#1 Fall in love paid advertising
In the era of a continuous decline in organic reach and limiting the display of content marketing published by brands (at the time of writing the article, a completely new News Feed is being tested in many countries, which will only contain content from friends and brand sponsored posts), promoting your posts is becoming more and more important. This is the only method for the prepared publications to reach specific target groups, brand recipients and potential customers on a large scale. Unfortunately, the times when organic reach calmly met the brand’s business goals are over. For several years, the #PayToPlay principle has been observed, according to which a brand must exist in its budget to plan a part for paid promotion and effectively distribute funds for advertising. Paid ads do not have to mean spending a fortune – if they are set up in the right way and the creation is attractive and presents your values and benefits for a potential customer, you can get a satisfactory ROI and build your brand recognition.
#2 Use various advertising goals
A common mistake, also resulting from ignorance, is the use of template advertising formats, such as Page Likes or Page Post Engagement ads. This can be a mistake, especially in the e-commerce industry – Facebook offers many more possibilities for online stores. In addition to using standard formats, you can decide on Lead Generation (generating valuable leads collected through forms), Traffic (clicks to the site) or a hybrid of solutions – Store Visits (online encouragement to visit a stationary store). Without testing all of these advertising goals, you can’t see which converts best and which one is worth implementing permanently in your strategy. Activities in the world of e-commerce provide a lot of room for display and the possibility to fully use the advertising potential, and it is a mistake not to use such a benefit in social media.
#3 Don’t forget about groups
Building a community and distributing your content on social media is the bread and butter of many brands. However, they forget about some options that exist outside of the template approach. One of them are Groups that can be found, for example, on Facebook or LinkedIn, which bring together various types of communities: from small, niche groups of a dozen or so people (which with a high degree of probability can provide valuable insights) to
#4 The formats are there to be tested
Testing new solutions carries risks, but without taking it, you won’t find out what can really bring the best results. This applies in many areas – also in the case of ad formats, appropriate optimization is only possible after trying out a few available options and selecting the one that brings the best results. Great effects for e-commerce on Facebook are brought by combining ads with the goal: traffic to the page with link posts or carousel posts (somewhat reminiscent of a photo slider) that link directly to the online store. Photoposts (photos) will work very well on Instagram and can be a quick impulse to make a purchase decision.
#5 Remember about remarketing
Remarketing rules and divides? Maybe not completely, but you must not forget about the important role of remarketing. If you have a phone or e-mail database that you use to send the newsletter or that was collected as a result of previous marketing campaigns, use it again. By adding it as a target group on Facebook, you will be able to reach its members with your actions in social media. Another way is to embed a small option in the page code, which is Facebook’s Pixel. It allows you to monitor conversions and create custom audiences based on your website visitors. This is of great importance in e-commerce, both on the part of the seller (a kind of “tracking” of a potential customer and providing him with marketing messages until the purchase is successful), and the customer (we browse hundreds of pages every day – the customer may forget about the offer or have problems with re-opening. finding a page,
#6 Create a hashtag for your brand – and use it!
One of the things that work for both large and small brands, among working on web design or getting to know their audience, or is to establish their own hashtag, which should be associated with them. It can also act as a call sign – encourage customers using it before or after buying your products (which will not only increase brand awareness but also bring interesting content). Additionally, it is a great opportunity to monitor conversations, both directly and indirectly by checking mentions. This will be particularly useful for e-commerce brands that want to learn more about their customers’ opinions on social media. Hashtags may also support generating user generated content – photos and videos that are associated with the product.
#7 Engage in meaningful conversations, not just selling products
When we talk about social media, it is worth remembering that the main goal is not to sell products but to establish relationships with customers. It’s a good idea to think about what you can offer in addition to the product. For example, interesting and valuable content (in line with the interests of your target group), providing help or advice, or an interesting competition. It’s not worth waiting until the product has been purchased and trying to sell it again – nobody likes a pushy seller, which is why you should avoid any kind of “hard” selling on social media (this will also keep your brand from appearing in black lists that monitor such cases). The most suitable way to connect with customers is to be consistent, active and at the same time not intrusive.
Over to you
Social media is an important channel of communication and customer service, but it also has an impact on sales. In the era of many distractors and contact with a lot of marketing information, sometimes a small impulse influences purchasing decisions. In a simple way, using a duo of good practices and creativity, it can be created thanks to activities in social media.