Impact of social networks on e-commerce
Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2024 7:20 am
Do you know how important social media is for e-commerce? Take a look: since consumers are addicted to digital platforms, using these tools is a great opportunity to communicate with consumers more closely, generate engagement, enhance your brand strategy and boost sales.
After all, our cell phones have become a kind of extension of our bodies, haven't they? We're always using our phones to check the time — in fact, that's our favorite excuse —, shop, check emails, send messages, follow a lot of content on digital platforms, and so on. In total, we spend 91 hours online per week. And a good part of that time is spent on social media.
With this in mind, we decided to write an article to delve deeper into the subject. Below, we will talk more about the impact of social media on e-commerce. Check it out!
Social networks: what are they, how do they live and what do they feed on?
First of all, social networks are online platforms — websites and apps — used to connect people with common interests. That is, through them, users can keep in touch with friends, family, coworkers and people who like the same things as them. In general, social networks are made up of the following elements:
profile: is the user's personal page with photo and basic information;
friends or followers: this is where the web really security and commodity brokers email list forms with connections between friends, family and other people with common interests;
feed: this is a kind of home page with the main updates from accounts that the user follows;
interactions: users can engage with posts by liking, commenting or sharing;
hashtags (#): These are clickable topics to identify content from specific topics.
But look: despite the similarities, each social network has its own specificities, you see? After all, some are focused on texts, while others are used to publish videos. Among the main social interaction tools, we have:
Brazilians spend around 91 hours online per week;
of this total, 19 hours are used for work and 72 hours for entertainment;
together, Netflix and GloboPlay are responsible for 13 hours of weekly browsing;
12:08 is used to watch videos on YouTube;
11:19 am are dedicated to browsing social networks;
If you add up all the time spent online, it adds up to almost 4 days a week, 197 days a year and more than 41 years over the course of a lifetime — if you consider a life expectancy of 75.9 years. In other words, about 54% of our lifetime is spent on the internet.
With so much time on social media, it’s clear that e-commerce can take advantage of the opportunity to communicate with consumers. But to help you better understand the importance of platforms for e-commerce, we’ve decided to list some benefits. Check it out!
Keeping up with changes in consumer behavior
Think about it: in the past, communication with brands was much more one-sided. That is, companies would advertise — on TV, radio, newspapers, magazines and billboards — and the customer would just listen.
The internet has given consumers a voice. Now, they no longer want to listen to what brands have to say. They want to interact with companies and communicate with businesses as equals. Social media provides this.
There's more: you can better understand what appeals to your audience and identify consumer trends. So, being present on social media is also a good way to keep up with the main changes in consumer behavior .
Speaking of changes, did you know that there is a social network out there that is bothering Google? Find out more: TikTok — the competition between the app that has become a phenomenon.
Give visibility to the business
According to the Digital 2022 report — produced by We Are Social in partnership with Hootsuite — Brazil has around 171.5 million active users on social media. This represents around 79.9% of the Brazilian population.
So, there’s no way around it. To make an impact on your audience and gain relevance in the market, you need to have a presence on social media.
Ensure a targeted audience
As we have already mentioned, social media serves to connect people with common interests. Therefore, in general, consumers who follow your brand on the platforms have some interest in your products or services. Having this segmented audience is great because it increases the success rate of your strategies.
Engage consumers
Social networks are environments for relationships. In this context, the basic premises of networks include the creation of connections and interactions — this applies to both contact with people and brands.
Therefore, when creating content for social media, it is possible to engage consumers. This way, it is possible to organically gain likes, comments and shares, brand mentions and so on.
All of this is great for creating brand advocates and reaching even more people on the internet.
Worth reading: Engagement Marketing in the Post-Pandemic Era .
Generate leads
First of all, a lead is a potential customer who has shown interest in your products and services. If a consumer provides their email address to receive first-hand offers, for example, this means that they have become a lead.
And social media is a good medium for generating leads . After all, it is possible to create several baits and advertise them on the company's profile on the platforms to attract potential consumers.
See also: How to do lead nurturing for e-commerce.
Increase e-commerce traffic
Traffic is one of the most important KPIs for e-commerce because it shows the number of visitors the website receives. And with strategic social media posts, it is possible to direct traffic to e-commerce and increase the chances of conversions.
