social media is seen as the marketing channel that builds awareness, consideration, and intent early in the customer journey. Social media is rarely a channel that helps consumers during the final purchase. But that could drastically change in the near future. In 2015, social commerce in the U.S. is expected to garner $14 billion in sales and represent 5% of all online retail revenue for the year. Social networking sites understand this trend and are making changes to make it even easier to purchase directly from within their platform.
Social Commerce Today
Social commerce is when a commercial transaction happens due to social interaction, i.e. a friend of yours posts how much they like these new running shoes they recently bought. They provide a link on Facebook, which you then click on and proceed to buy the same pair of shoes. Look familiar?
Other examples of social commerce include:Social Sharing of Content:
An individual likes a product or service so they share it with their friends on social networking sites. This content leads traffic back to the site that results in sales or transactions.Advocate Marketing:
Also called incentive social sharing, this is where consumers are rewarded (typically with an affiliate commission) for sharing a link to a product or service. Obviously, this can come across as less authentic than sharing things because they are excited about their recent purchase. However, this still has an impact similar to the running shoes example above.Customer Reviews:
Consumers trust their friends’ opinions and recommendations more than a brand’s recommendation, so brands that encourage and get customers to share reviews of their products or services socially have the potential to generate sales.Social Commerce Possibilities For 2015
In 2015 social media will become a bigger marketing channel for a lot of industries since customers will have the option to do more than simply share content or recommend products to their friends. While social commerce is not news for some social platforms, 2015 will be the year social commerce sees a big impact in direct sales from social channels. Part of the reason for this growth is the increasing use of mobile devices.Twitter Commerce
Twitter is one platform that’s been rolling out its social commerce plans. In the early part of 2014, Twitter partnered with Stripe, a company providing all the back-end payment processing for Twitter. Twitter, and other social networks, haven’t wanted to store users’ credit card details, so Stripe is taking on the challenge. You can view and buy a product directly within your Twitter feed by simply clicking a “Buy” button that will appear alongside an image of the item that’s for sale. Twitter’s head of commerce Nathan Hubbard told The Verge in an interview, “Anything with a perishable component, temporal nature, or limited supply, is going to thrive on Twitter. Given the speed at which word can spread across our network, it feels like an opportunity to create a new kind of sales.” [caption id="attachment_2661" align="aligncenter" width="653"]
Image Source: The Verge[/caption]Snapchat Commerce
Another platform making strides with social commerce is Snapchat. Snapchat partnered with Square to deliver a transfer system it’s calling SquareCash. With this system, users can register their debit cards and then transfer and receive money — which is being called Snapchash — to and from their friends on Snapchat. While it’s currently a free service, Snapchat plans are to allow its users to buy products from its platform.Facebook Commerce
This summer, Facebook shared a mobile screen of what its “Buy” button is going to look like. A suggested post will show up in your newsfeed with a product or service and an image of that product or service, which you can buy right then and there by simply clicking the “Buy” button in the post. I imagine Facebook will be rolling this out in 2015 after they figure out the payment and privacy details. [caption id="attachment_2662" align="aligncenter" width="316"]
Image Source: Facebook[/caption]Ubokia Commerce
A lesser known site, Ubokia, currently works with Pinterest. This site provides a “Want It” button, which you can add as a bookmark in your web browser bar. It keeps track of all the items you really “want” that you see on Pinterest. Maybe in 2015 this will change to a “Buy It Now” button?Fancy Commerce
This site has already beat Pinterest and Ubokia to the punch. Fancy, which you can get on your computer, phone, or tablet, lets you find, collect, and buy all the things you “fancy” that have been curated by its global community. It makes it easier for users because they can do everything they need to in one place. [caption id="attachment_2664" align="aligncenter" width="559"]
Image source: Fancy Blog[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_2665" align="aligncenter" width="500"]
Image source: Fancy Blog[/caption]
Social media may not be the biggest marketing channel when it comes to getting consumers to purchase a product or service right from the site — for now. But you can guarantee that starting this year, social commerce is going to be bigger and more profitable than ever before.]]>
TJ has worked in the digital marketing space since 2006. He has worked at a number of agencies and and helped hundreds of clients grow their business through SEO, PPC, Social Media and Content Marketing. He currently lives in Lehi , UT and enjoys spending time with his family.
TJ Welsh
TJ has worked in the digital marketing space since 2006. He has worked at a number of agencies and and helped hundreds of clients grow their business through SEO, PPC, Social Media and Content Marketing. He currently lives in Lehi , UT and enjoys spending time with his family.
