What Is Social Commerce? How to Sell With It Effectively

Online business is the dominant trend today, and many solutions for increasing sales have appeared to help businesses improve their distribution channels and profits. Social Commerce is one of them: it not only helps businesses reach users at key 'touchpoints', but also creates a smooth, personalized buying experience for customers. So what is Social Commerce and what strategies are needed to run Social Commerce effectively? Let's find out with Mona Media take a look!

What is Social Commerce?

Social Commerce is a form of online business that combines social media and e-commerce. Social Commerce lets users buy products or services directly on social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Zalo and Shopee, without switching to other websites.

What are the main models of Social Commerce?

There are many ways to classify Social Commerce models, but one of the most common is by where the sale takes place: onsite and offsite.

Onsite Social Commerce

Onsite Social Commerce is when a business sells on its own website but uses social features to increase customer engagement and trust. Examples include letting customers log in with social accounts, rate, comment on and share products, join communities, or take part in promotions based on social behavior.

Offsite Social Commerce

Offsite Social Commerce is when a business sells directly on social media platforms without redirecting customers to its own website. Examples include selling through a fanpage, livestream, or a shop on Facebook or Instagram, or using features such as Facebook Marketplace, Instagram Shopping or TikTok For Business.

Special benefits of social commerce

Social Commerce keeps growing and is becoming a new business trend in the digital age. According to eMarketer, US Social Commerce revenue grew 38.8% in 2020 and was expected to reach 79.64 billion USD in 2024. In Vietnam, according to a survey by iPrice Group and SimilarWeb, Social Commerce accounted for 53% of all traffic to e-commerce websites in Q2 2021.

So what is an effective way to do business on Social Commerce? To answer that, we need to understand the special benefits of social commerce compared with other forms of online business.

Wider reach

Social media gathers billions of users worldwide. According to We Are Social and Hootsuite, Vietnam had 72 million social media users in January 2021, or 73.7% of the population. This is a promising market for businesses that want to sell online.

When you do business on Social Commerce, you can reach more potential customers than with your own website alone. You can use social features such as sharing, comments, likes and tags to spread information about your products or services to more people.

You can also run ad campaigns aimed at your exact target customers at a lower cost than traditional advertising channels. Reaching people through video ads is the best option here. Consider investing in TVC production services to attract partners and especially potential customers and make the most professional impression on them.

Improve the shopping experience

Social Commerce is not just a place to sell, but also a place to create shopping experiences for customers. Customers can watch images, videos and livestreams of your products or services to get a clearer, more vivid picture. They can also read reviews, comments and feedback from people who have already bought, which gives them more trust and peace of mind.

Social Commerce also lets customers interact and communicate with you and with each other. Customers can ask questions, request advice and give feedback. They can also join communities, groups and fanpages related to your products or services to share experience, knowledge and opinions with people who have similar interests and needs.

Improve customer conversion rate

One of the biggest benefits of Social Commerce is that it cuts the number of steps in buying. Customers do not need to leave the social network to visit your website, fill in personal details, choose a payment method and confirm the order. They can buy right on the social platform they are already using.

This reduces interruption and distraction for customers and makes buying more convenient and faster. As a result, the rate of converting viewers into buyers is higher than with your own website alone.

Optimize customer care

Social Commerce also helps you improve customer care. You can use messaging tools, chatbots and Messenger to reach customers easily and effectively. You can answer questions, solve problems and receive feedback from customers quickly and on time.

Marketing tactics commonly used in Social Commerce

To succeed in Social Commerce, businesses need effective marketing tactics. Here are some tactics commonly used in Social Commerce:

• Create quality, engaging content: Content is key to attracting and keeping customers on social media. Businesses need content that suits the target audience and is valuable, up to date and varied. Content can include images, videos, livestreams, articles, infographics, stories and other interactive formats.
• Use users' own channels: By encouraging users to share about your products or services on personal channels such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Zalo, a business increases brand awareness and trust, and also creates influencers for its products or services. For example, gifts, discount codes, reward points or contests can encourage users to share.
• Build a community and engage with customers: Businesses can create groups, fanpages, hashtags or their own channels to connect and share updates with customers. They also need to engage actively with customers by answering questions, feedback, opinions and complaints quickly and professionally.
• Integrate e-commerce features: These features can include buy buttons, payment, shopping cart, ordering, order tracking and others. Businesses also need to make sure buying and selling on social media is safe, secure and transparent.
• Measure and optimize marketing performance: Businesses can use metrics such as views, likes, comments, shares, click-through rate, conversion rate, revenue and profit to measure performance. They also need to test and optimize their marketing tactics to improve results and reach their business goals.

