Let’s take the time machine and go back a good 50 years or so. Say you have this quaint little shop and you sell groceries. You could very well be living in a small town where everyone knows everyone on a first name basis.
So customers walk into your shop, ask about you (and your family), have a friendly chat that could last a few good minutes, and then you’d finally ask for what you want. Over the counter, you’d give away your dollars and cents. For the shopkeeper – that’s you – this repeats itself all through the day.
Happy business. Happy customers. Happy you.
Let’s come back to 2014 and what do you get? You have a quaint little self-hosted ecommerce store or an eBay and/or Amazon store. Perhaps you are a multi-channel merchant selling across these platforms (including your own). Would that scene from 1960s or 1970s play out? Will you be able to know your customers – and in turn they’d know you – by first names?
Simply put, that’s what social media gives you — a remarkably scalable probability that you’d be able to know your customers (as people and not as transaction IDs). You’d know your customers even if you had a total of 700,000 customers who already purchased from you and another 300,000 in your sales pipeline.
But that’s not all. There’s more to social media than just customers, engagement, and transactions. Here’s how we think social media benefits your ecommerce business:
Go Build social proof
You’d have to work your way up – on social media – to the stage that your organically gained followers know you and talk about you (Facebook even shows you these numbers as reach, likes, and “talking about this”). As Corbett Barr explains on Social Media Examiner, ever so slowly, your brand and every single product ( assuming these products are your own) will get talked about.
The more talking, liking, reviewing, and sharing happens, the more social proof you’ll build.
Do Outreach in style
For running and sustaining a business, products on the shelves won’t do. You’d need people to know you. Bloggers can review your products, others can mention your products on social media, and one word about your product from a known influencer(in your niche) can steam up your checkout page. But how will others know you?
That happens when you take the effort to get to know, acquaint yourself, and even support influencers.
Counterintuitive it might sound for a business owner, you’d have to give first before you seek anything in return.
Gain Partnerships and associations
Social media is about people. Where there are people, there’s likely to be mutual association. You have an ecommerce store and perhaps you have a habit of doing “spotlight updates”, like we did here:
Looking for a cool referral & marketing software? Check out @ForewardsApp
— Appath (@appath) July 25, 2014
Who knows? The guys at Foreward App might want to say thank you. Further, they might even want to partner with us or create a co-branded associate program. Depending on your line of business, this could be a huge thing.
Strategic partnerships usually have a lot going for both sides of the relationship. You could be a small business owner, but you can still make this happen.
Attract Investors and press coverage
Just by staying active on social media, you’d have investors take notice. News publications and popular bloggers are always on the lookout to treat their readers to something special. You can be the “special”. You could make a difference to the community and gain the attention of investors, startup incubation committees, the press, and even the government (gasp).
How do you want to use social media? How did social media help you so far, if at all? Share your stories with us.