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Amol Ghemud Published: August 14, 2018
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Social media is reaching its boundless figures and rapidly growing especially, in developing country like India. The audience can be broadly accumulated as everyone using the internet and social media. Apart from the additional factors of using Social media such as Brand awareness etc., organizations are increasing their budget for its wider range of onlookers and perceived credibility.
Purchasing online has contributed a lot towards generating revenue. Also, the social media reviews and opinions affect the purchase decision process on a large basis. However, the tendency to share their experiences post purchase was low when social media did not exist.
Let’s look at two scenarios of buying a product – before and after social media became a boom. I have put them in 3 stages for better understanding – Pre-Purchase phase, During Purchase Phase, Post Purchase Phase.
Before social media era:
Pre- Purchase
During Purchase
Post Purchase
The consumer would only know about a product from offline advertisements such as Newspapers, Radio, Hoardings etc.
People had the mentality of buying clothes only when they see/hear a big sale or discount advertisement.
The consumer will evaluate & purchase the product at the store without having much of choice to compare it with other contemporary stores.
There can be better selections available which are not accessible owed to distant locations or lack of awareness.
Time is a constraint
If the consumer is pleased with the product, then that brand/store is a hit.
If the consumer has issues with the quality or they want to return the product, then there is a possibility of losing a buyer.
After social media era:
Pre- Purchase
During Purchase
Post Purchase
An interested consumer would right away know about the sale, offers, discounts and can tell which product is best suitable based on the comparison choices available.
Non-attentive viewers can be converted to prospect customers & redirected to buy online perpetually.
As per the ratings and customer reviews, consumer can choose from a range of products.
There is no time, distance constraint giving a wide range of selections available.
If not satisfied with the quality of the product you can take on to social media and post your concern.
To maintain the brand name response on social media for the concern is quick and quite helpful.
Return of products is easy.
Non-consumers or consumers know about issues resolved or not resolved based on the social/customer reviews.
To sum it all social media has advanced in the trends of purchasing, having a varied choice of products to buy from, responsive customer servicing through social media reducing the gap between consumer and seller.
Examples of eCommerce Brands Rocking Social Media Marketing:
Etsy
Etsy considers itself extra than a marketplace—however as an alternative as a logo on a undertaking to reimagine trade to “build a extra pleasing and lasting international.”
when it comes to social media advertising and marketing, Etsy has embraced fb, Pinterest, Instagram or Twitter as its move-to structures for sharing and engaging. Of path, each submit consists of an picture or video, and the textual content and speak to to motion are tailor-made to the target market.
but it changed into the Etsy fulfillment facebook page—which is dedicated to assisting shop owners—that really caught my eye. On its fundamental fb page and different bills, Etsy is marketing to the cease customers. With its achievement web page, Etsy is giving special interest to the makers, supplying suggestions to better market their groups, Q&As with save owners, and greater.
2) AirBnb
if you observe the social media accounts for most tour and lodges sites, you’ll regularly discover an image of a stunning scene—along with a caption encouraging you to e book now.
but that’s now not how Airbnb plays it. Their social media advertising and marketing method is all approximately showcasing the journey enjoy, frequently sharing pics and stories from actual folks who’ve used their provider to travel the world. And every channel has a completely unique angle.
Twitter leans closer to enterprise vacationers, aiming to reveal them what their brief workplace should seem like in a number towns and attractive them to share.
Finally, Facebook encompasses a little bit of everything, as well as some brand-building content.
3) Sephora
This beauty store has a great tune document of using social media to its advantage. Sephora uses Instagram frequently to publish product pictures and pics of people wearing various makeup mixtures. It posts to Vine with smart videos as well.
Some are just product classified ads at the same time as others are a bit greater stimulated and display off short splendor hints. That’s quite amazing for simply six seconds of pictures! Sephora has definitely dominated Pinterest and is on Twitter and facebook, too, of course.
But I think what’s simply putting this retailer apart is their gumption to create their very own social network. sure, you examine that efficiently. again in March, the organisation announced its extraordinary social website online, The splendor Board.
This social website online features all of the content material from Sephora’s other on-line communities along with beauty communicate, The sleek, Sephora tv, and Sephora to go.
Conclusion:
Ultimately, on the way to understand which social media strategies are driving the most ROI and income to your ecommerce commercial enterprise, you need to be monitoring and reading records on a regular foundation.
You should be monitoring data from in the social media equipment themselves, as well as the use of Google Analytics and some other tools you operate to music site visitors and conversions as they arise for your website.
To drive the most ROI, allocate some time every month to assess your metrics and decide what modifications you’d like to make to your ordinary social media strategy.
For Curious Minds
The pre-purchase phase has transformed from a passive reception of offline ads to an active, informed discovery process driven by social media. This shift is critical because you no longer control the entire narrative; you must now engage with consumers who access a wealth of reviews and direct comparisons before even visiting your store. The text contrasts the old model of newspaper and radio ads with today's environment, where non-attentive viewers can become customers instantly.
Your strategy must adapt to this new reality by focusing on:
Targeted Awareness: Instead of broad offline campaigns, use social media to convert specific audience segments into prospects.
