Top Social Commerce Trends That Upturn Your Brand Advertising

Shopping is naturally a social activity. Before buying a product, we tend to ask advice on everything from quality to cost to value-for-money from friends and even strangers (like the salesperson or other shoppers).

The best instance of such social shopping activity online is user-generated review sites like Amazon or Yelp. Online collaborative tools such as customer reviews and ratings, shared pick-lists user recommendations, etc allowed consumers to greatly multiply the number of people they turned to before buying anything from orange juice to a new LCD TV.

Customer reviews empower the buyer to make the most informed purchase decision.

Today Social Commerce is blossoming into a more specific beast – buying or selling using social media platforms such as Facebook or Instagram.

This includes getting online hints on what to buy, finding the chosen product, and, finally, purchasing the product.

The focus is shifting from conversion-focused e-commerce to conversation-focused social commerce.

Buyers want to connect. And when they buy, they want to do so with greater certainty and confidence.

A study by Nielsen Wire corroborates common sense and reveals that 90% of consumers trust peer recommendations, while just a sad 14% trust advertisements.

The same study reveals that 70% of consumers trust consumer opinions posted online (an excellent example would be Amazon’s product reviews).

Just imagine how we are most likely to trust these online opinions when they are posted not by strangers, but by persons in our network of contacts, friends, and family.

Since opinions can be so varied, we are likely to listen more to people whose tastes and interests are similar to ours.?

People are increasingly spending more time on social media. It stands to reason that the more we spend time on social networks, the more these networks influence our actions including shopping behavior.

It appears that social commerce is here to become a permanent part of the e-commerce space. In the next few years, revenues for the social commerce market are predicted to reach $30 billion.

So you see, social commerce is here to take e-commerce to the next level. I trust your?brand advertising?campaigns rely on online sales, if so, then social commerce needs to be at the top of your list of?marketing strategies.

Why Should Your Brand Pay Attention To Social Commerce?

Social commerce helps brands to make sales directly on social media. It’s a successful sales strategy because it pulls out friction from online shopping experiences that start on social platforms.

Many users discover products they like while browsing?social media. Allowing them to click through to take look at the product without leaving the social network makes for a quick and smooth experience, and lessens the risk of abandoned shopping carts.

If social commerce becomes the new normal, it should also be economically interesting for your brand.?How?. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s our sincere need for connection.

And this is precisely where brands need to start when it comes to social commerce: with authentic, empathic communication, feedback opportunities, and 1:1 shopping experiences (experiences that inspire customers to purchase).

Sounds complicated? Yes, but only on the face of it. Because when brands succeed in rethinking their customer journey, the opportunities are endless.

For the customer journey, this first means investing in the reorganization of previous processes. After all, if purchases are made completely on social media platforms, this will have an impression on all touch points – from the first contact with the brand, through the ordering phase and payment, to the checkout stage.

Payment systems should be simplified (for example, via PayPal and Apple Pay integration), logistics processes must be remodeled, and marketing measurement should be adapted to the logic of social media.

Here, too, the goal is clear: an emotional connection between your brand and consumer.

The upswing of social media is offering brands a range of options to engage with prospects and trigger sales actions as shoppers go through the?sales funnel stages.

Social Commerce Marketing Strategies for Brand Advertising

No one?marketing strategy?is going to work for all brands—a social shopping experience for leisurewear is going to look very different from a campaign for camcorders.

However, all brands can utilize influencers, consumer calls to action (CTA), and user-generated content, to effectively compete in the social commerce market.

Phrases such as “swipe up to buy,” or “shop link in bio,” have become extremely popular calls to action, pushing social media users to purchase the items or services they see advertised on their timelines.

User-generated content?has grown in importance for marketers—with?TikTok videos?and hashtag challenges offering value for brands.

This viewer-friendly content combined with a suitable call to action steps has been a boon for marketers and advertisers alike.

?In addition to these?organic marketing?opportunities, companies should keep influencers top of mind when drafting their social commerce strategy.

In 2019, Instagram gave several influencers the ability to create shoppable content using Checkout on Instagram, while Snapchat gave select top-standing influencers a “shop” button.

And even TikTok has massively tapped the social commerce market, announcing its partnership with Shopify in November 2020.?

According to a 2020 GlobalWebIndex survey, 70% of internet users in the US who often watched influencer-led live streams said they were more likely to buy products recommended by those influencers.

Social commerce trends for Brand Advertising in 2023 and Beyond

Explore these social commerce trends for 2023 and the future that will surely unlock the door to?social media marketing?success and boost?ROI.

#1. Improve Discovery Via Visual Shopfronts On Instagram

Users are making efforts to convert their inspiration into purchases. Following the statistics from Instagram, 70% of shopping devotees turn to the platform to discover products.

Instagram’s visual storefront lets users shop from pictures and videos regardless of where they are in the app.

The platform also allows customization with which brands can curate products into themes.

Additionally, discoverability is simplified by tagging the products with their descriptions. The brands can arrest attention to products from their catalog not only in the feed but also in stories. It enables users to learn more about the product.?

Instagram is fast changing the way people shop by motivating them with captivating visuals of the product, how other users are utilizing it, and the reviews they have.

#2. Selling Via Conversational Chatbots Is Picking Up

Social media began to simplify conversations between people, the sole reason connectivity platforms like Whatsapp and Facebook grew tremendously.

Now brands are cutting an edge in sales and cost by an upgrade to AI capabilities through chatbots.

By leveraging chatbots, brands do not need to have a person to respond to the customers’ queries. It can make a recommendation depending on the customers’ selections, share product visuals, and ask for human assistance when needed.

Users now derive personalized experiences more than ever. They connect more to brands that are rather quick and straightforward in their responses, making the use of chatbots a trend to flow with.

#3. Use Shoppable Instagram Feeds On the Website

Shoppable Instagram is one of the most common yet effective social commerce trends widely used by brands to switch their Instagram feeds into shoppable storefronts.

With the coming of platforms like Taggshop, brands can now bring the shoppable Instagram feed to their?online stores?or?eCommerce website?to drive sales, traffic, and revenue.

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