It was a big deal when businesses added a “Buy It” button to their social media pages. That happened a long time ago (in 2015). Since then, they have developed powerful social commerce strategies, and studies show that social networks now influence approximately 74% of consumer purchasing decisions. 

Today, “social commerce” is widely used to describe the mechanisms for buying and selling items and services on social media networks. But, what exactly is social commerce, and how can its benefits and strategies be understood?

Setting Up Social Commerce on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest

You will better understand social commerce if we begin by discussing its leading platforms right away. According to statistics, users’ main social commerce platforms are Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. So let’s take a look at what you’ll need to get started.

First and foremost, an ad platform must be chosen. After setting up shop on Facebook, you only need to take a few more steps to start selling on Instagram (since Facebook owns Instagram). To use it, first make sure your Instagram account is a business account, then connect it to your Facebook account via the settings. Connecting to Instagram on Facebook necessitates using the Facebook Ads Manager settings. That is all the gear you need to fly in social commerce.

Businesses on Facebook can change the template of their pages and run advertisements on social media platforms. After providing information about your specific business, you add a product, such as how payment is accepted or what you sell. You have created a Facebook Shop. It’s also simple to add a product; all you need are product details, a title, an image, and shipping information.

Pinterest’s partner program was recently rebranded “Pinterest Partners” to launch more shopping experiences, including services such as advertising, creative measurement, content marketing, and shopping across more categories.

The Benefits and Types of Sales Mechanisms 

There are numerous examples of social commerce interaction mechanisms directly related to sales and benefit businesses. They all take place on the aforementioned platforms. These interactions include:

• Consumers can ask questions about products and services via chat boxes
• Payments made electronically via social media
• Forums and group pages for selling/buying YouTube videos with Google shopping ads below Facebook Marketplace with local product listings
• Product Pins with prices that appear on Pinterest
• Buyable Pins allow you to purchase products directly from Pinterest
• Instagram discount codes or links to products

The benefits will only increase if some of these mechanisms are used. Because social media increases website traffic, social commerce efforts can result in a higher search ranking.

In order to drive sales, it is also necessary to employ a multi-channel strategy. By studying the metrics and keeping track of sales and social commerce campaigns, you can improve brand recognition and marketing strategies.

Conclusion

Finally, we can understand why millions of people use social commerce today. Furthermore, this number is growing daily, and social media platforms are essential for any successful growth strategy. The advantages are enormous.

We hope we have explained how social commerce works with its sales mechanism. And it is convincing enough for anyone to see the benefits of a specific brand. On the other hand, it is also beneficial to consumers because it provides a genuine opportunity to communicate with businesses by asking questions and receiving product advice. As a result, social commerce strengthens relationships and increases engagement with prospective customers.Continue your education on our blog!