Social Media-The soul of e-commerce in today's world

Social media – a combination of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest – is

one of the main forms of consumer engagements in today’s technology-driven

world. Each and every brand is affiliated with social media, and thus, traditional

marketing is filtering in social media as one of its main sources of revenue. In

fact, experts predict social media taking over from traditional forms of marketing

in a matter of decades, if not years.

In India, internet penetration has seeped into a high percentage of the overall

population, and yet social media is the chosen option for many e-commerce

brands, especially amongst the urban section of the population. It is the channel

through which the Ecommerce universe is reinventing & positioning itself while

building customer awareness & engagement. The whole philosophy of marketing

being a two-way street has finally found its creative expression through social

media. Below are the few of aspects of Social Media that can help you achieve

more success in your business.

• Driving traffic through social media: One of the best ways to driving traffic

through social media is to post your content more than once. Around 2.8 billion

people all over the world use social media at least once in a month (as per the

findings of We Are Social and Hootsuite). It has grown 21% year-on- year basis.

Social media, unlike what some people believe, is not a medium to seek personal

validation. It can also be a means of integrating the personal and public, and a

means of finding out about the larger world which surrounds one, at every level.

Facebook as a medium is not about posting photos or updates only; it can be a

means of using a set of online collaborative tools such as shared pick lists, user

ratings and other user-generated content-sharing of online product information

and advice. Similarly, Instagram is not just about using trendy hashtags, it can

also be about providing a platform to talk about your brand through innovative

captions. Twitter can be about providing information customers need to research,

compare and ultimately choose your product over your competitor’s.

• Boosting brand awareness and online reputation through direct contact:

The ability of people to recognize your brand and your reputation has a direct

impact on your sales rate and success of the organization. A huge percentage of

consumers in today’s social networking world prefer shopping from the brands

they follow on social media. The direct and personalized contact with the

customers also lets you build the brand’s loyalty which is a critical technique to

increase your revenue.

• Hyper- targeting and personalization for Customer Acquisition: Since

social media lets you have a direct contact with your targets audience, it helps

your marketing content serve straight to the customer’s pain point. It gives the

business an opportunity to create personalized campaigns based on their target

audience, instead of depending upon a one-size- fits-all approach for achieving

the desired result. Thus, Social Media has come out as an effective tool that

helps you reach millions of potential customers across the world with a

customized approach.

• Social proof your brand via share, retweets, likes, reviews: Social media

gives e-commerce business a social proof or a review of your product based on

other people’s opinion. A lot of people today take the decision depending on what

others have to say about it. The products reviews, blogs, shares, retweet, likes,

etc. are social proofs validates your business in front of the budding as well as

existing customers. It encourages the buyer and makes them more comfortable

with their buying decision.

• Advertising in large consumer base with minimal effort: Talking in terms

of favorable outcome these social media platforms play a prominent role. Mainly

because millions of people can be found under the same roof at one point of

time, thus, this feature has made reaching out to a large number of consumers at

the same time, the most efficient tool for promoting e-commerce. It not just helps

in promoting the website but also informs the customers about the availability of

various products and services they have been searching for. This practice helps

in generating high traffic and increase in sale

• Newsjacking Opportunity: This feature helps enables you to align your

activity on social media platform with some trending post or topic. You can gather

maximum benefit by referring to a particular topic that is popular outside the e-

commerce domain and people are sharing it and already attracting towards it.

This approach will help you raise awareness about your brand, increase sales

and help you in successfully achieving your marketing goals.

Social media will always be a forum where the world of e-commerce finds its

mirror i.e. it is easy to locate the changing needs and expectations of customers.