by Tal Segalov, CTO & co-founder of Mintigo
Last year, Twitter announced that it would unveil its Buy Button in the first quarter of 2015, cementing the role social commerce will play in the way businesses must market their products to consumers. In an age where consumers’ attention spans are somewhere around 8 seconds, businesses must adapt quickly to keep up with the changing landscape or they’ll be left in the dust by their competitors.
So how do you become a leader in social commerce without household name attached to your brand? How can businesses keep customers’ loyalty when competing with masters of social commerce?
Here are five key ways that businesses can establish themselves as leaders in this social commerce revolution:
1. Follow the lead of the big players, then evolve.
You don’t have to re-write the book to be successful in the social commerce realm – there are big brands doing it very well already. Take the best of what they’re doing, and then personalize it for your business. Capitalize on what consumers are interested and make sure it’s accessible to them. A great example is Nordstrom’s integration of Pinterest into their stores. They showcase their most popular items on Pinterest in a “Top Pinned” section and shopping assistants are equipped with an iPad to stay up on trending items each day.
2. Capture and keep your consumers’ attention.
One of the biggest issues facing businesses is figuring out how to keep consumers’ attention in the digital age. A great rule of thumb is to not throw too much distraction their way. Your consumer should be able to easily locate products they want to purchase and check out quickly without being inundated with “other items you may like.”
3. Constantly create “Calls to action”.
Facebook and twitter are for engaging consumers, but they should also be utilized as a tool to help customers go directly to the product that interests them. Use these platforms to turn posts into calls to action. It’s important to recognize that when using social media to connect to your target audience, you need to make sure to keep your online and offline marketing and branding efforts connected as well. The message should always be consistent, and that means keeping your colors, visuals and business logos in line with your brick and mortar operations.
4. Hire the right marketing team.
This is crucial for businesses to succeed in finding the right customers are the right time. Your competitors are going to use big data to analyze buying trends and needs instantly, and you’ll need to know who to market to and when. A good marketing team will also help you create trends of your own that will boost sales and keep you relevant. Remember Coca-Cola’s #ShareACoke marketing strategy? During the campaign, they sold nearly three times as many Coke bottles in the UK as compared to Pepsi!
5. Never neglect mobile operations.
Countless studies have shown that most people who go on social media do so from their mobile device. That’s why it’s imperative that you optimize your site and the content you put out for mobile consumption. Mobile users scroll through items quickly, so keep your lead forms short and to the point without overloading them with information.
Tal Segalov, CTO & co-founder of Mintigo brings more than 15 years of experience in software development. Prior to Mintigo, Tal was AVP Research and Development for modu, the modular mobile handset company. His previous experience includes developing complex, large scale data analysis systems.
