The fascinating thing about social media is how it is constantly evolving and adapting to changing consumer trends. Over the past two decades, there was a gradual shift from simple text updates to increasingly visual and more volatile content, supported by app-based platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, while social commerce has evolved.
The ability to view and purchase products on various social media platforms is being pushed even further by new entrants such as TikTok. Furthermore, there have also been innovations in communication between individuals, which have manifested themselves in the development of messenger-type applications such as WeChat, WhatsApp and Messenger (both of the latter belonging to Facebook).
It has been interesting to see how some of these trends have combined to drive innovation in social media beyond communication with friends and family. The influence and growth of social media has meant that brands now play an even bigger role in what can be seen on all digital channels.
According to the research carried out by discount platform Promocodius there was a 12% increase in influence on consumers through personalized discount-related interactions that a brand can have with them on social media. Personalized Aliexpress uk discount code, digital discounts from Amazon or eBay and other big online retailers have nowadays more importance on social media (21 %) than sent through newsletters (18 %). This is true at least for the younger consumers of Generation Z (born between 1996 and 2009) which gets influenced by social media the most.
The potential of social commerce for brands
Social commerce is a rapidly growing sector of e-commerce that uses social networks and digital media to facilitate transactions between businesses and customers. The term covers product discovery, reviews, ratings, sharing, recommendations, transactions and loyalty programs.
In other words – social commerce leverages the growing use of social media platforms to promote and sell products or services directly on the social media sites that users log onto daily.
As a result, many progressive and forward-thinking companies are embracing social media as a marketing sales channel, directly connecting brands with their customers. Using user-generated content such as photos, videos or reviews, companies can build relationships with customers on a further (and often more personal) level than is possible with traditional e-commerce strategies, such as:
Unlike the traditional strategies listed above, social marketing helps businesses to make an emotional connection with potential customers and achieve higher sales through social media platforms.
Social commerce boom
Widespread use of smartphones and the increasing popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Platform X (formerly Twitter) gave rise to social commerce. According to results published in a recent report by consultancy McKinsey, global revenues from social media channels will reach $37 billion in 2021, and forecasts for social commerce show that this will rise to nearly $80 billion by 2025. In just a few years, social commerce is expected to account for 5% of all U.S. e-commerce revenue. While this share may seem relatively small – social commerce is growing rapidly.
The level of personalized interactions that a brand can have with its supporters or customers helps these companies connect with consumers on an emotional level, which encourages higher levels of loyalty and repeat purchases.
