Hello, would you like to buy this amazing product at this fantastic price? You would? Excellent! All you need to do is complete this obstacle course based on the Wipeout show before reciting all the words to ‘Down Under’ in one breath while standing on one leg and hopping in beat to the national anthem. Where are you going? Come back, it’ll be totally worth it…
This sounds ridiculous but it’s what many consumers feel is being required of them by retailers.
We live busy lives and any barrier or obstacle you place in between your customers and the checkout the fewer sales you are going to get. It may not seem like a big deal now but in the coming months and years asking potential customers to leave their social media feed to visit your site is going to feel like an obstacle to them.
The solution to this growing problem is making your social channels shoppable.
What is ‘shoppable social media’?
Shoppable social media is about reducing the stages between content and purchasing. Social marketing has historically been tasked with creating engaging editorial and video content to capture and direct potential customers to an external sales page.
Recent social media innovations remove that superfluous external click so customers can purchase a product directly from the content they are consuming. This evolution of content marketing reduces drop off and allows us to convert more customers than ever before.
The numbers
Stats, glorious stats! In the battle of the stats, or the stattle if you prefer, social commerce is throwing up some punch sounds worthy of Adam West’s Batman. According to Statista, global social commerce grew from US$5b in 2011 to US$30b in 2015. POW!
A 2016 survey by Marketing Week found that 19% of Facebook users, 10% of Twitter users and 9% of Instagram users would like the ability to purchase items directly from their social feeds. WHAM!
Additional research by Forrester suggests 74% of consumers will use social media to influence their purchase decisions. BIFF!
The potential for driving business growth via shoppable social posts is monumental as channels like Pinterest (7%) and Snapchat (5%) see their figures increase amongst under 24-year-olds. ZOK!
Don’t be bonkers
Social commerce innovators like Yotpo, Shopify and Beetailer have proven you can build sales through social media and their success as making posts shoppable has seen these platforms jump on the bandwagon and create their own native applications.
Pinterest’s already work with Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce. Shopify has also partnered with Twitter to display products directly on your brand’s timeline and create a ‘Buy Now’ call to action button and Facebook have followed Beetailer’s lead to create Facebook Shop.
These sites have invested millions into making their platforms shoppable and Jan-Pieter Lips, president of international coalitions at Aimia, believes that social commerce offers an opportunity for retailers to shorten the path to purchase for customers and brands that do not prioritise social channels risk missing out. Or in terms of great Aussie directness: you’d be bonkers not to have shoppable posts.
Make it easier
Eventually all brands will embrace social commerce and translate their social media into real revenue. Brands intent on growing their social presence post great content and making that content shoppable is the next logical step. You should already be creating interesting, engaging content that seeks to earn your place in the thoughts of your customers. You don’t need to change your winning content – you just need to make it easier for your customers to buy from you.
Hello, would you like to buy this amazing product at this fantastic price? Excellent, your item is in the post. Thanks for your custom; we hope to see you again soon.
Doesn’t that sound so much better?
