How Social Media Marketing Works for E-Commerce Business

It is a no-brainer that social media sites are excellent marketing tools for all types of businesses, but e-commerce sites have an advantage when it comes to using the different networks. For one, consider the e-commerce target market: online shoppers. People who spend their time on the Internet searching for products to buy are more than likely spending time on social media sites as well. This is just one reason why social media cannot be overlooked as a marketing tool within the e-commerce industry.

Promoting products and services on sites such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs are a great way to drive consumers to your site and make sales. Social media outlets are good tools for link building; therefore by posting URLs that link back to your site, you are more likely to see an increase in traffic. Social media gives businesses the means to direct traffic to whichever site they want, whether it be a product giveaway on a blog site or a link to a coupon. E-commerce sites have an advantage over brick-and-mortar businesses because their consumers are just a click away from their products and do not have to travel into a store.
By creating and maintaining a social media following, your business has the ability to offer exclusive discounts and contests that are only available to your social fans. This helps give incentive to your customers to follow your brand online, and will get them more involved with your products or services. Blogs are a great outlet to do this type of promotion, and additionally give your company a voice and a personality. Consumers who can relate to a business on a personal level are more likely to be brand loyal to that company.

In addition to fun giveaways and contests, you can actually sell your products through social media. Facebook is a great example of an outlet that allows you to develop a storefront. E-commerce sites can be installed into a Facebook tab through iframes. You can have your storefront set up to look exactly like your main web site, only consumers would have the option to purchase a product right there on Facebook.

Another important reason for e-commerce businesses to be using social media sites is because they can keep a closer eye on their competitors. By monitoring what social media tactics other e-commerce companies are using to drive traffic to their sites, your company will be able to figure out what kind of strategy would work for your business. Your company would also be up to date with Internet marketing strategies, because, let’s face it, if you are an online-based business and not using social media, you are already behind competition.