Are you selling on Lazada, Shopee, Amazon, or even your own webstore?
If you are but do not use social media for your online store, you are leaving money on the table.
A study from Statista shows that almost 90% of Malaysians are on social media as of 2021.
Social Media Penetration Data From Statista
And another study found that
- About 96% of Malaysians access the internet via mobile phones
- 75% keep up with events and daily news through the internet
- 72% maintain their social lives online
What Does This Mean For Online Stores?
If you are selling online and are looking to build a strong brand these days, you will only have success if you have an online presence.
Without your online presence, it will be difficult for customers to find you, learn about you, and do business with you.
Want to learn more about how social media can help your online store?
Then here are…
8 Benefits of Social Media for Online Stores
- Get People Talking About Your Brand
- Getting Customer Insights
- Builds Brand Awareness and Recognition
- Increase Web Store Traffic
- Allows You To Share Company News & Updates To Your Customers
- A Place To Share Your Brand’s Story
- Helps Build Customer Loyalty
- Improves Customer Service
1. Get People Talking About Your Brand
If you have a powerful strategy for social media marketing, you will get people talking about your business, products, and services.
You can do this by engaging with your audience by replying to their comments or messages on social media.
If you can make them feel that they are talking to a person, and not a robot, you will provide them with a better experience and view of your company because you made them feel valued.
You can also start sharing content that can start a natural conversation.
Some ideas to do this are:
- Tag and give shout-outs to other businesses you partner with
- Ask for feedback about your products
- Get your audience involved by asking questions about their opinions
2. Getting Customer Insights
Many if not all social media platforms gather and provide a lot of data on your customers that you can view on the back-end.
We call this audience research.
In the insights, you want to look at the metrics like the reach, impressions, and engagement of your posts.
With these metrics, you will know which types of posts will perform and engage with your customers more.
3. Builds Brand Awareness and Recognition
One of the biggest goals of any business is to gain brand awareness and brand recognition.
Customers buy more from brands that they know and trust, which is why building a strong brand is a long-term priority.
With a strong brand, your customers will also continue to buy from you as a sign of brand loyalty.
Effective brand building is something social media can help with.
When we compare it to traditional media, social media’s advantage is that it gets your brand in front of people faster and easier.
It can even show your brand when your audience is not thinking about your brand or products.
Remember to pay attention to what your audience will see when interacting with your brand, like your profile and cover images.
And though you want people to easily recognise your brand, ensure your logo does not distract or overwhelm your customers.
We still want them to understand what the product is after all.
So keep your brand easy to view and well presented!
4. Increase Web Store Traffic
If you are looking to send customers directly to your web store, then social media marketing can help!
You might also be looking to leverage search engine traffic (which you should), but remember that you want to diversify your traffic sources as well.
So it’s a great idea to add traffic from social media to help increase your web store traffic!
When trying to get traffic from social media sites, you will need to consider:
- What to post
- How often to post
You don’t want to look spammy or you will annoy your customers and push them away.
To post consistently, be sure to set up a content calendar so that you can easily plan your posts!
And if you want to post about your products from your online stores, but the link is ugly and too long, use a link shortener like bit.ly.
These shortened links look great in your text and will be more attractive for your customers to click.
5. Allows You To Share Company News & Updates To Your Customers
Through social media, you can easily keep your customers updated with anything going on in your business.
When making any big announcements, like product launches or upcoming events, you can leverage social media to let your customers know the details before the big day!
Not sure what to announce? Here are some ideas to help:
- New updates
- New products
- New services
- New places to find you
- New projects
New, new, and new!
New things get people excited!
6. A Place To Share Your Brand’s Story
Want to share the mission and vision of your company?
Then social media is a great way to do this!
Looking at the big brands in the world like Apple and Nike, they have mastered effectively telling their brand story to improve their brand’s image.
So test out by publishing stories about your brand, and see how your customers resonate with it.
Remember, you are looking to share a good story.
It could be long, or it could be short, but it must be exciting in some way.
7. Helps Build Customer Loyalty
Did you know that 90% of people buy from brands they follow on social media?
If your customers follow and interact with your brand often, then you have an easy path to building brand loyalty!
What causes this loyalty?
Well, if a customer knows and follows you, they are more likely to think of you than a competitor.
And because of their loyalty, you will see increased traffic and even sales over time.
So keep your customers happy and engaged with ideas like:
- Special offer promo codes that can only be found on your social media
- Asking your customers questions that can start a dialog.
- Have giveaways of your products or brand merch.
8. Improves Customer Service
Many customers expect businesses to answer their questions through social media.
If you are looking to improve your customer service and build long-term relationships with your customers, then you should be having a social media presence where your customers can reach out to you.
On social media, you are able to provide instant feedback and interactions with your customers.
When you are able to provide a positive experience, 71% of your customers are more likely to recommend your brand to people they know.
So social media as a customer service strategy is a great way to improve your business!
Start Building Your Social Media Presence Today
If you’re looking to build a long-term online brand and business, then you should be on social media now!
With the benefits listed, almost all e-commerce businesses will be able to leverage social media to grow their business.
Don’t miss out and start building your social media presence today!
Not Enough Time?
If you want to start building a social presence but are unable to commit due to time, then we might be able to help you.
Save your time on building your social media presence when you outsource it to us with our social media management service!
Not sure how this works?
Then contact us today and schedule a free consultation to help you grow your business!