Differences between Social Media Marketing and Social Commerce

Social Media Marketing (SMM) is the use of social media platforms to promote a business's brand, products or services. SMM can include creating content, engaging with customers, running ads and analyzing data. The goal of SMM is to raise brand awareness, attract potential customers and convert them into real customers.

Social Commerce, meanwhile, is selling directly on social media platforms. It can include providing product information, letting customers order and pay, delivery and after-sales support. The goal of Social Commerce is to use the power of social media to create a convenient, personalized shopping experience for customers.

Social media platforms suited to Social Commerce

Some examples of social media platforms suited to Social Commerce:

• Facebook: Facebook has many features that support Social Commerce, such as Facebook Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Facebook Live, Facebook Ads and Facebook Messenger. Facebook's strength is the diversity of its user community, which lets businesses reach many different customer groups.
• Instagram: Instagram has many features that support Social Commerce, such as Instagram Shopping, Instagram Checkout, Instagram Live, Instagram Stories, Instagram Reels and Instagram Ads. Instagram leans toward young, creative users, which lets businesses create engaging content that attracts customers.
• TikTok: TikTok has many features that support Social Commerce, such as Tik Tok Shop, TikTok Live, TikTok For Business and TikTok Creator Marketplace. TikTok is especially suited to dynamic, entertaining content, letting businesses use trends and viral content to increase sales.

Tips for selling online effectively with Social Commerce

To sell online successfully with Social Commerce, you need certain strategies and skills. Here are some useful tips for selling online effectively with Social Commerce.

Focus on the lowest-priced or best products

One key factor in attracting customers on social media is price. You should research the market and competitors to set a reasonable price for your products. If you can offer the lowest prices in your segment, you have an advantage over competitors. You should also pay attention to product quality and reputation. Choose products with high user ratings, standout features and a good fit with customer needs. You should also create engaging content to present your products, such as videos, photos, livestream, review…

Use the right tools

To sell online effectively with Social Commerce, you need not only good products and reasonable prices, but also tools to support management and marketing. Use the features already available on social platforms to increase engagement and sales, such as an online shop, chatbot, hashtags, stories and so on. You should also use third-party apps to optimize your sales process, such as order management apps, automatic messaging apps and data analytics apps.

Partner with influencers

Another effective strategy for selling online with Social Commerce is to partner with influencers in a field related to your product. Influencers are people with a large, trusted following on social media platforms. They can help you reach a large pool of potential customers and increase their trust in your product. You can invite them to try and review your product, or create content together to promote it. You should also choose influencers who suit the customers you want to reach, and agree clearly on cost and expected results.

Look after your sales channel regularly

Finally, to sell online effectively with Social Commerce, you need to look after your sales channel regularly. Update the latest information about products, promotions, or interesting content related to your products. Answer customers' questions, feedback and complaints quickly and in a friendly way. Also create opportunities for customers to stay engaged with your sales channel, such as contests, mini-games, or gifts for loyal customers. This builds trust and customer loyalty in your sales channel.

Process for doing Social Commerce in Business 4.0

To do Social Commerce effectively, businesses should follow this process:

Step 1: Choose a suitable social media platform

Not every social media platform has features and capabilities that support Social Commerce. Businesses need to analyze their customers, products or services and business goals to pick the most suitable platform. 

Step 2: Create engaging, interactive content

After choosing a platform, the business needs to create content that attracts and engages users. The content should show the value of the product or service, the benefits to customers and what sets the business apart. It also needs elements that encourage buying, such as:

• CTA (Call to action): A call to action that asks users to take the desired action, for example 'Buy now', 'Order' or 'Contact us'…
• FOMO (Fear of missing out): Fear of missing out, for example 'Limited quantity', 'Discount today only' or 'Don't miss this chance'…
• UGC (User-generated content): Content created by users themselves, such as reviews, comments and experience shared about the product or service…

Step 3: Optimize the buying process and customer care

To complete the Social Commerce process, a business needs to optimize the buying process and customer care. Buying should be simple, fast and safe, to reduce risk and raise the conversion rate. Businesses can use support tools such as chatbots, CRM and online payment to manage and engage with customers more effectively. After purchase, businesses also need to look after customers by sending thank-you emails, order confirmations and delivery status updates, and by handling complaints and solving problems.

The article above on Mona Media has explained to you what is Social Commerce and related useful information. Selling online with Social Commerce is a big opportunity for businesses and individuals who want to do business online. However, to succeed in this field you need suitable strategies and skills. We hope these tips help you sell online with Social Commerce more effectively.