What is Social Commerce?
Instagram is your new Amazon! Social CommerceI is the new online shopping experience people are leaning towards. Be it Instagram eCommerce or Facebook Marketplace, I believe you all are very well aware of the eCommerce industry and how it works. The giants like Amazon, Flipkart, etc. have made it extremely easier to purchase products online and get them in 1-2 days! No traveling, no physical effort, no long hours spent.
But what’s trending these days is Social Commerce. All the strategies built around eCommerce; how the products are placed, the sitemap, the ads, the promotion campaigns, everything gets a new turn with Social Commerce. Is it really new? To be honest, no!
Social Commerce, a blend of e-commerce and social media, has revolutionized the way brands engage with consumers, with Instagram eCommerce at the forefront of this evolution. In this blog, we explore five detailed strategies for excelling in Instagram eCommerce, enhanced with real-life examples to demonstrate their impact.
Social Commerce; Best 5 Tips For Instagram eCommerce
1. Maximize Instagram’s Shopping Features
I am sure all of you readers have been through plenty of Instagram product ads, have engaged with their ads, checked their pricing, and have actually bought something as well. Instagram eCommerce has been the talk of the town lately due to the perfect targeting of their niche audience, brilliant ads, beautiful presentations, and most important part, ease of buying journey.
Shopping features of Instagram eCommerce like shoppable posts, have transformed the platform into a virtual storefront. The best part about Shoppable posts is that they allow users to buy products directly from a post or story, smoothening the shopping experience. Instagram Checkout, another feature, enables in-app purchases, making transactions smoother. Another good feature of Instagram eCommerce is the ‘The Shop’ tab. It offers a dedicated space for browsing and discovering new products.
A prime example is the luxury fashion brand Louis Vuitton. They have effectively utilized these features to transform their Instagram feed into an interactive catalog. LV’s Instagram catalog each post offers a direct link to purchase, blending storytelling with commerce.
2. Strategic Influencer Collaborations
A key to bang-on Social Commerce campaigns is collaborating with Influencers. Influencers actually influence! It’s basically collaborating with a mega star and offering them to become a Brand Ambasador, just the platform is different. By partnering with influencers whose followers align with your target audience, you can gain credibility and reach.
While collaborating with influencers, here are a few tips brands could follow:
- Collaborate with relevant influencers. You can’t collab with a fitness influencer for a junk food product!
- Influencer’s TG and your TG should match. An influencer who makes funny reels and has excellent engagement can be a good fit for your lifestyle brand as both’s TG is young people.
- Sign a detailed agreement. Be very clear about the terms and conditions, the number of posts, the form of posts, and many more things to consider.
An excellent example is Adidas’s influential campaign using influential figures in the sports and fashion industries. No wonder that Adidas is a huge brand. It also smartly leverages Influencers with a strong storyfication. These collaborations have helped Adidas showcase its products in diverse, relatable settings, significantly enhancing its brand appeal and driving sales.
3. Crafting Engaging Content
Story sells! It also creates an emotional connection. Instagram’s users are used to seeing creative & amazing visuals along with reading brilliant copy. Instagram understood the persona and invented Reels. 60 seconds reel created a buzz. Brands started wondering how on Earth can they convey a story in 60 seconds? It later came down to 50 seconds and recently, super short reels are trending. Hence, having short and impactful copy in Social Commerce is really crucial.
It requires a lot of effort in bringing someone to your social commerce page. That one copy, that one visual, that one CTA plays a vital role in actually letting the audience click on the shop now button.
Take GoPro as an example. Their Instagram feed is a testament to the power of high-impact visual content, featuring user-generated action shots and videos that highlight the capabilities of their cameras. This content strategy not only showcases their product in action but also builds a community of engaged followers.
4. Leveraging User-Generated Content (UGC)
Let’s imagine a scenario here. You saw a really cool pair of shoes on a Social Commerce shop. You checked out the specifications and you liked it. You are convinced to buy but you first decide to share the link with your best friend. You ask them to check out the shoes and they immediately reply saying “Don’t buy these shoes! My neighbor bought the same pair and the quality is very poor!” Would you still buy? No!
User generated content (UGC) acts as social proof, building trust and authenticity. Encouraging customers to share their experiences can build loyalty, lead to increased engagement, and build trust amongst other users. If you know your friends buy from this shop, you will want to at least check out their products. And that’s the trick that never fails!
Starbucks’ #RedCupContest is an excellent example of this strategy. By inviting customers to share creative photos of their red Starbucks cups, they generated a wave of UGC, creating buzz and fostering a sense of community around their brand.
Source: Instagram
5. Analytics for Continuous Improvement
Technicalities matter! Understanding your audience and measuring the performance of your content is crucial. Instagram eCommerce or be it any Social Commerce, all of them provide analytics tools that offer insights into post-performance and audience demographics.
Anyone selling on Social Commerce must use Analytical tools to understand the depth of their campaign progress. If something is wrong, then you can identify the loopholes and work on it. If something is going great than expected, you can add more such things in your campaign.
Final Words!
In the competitive landscape of Instagram eCommerce, the integration of strategic use of shopping features, influencer partnerships, engaging content creation, user-generated content, and data-driven strategy are essential. These approaches, exemplified by brands like Louis Vuitton, Adidas, GoPro, Starbucks, and ASOS, highlight the immense potential of Instagram in the realm of social commerce. By adopting these strategies, brands like yours can ace in Social Commerce! If you wish a team of brilliant creative people to look after your Social Media Campaigns, Go To Clan can be your Go-To Agency!