The Rise of Social Commerce

and What it Means for Your Brand

In today’s highly competitive environment of brand promotion, the rise of social commerce has paved the path for celebrities, entrepreneurs, and corporations to build name recognition through direct-to-consumer campaigns. While traditional media outlets such as radio, television, and newspapers are still viable marketing strategies, social commerce platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, LinkedIn, and Reddit offer opportunities to create a global online presence and maximize brand exposure.

This article examines the rise of social commerce as an effective marketing strategy and what this means for your brand.

Defining Social Commerce

Social commerce is emerging as the go-to strategy for marketing products and services via popular online platforms. According to the Business Dictionary, social commerce is “A form of electronic commerce which uses social networks to assists in the buying and selling of products. This type of commerce utilizes user ratings, referrals, online communities, and social advertising to facilitate online shopping.”

To put into perspective the enormous impact social commerce can have on scaling a brand towards name recognition and profitable growth, the online site, Growcode, states that “The average person will spend five years of their life on social media – the equivalent of 1,825 days or 43,800 hours.” Clearly, anyone seeking to grow their brand should consider social commerce platforms as a strategy to gain a wider consumer audience.

Understanding how social commerce works is an important component that can decide how you’re going to market your brand.

How Social Commerce Works

Instead of paying for products or services on a business website, consumers can make purchases directly from a popular social commerce platform. A visit to Big Commerce highlights the growing influence of social commerce, as illustrated by the following facts:

•  There are 1.47 billion active users on Facebook alone.

•  60% of Instagram users say they find products on Instagram (so it makes complete sense to also sell them on the platform).

•  30% of online shoppers say they would be likely to make a purchase from a social media network like Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter or Snapchat.

•  Social Media Messenger sales are massively outperforming the current ROI champion of email.

The above facts demonstrate that the “marriage” between social media and business represents a powerful force that can greatly expand the presence of your brand.
There are many businesses that devise successful marketing campaigns to promote their brands on social media platforms. However, aside from just selling to make a profit, it is equally important that a business understands branding from the perspective of sharing a back story on how a brand was established, show a commitment to having a positive social impact, and build lasting relationships with a loyal consumer base who believes in your mission.

Given that social commerce is the future of how consumers will show their purchasing power, a “communal” approach to building your brand can increase your chances that they will click the buy or purchase button from their favorite social media platform.

Benefits of Social Commerce for Your Brand

The “personality” of your brand says a lot about who you are and what you represent. When consumers of social media start believing in your brand and you commit to connecting with them besides making a sale, then the benefits can go a long way. For example, the online blog, Hootsuite, states the following benefits of why promoting your brand on social commerce makes sense:

1.  It makes online shopping more social

2.  It reduces friction in the buying process

3.  Social commerce revenue is real

4.  It allows you to access a focus group of millions

5.  Social commerce is the future of online shopping

Whether through mobile devises or laptops, consumers of social media are online every day, are socially engaged, and shopping for products and services that interest them. Certainly, it is worth the effort to make social commerce the prime vehicle for creating awareness and building a consumer base for your brand.

Build Your Brand Through Social Commerce

The golden age of social media is accelerating and now is the time to take advantage of this fast-paced reality to build your brand and connect with millions of people. Incorporating a marketing strategy that encourages a “relationship” between your brand’s focus and consumer base, could very well be the right formula that contributes to the growth and mission of your business.

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Brandon Webb is a former U.S. Navy SEAL, Sniper, and finished his time in the Navy as the Naval Special Warfare Sniper Course Manager. A passionate Entrepreneur (SOFREP.com & Crateclub.us) and a New York Times bestselling author. He is a member of YPO New York City and, Harvard Business School OPM 56.