The Rise of Social Media in Retail

The use of social media to market businesses online has come a long way since Facebook gave the ability for businesses to create company pages in 2007. And while social media’s part in retail sales is still small, it’s growing quickly.

Take a look at some of the statistics:

• The top 500 retailers earned $3.3 billion from social shopping in 2014, up 26% from 2013.
• Social media increased its share of e-commerce referrals nearly 200% between the first quarters of 2014 and 2015.
• Roughly 2% of all e-commerce traffic in the U.S. now comes from social networks and will continue to grow.

Helping social media’s growth in retail sales are the Buy Now and various call to action buttons that most of the major social media sites have integrated into their platforms. These CTA buttons enable users to buy directly from their social media streams, as this infographic from SnapParcel shows.

Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter all have implemented various forms of shopping and CTA buttons. Even YouTube offers shopping call to action options for advertisers who have AdWords accounts.

What does this mean to retail stores, from mom and pops to major brands?

1. Have a presence on social media.
2. Optimize your business Website for mobile use.
3. Grow and engage your fan base on social media so when you do launch Buy Now or similar campaigns they’ll be ready to take part.
4. Schedule social media Buy Now ad campaigns into your overall marketing budget.
5. Hire an expert if you don’t know what to do, or get some training.
   

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Need help? Crackerjack Scribe offers hands-on social media and content marketing, as well as consulting and training. Give us a call at 323-205-6436 or fill out a business profile here, to set up a free 15-minute consultation.

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