Optimizes e-commerce SEO
Just to clarify, SEO techniques are responsible for making a page more attractive to users and internet search engines. In this context, a series of good practices come into play to improve the page's positioning in Google's organic search results.
After all, our cell phones have become a kind of extension of our bodies, haven't they? We're always using our phones to check the time — in fact, that's our favorite excuse —, shop, check emails, send messages, follow a lot of content on digital platforms, and so on. In total, we spend 91 hours online per week. And a good part of that time is spent on social media.
With this in mind, we decided to write an article to delve deeper into the subject. Below, we will talk more about the impact of social media on e-commerce. Check it out!
Social networks: what are they, how do they live and what do they feed on?
First of all, social networks are online platforms — websites and apps — used to connect people with common interests. That is, through them, users can keep in touch with friends, family, coworkers and people who like the same things as them. In general, social networks are made up of the following elements:
profile: is the user's personal page with photo and basic information;
friends or followers: this is where the web really security and commodity brokers email list forms with connections between friends, family and other people with common interests;
feed: this is a kind of home page with the main updates from accounts that the user follows;
interactions: users can engage with posts by liking, commenting or sharing;
hashtags (#): These are clickable topics to identify content from specific topics.
But look: despite the similarities, each social network has its own specificities, you see? After all, some are focused on texts, while others are used to publish videos. Among the main social interaction tools, we have:
Brazilians spend around 91 hours online per week;
of this total, 19 hours are used for work and 72 hours for entertainment;
together, Netflix and GloboPlay are responsible for 13 hours of weekly browsing;
12:08 is used to watch videos on YouTube;
11:19 am are dedicated to browsing social networks;
If you add up all the time spent online, it adds up to almost 4 days a week, 197 days a year and more than 41 years over the course of a lifetime — if you consider a life expectancy of 75.9 years. In other words, about 54% of our lifetime is spent on the internet.
With so much time on social media, it’s clear that e-commerce can take advantage of the opportunity to communicate with consumers. But to help you better understand the importance of platforms for e-commerce, we’ve decided to list some benefits. Check it out!
Keeping up with changes in consumer behavior
Think about it: in the past, communication with brands was much more one-sided. That is, companies would advertise — on TV, radio, newspapers, magazines and billboards — and the customer would just listen.
The internet has given consumers a voice. Now, they no longer want to listen to what brands have to say. They want to interact with companies and communicate with businesses as equals. Social media provides this.
There's more: you can better understand what appeals to your audience and identify consumer trends. So, being present on social media is also a good way to keep up with the main changes in consumer behavior .
Speaking of changes, did you know that there is a social network out there that is bothering Google? Find out more: TikTok — the competition between the app that has become a phenomenon.
Give visibility to the business
According to the Digital 2022 report — produced by We Are Social in partnership with Hootsuite — Brazil has around 171.5 million active users on social media. This represents around 79.9% of the Brazilian population.
So, there’s no way around it. To make an impact on your audience and gain relevance in the market, you need to have a presence on social media.
Ensure a targeted audience
As we have already mentioned, social media serves to connect people with common interests. Therefore, in general, consumers who follow your brand on the platforms have some interest in your products or services. Having this segmented audience is great because it increases the success rate of your strategies.
Engage consumers
Social networks are environments for relationships. In this context, the basic premises of networks include the creation of connections and interactions — this applies to both contact with people and brands.
Therefore, when creating content for social media, it is possible to engage consumers. This way, it is possible to organically gain likes, comments and shares, brand mentions and so on.
All of this is great for creating brand advocates and reaching even more people on the internet.
Worth reading: Engagement Marketing in the Post-Pandemic Era .
Generate leads
First of all, a lead is a potential customer who has shown interest in your products and services. If a consumer provides their email address to receive first-hand offers, for example, this means that they have become a lead.
And social media is a good medium for generating leads . After all, it is possible to create several baits and advertise them on the company's profile on the platforms to attract potential consumers.
See also: How to do lead nurturing for e-commerce.
Increase e-commerce traffic
Traffic is one of the most important KPIs for e-commerce because it shows the number of visitors the website receives. And with strategic social media posts, it is possible to direct traffic to e-commerce and increase the chances of conversions.
Optimizes e-commerce SEO
Just to clarify, SEO techniques are responsible for making a page more attractive to users and internet search engines. In this context, a series of good practices come into play to improve the page's positioning in Google's organic search results.