Social Commerce

Have you ever been “inspired” to buy something on a whim when doing your nightly scrolls on Facebook / Instagram or Tik Tok? Have you ever wondered how your social media knows exactly what you want, like that really cool bike you’ve been looking at or that super cute sweater popping up on your newsfeed? Ah, the power of social commerce! 

If you want to know something about somebody, take a look at their Instagram to see who they follow, and that'll give you a really good gauge of what their interests are and what they're shopping for! 

James: Hey everyone; it's James and Noah, and we're back here today to talk about /p>

Social commerce!

Noah: Social commerce, simply put is a fusion between shopping and social media.

James: Well said. And why should people care (about social commerce)? We're talking about Business to Business owners and, managers, marketing directors… why should people care about social commerce? 

Noah: Because social media is such a great channel to be in. That's where people are, and you want to be where your customers are and capture their attention. So that's the easiest way to do it. I would also say it is the easiest way to target them because all of their interests are lined up there. If you want to know something about somebody, you look at their Instagram and see who they follow, and that'll give you a really good gauge of what their interests are and what they're shopping for. 

James: I mean, not everyone. I don't actually use Instagram very much, I'm one of the weird ones, but LinkedIn and Facebook for me are big, and then other demographics are in different social platforms as well, like TikTok or whatever, so yeah, it all depends. YouTube is debatable - whether it's an actual social media channel…It kind of is, kind of isn't, but it's what you said. 

Why is it important is because that's where everyone spends their time these days. And it's so critical. If you're part of the demographic that doesn't use any social media, then this video probably isn't for you. If you're part of an industry or a niche market where you know your target audience and your customers are not on social media - we’d still recommend you check out this video.

For everybody else - which is probably a good two-thirds of the population, this is really important. Read our previous blog "7 Traits of a Successful Digital Marketing Campaign" for a deep dive into social strategy. 

Social Commerce is becoming more and more vital, so our next topic of conversation is “How are Direct to Consumer Brands leveraging social?” We know it's important, but how are they doing it?

Direct to Consumer Brands and Social Commerce

Noah: There are a lot of great ways to leverage social media for direct-to-consumer brands.  Ambassadorship is huge, so partnering with a great influencer or somebody who is even a micro-influencer within the right network is going to boost your brand. Doing that is typically within the social network. I think it is also really important to integrate the “Buy Now” button so you can shop within the channel. You don't even have to leave Instagram now to buy a new pair of sneakers or a hat or whatever. We see the best brands are really putting their best foot forward in social media because it creates a seamless shopping experience. I look at it, I like it and all of a sudden, I can buy it! I don't even have to leave the platform - it's great! 

James: That’s exactly what happened with the watch I'm wearing right now. So this is a Ducati watch. I love motorcycles, and Facebook knows that. I saw this watch Being promoted on Facebook, you know, Ducati, and it was just awesome! It was kind of near Christmas, and I think I linked it to my wife, like *hint* *hint* you know, and the rest is history! 

Because obviously, it works, and it's powerful. This particular one (the watch) didn't have a brand ambassador or an influencer, it was simply an ad targeted to me using my social profile and what Facebook knows about me.

Noah: But “Ducati” was the influencer, essentially. 

James: It's the brand direct - that's Direct to Consumer. They skipped the middleman. I didn't go through a store, I was with Ducati’s own store, and it was kind of neat. 

Noah: I think the shorter the path to purchase, the quicker the transaction can happen.

Meaning that you're going to get a higher conversion rate, so you know if you have to lead somebody down a pathway to buy the product, you're going to see a huge drop off. 

But if I can buy it now, when I'm inspired, you're going to see a much higher conversion.

I'm super guilty of doing that often. I've bought many a silly thing on social media.

James: Is it after 9 PM? 

Noah: It is usually when I am a little worn down, and my resistance levels are low, and I'm like, cool! 

James: That's a statistic if you didn't know; 

People's willpower is weak later at night, and that’s why those instantaneous purchases happen at night.

That's why, back in the day, you saw those weird infomercials on TV selling a vacuum cleaner that you didn't need. But today, it's all the late-night scrolling and the instantaneous buying. 

Personalization

James: Let’s talk about personalization. How does personalization fit into social commerce?

Noah: Oh, great question! 

James: The big answer is “social media” - the giants - they know about you. You have a digital footprint. They know your age, education, gender, roughly speaking, where you live and what you're interested in, depending on how you've interacted with various platforms. But all those data points end up creating your “Digital Persona” or your “Buyer Persona” for anybody to tap into. Kind of to target things your way, and they've done that with all sorts of technology. 

But with good advertising and good marketing, the more laser-focused you can be and the higher the conversion rate the more bang for buck that your marketing dollars are getting. Because you're not spreading it thin and wasting it on people who don't care about your stuff, you're being just more responsible with your budget in the end. 

Noah: I know a lot of people were afraid of their data being used for marketing purposes, but I welcome it. It’s serving me more relevant ads, it makes way more sense than me seeing something irrelevant, like an ad for a new pair of women's underwear. That's not for me, I don't need to see that ad, I don't really care, but serving me up with ongoing ads for fitness supplements and so on, that I'm going to click on and buy; my bank account doesn't like it, but serving me way better ads is awesome. I’d rather have stuff that's relevant to me and my interests show up in my feed.

To summarize, some quick facts here;

25 million people are on social channels.

43% of the population has made a purchase through social media.

James: That's almost one out of two people - that's higher than I thought, actually, but a really interesting stat. 

21% of Canadian Shoppers rely heavily on social media for their product discovery.

James: It's almost like a research platform because they're actually searching in those platforms and learning about them, getting reviews getting data getting feedback and seeing what it is!

Check out our previous episode: What's in a Face?

“Between Two Creeks” is Twin Creek Media’s weekly podcast series. You can find us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Spotify. If you enjoy listening to the latest and wonkiest in marketing every week, don’t forget to hit that subscribe button! If you want us to amp up your marketing, click here to contact us and let’s chat!