers, drive sales, and build strong relationships with their customers. As the use of social media continues to grow, social commerce is poised to play a significant role in the future of online shopping.