Companies that know how to sell on social platforms will be better-positioned to survive in the coming years than their counterparts who are not adept at selling on social.
This is an undeniable truth as the social sales of B2C brands are rising consistently. The consistent rise in the user base of social applications has made them a huge market for sales.
According to a recent study, the number of social media users buying from brands through social platforms increased by 25.2% in 2020, rising to 80.1 million.
Through this, it is evident how these platforms have become an integral part of people’s lives.
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Instagram ‘The Powerhouse Of B2C Marketing:
Instagram is slowly evolving into a significant market for B2C due to the steady rise in its user base. Today, the platform has nearly 1 billion monthly active users.
Instagram enjoys a strong user base across all the developed and developing countries. The majority of the globally renowned fashion and cosmetics brands are actively present on Instagram.
Brands like Levis, Sephora and others have an active presence on Instagram and they are consistently earning new customers through this social platform.
Here’s a great example of how companies like Levis are leveraging Instagram to grow their brand (or regrow their brand, since Levis is an older established company) and generate more sales.
Instagram Shops:
For marketers’ benefit, Instagram has launched an exclusive section, ‘Instagram Shops,’ for selling products. This feature almost resembles an e-commerce website.
You can go through various products from a particular brand, as well as check out features like price and warranty. The colossal ads available on Instagram Shops provide different styles and offer a variety of available colors for a product.
You can add the product to the cart and checkout. Thus, Instagram shops offer you a comprehensive shopping experience.
Marketers have stated that they are witnessing an increase in the trend of checking the Instagram page of brands to make a purchase.
For instance, if a user comes across a post showing that Levis has introduced new apparel, they can now immediately check the brand’s Instagram page rather than having to visit the website or a retailer like Target that sells their products. This shows how Instagram has evolved into an eCommerce platform, creating brand awareness to a greater extent.
The Growth Of Influencers:
Influencer marketing is becoming a major means for brands to gain traction on social media. It has gained an indispensable role across all the social applications.
The increase in the user base of a social application solely relies on the content it offers to its users. The more the content on a social platform is intriguing, the bigger the increase in the user base as the content catches on.
The content creators that are present across these social platforms are known as influencers. We are well aware of the unprecedented growth of TikTok. Within three years of its launch, it has become a huge social application having a vast user base in multiple countries.
The reason behind the scintillating growth of this platform is the influencers present in it. TikTok has a massive number of influencers – more than any other social application. Thus, the content provided by these influencers acts as the propellant in raising the user base of the social application.
Since these influencers have gained people’s trust, brands are using them as a channel to promote their products. B2C brands are pumping in a massive amount of money into these influencers to improve their social sales.
The influencer marketing industry is anticipated to be valued at $15 billion by 2022. Thus, the investment into the influencers is rising consistently to improve social sales.
Instagram Influencer Dashboard:
Instagram has come up with an influencer dashboard that will provide deep insights into the influencers present on its social platform.
It gives clarity for brands into details such as the engagement of the posts of an influencer, the influencers’ followers’ demographics and more. This data will help brands mainly in choosing the influencer who would fit them perfectly.
Sustaining Social Sales During COVID 19′:
Today, all sorts of businesses are doing a considerable share of their business through social platforms. The unexpected outbreak of COVID 19 has resulted in business challenges across virtually all sectors. So many companies are shifting to selling online, and the eCommerce space is becoming crowded, forcing businesses to find space off their website (but still online) to sell their products.
People stayed indoors for months as many countries imposed lockdown. Though many companies have been affected drastically, B2C brands are somehow able to cope with their business due to the prevalence of selling online, include the increase in selling via social applications.
Facebook introduced ‘Nearby Businesses’ a few months ago to aid small and medium scale businesses. The feature acts as a directory providing comprehensive details about the commercial services and businesses near your residence.
You will have details about nearby pharmacies, nearby groceries, food outlets and other local businesses available at your fingertips.
Since the pandemic outbreak, people have limited outside movement and are buying their essentials from places around them. Thus, the rolling out of the ‘Nearby Businesses’ feature from Facebook has helped local, small companies sustain their business.
This is a great example of how social platforms are helping businesses to run their business during these challenging times. Thus, social platforms have become more crucial than ever before for businesses of all scales to sustain their sales.
Wrapping Up:
Social platforms, though introduced as an entertainment medium to watch content and to share life events with people, have morphed dramatically through the years and have now attained a crucial spot in determining the longevity of a brand’s sales.
Thus, they have evolved into the factors determining the sustainability of a firm.
According to a recent survey, 55% of Millennials have stated that they go through social applications reviews before purchasing a product. Thus, the future of sales relies on social platforms.
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- The Future Of B2C Relies On Social Sales - March 9, 2021