Information Transparency: Consumers can research sales and offers immediately, making clear and compelling value propositions essential for success.
Credibility through Social Proof: As the content suggests, positive ratings and customer reviews are now foundational for building trust with potential buyers.
Mastering this initial engagement phase is the key to guiding modern consumers effectively. Explore the complete analysis to see how leading brands achieve this.
The post-purchase feedback loop is the public conversation that occurs after a sale, where customers share experiences, reviews, and concerns on social platforms. It directly impacts your brand's reputation because these interactions serve as powerful, real-time testimonials that influence prospective customers. Before social media, this feedback was limited, but now, a single comment can reach thousands.
The content explains that a quick and helpful response is vital for maintaining your brand name. A successful feedback loop strategy involves:
Monitoring Mentions: Actively track what customers are saying about your products and service.
Responding Rapidly: Address both positive and negative comments promptly to show that you are engaged and value customer input.
Demonstrating Resolution: Publicly resolving an issue, as noted in the text, shows non-consumers that you are a trustworthy and accountable brand.
This transparent customer service model is no longer optional. Learn how to build a system that turns post-purchase interactions into a competitive advantage by reading on.
Etsy and Airbnb showcase two distinct but highly effective social media models. Etsy adopts a dual-audience approach, marketing unique products to end-users while simultaneously supporting its sellers with resources on a separate page. In contrast, Airbnb's strategy avoids direct sales pitches, instead focusing on showcasing beautiful and authentic travel experiences to inspire its audience.
When deciding on your own approach, consider these factors:
Nature of Your Product: Is your offering a tangible good (product-centric) or a service/experience (experience-focused)?
Community Structure: Do you operate a marketplace like Etsy that benefits from supporting a community of creators or sellers?
Brand Mission: Does your brand, like Airbnb, aim to sell a lifestyle or feeling rather than just a transaction?
Choosing the right content strategy depends on what resonates most with your target audience and aligns with your core business. The full article provides more context on tailoring your brand's narrative.
Etsy’s dual-audience strategy creates a virtuous cycle that strengthens its entire platform. By dedicating a specific channel like the 'Etsy Success' page to its shop owners, the company invests in their ability to market their products effectively, which in turn enhances the quality and appeal of the marketplace for end customers. This ecosystem-building approach goes beyond simple product promotion.
This strategy provides several key benefits highlighted by Etsy's model:
Seller Empowerment: Providing Q&As and business tips helps sellers improve their shops, leading to better products and customer experiences.
Increased Loyalty: Supporting sellers builds a loyal community that is more likely to remain on the platform.
Enhanced Brand Reputation: This shows Etsy is more than a marketplace; it is a partner invested in the success of small businesses.
By nurturing both sides of its market, Etsy ensures sustainable growth and a stronger brand identity. Uncover more lessons from their unique strategy in the complete piece.
Airbnb's strategy provides compelling evidence that an experience-first approach fosters a deeper emotional connection than transactional marketing. By prioritizing beautiful scenery and authentic user stories over 'book now' captions, Airbnb sells a dream rather than just a room. This method builds a community around shared aspirations and travel inspiration, leading to higher, more meaningful engagement.
This inspirational marketing technique works because it taps into fundamental consumer desires:
Authenticity: Showcasing real travel moments feels more genuine than polished corporate advertisements.
Aspiration: The content encourages users to imagine themselves in these stunning locations, creating a powerful pull toward the brand.
Community: It invites users to become part of a global community of travelers, strengthening brand affinity.
This focus on storytelling, rather than selling, is how Airbnb transforms followers into loyal brand advocates. The full article further explores how to apply these principles.
Public reviews and responses directly shape purchase decisions by acting as a powerful form of modern word-of-mouth. For prospective customers in the evaluation phase, observing how a brand handles complaints and celebrates praise offers a transparent look into its values and service quality. The content explains that non-consumers now know about issues resolved, or not, which heavily influences their trust.
This dynamic makes social proof a critical factor in the sales funnel:
Builds Credibility: A high volume of positive reviews can validate a product's quality and build confidence.
Demonstrates Accountability: A quick, helpful response to a negative review can turn a potential PR crisis into a showcase of excellent customer care.
Reduces Perceived Risk: Seeing that a brand offers easy returns and responsive support lowers the barrier to purchase for hesitant buyers.
Your social media presence is now a key part of your sales toolkit. Dive deeper into the full text to learn how to manage it effectively.
A new e-commerce business must build a cohesive social media strategy that guides customers through their entire journey. Your plan should not just focus on acquiring new customers but also on retaining them through excellent post-purchase engagement. This requires a structured approach that addresses each of the three phases outlined in the content.
Here is a stepwise plan to follow:
Pre-Purchase: Use targeted ads and engaging content on platforms like Instagram and Facebook to capture the attention of non-attentive viewers and clearly communicate your offers.
During Purchase: Make it easy for customers to buy by linking directly to products and showcasing social proof like ratings and reviews to remove friction.
Post-Purchase: Actively monitor your social channels for customer feedback, respond quickly to all concerns, and encourage satisfied customers to share their experiences.
Executing a full-funnel strategy like this builds a strong foundation for growth. Discover more tactical details in the complete analysis.
The long-term implication is that brand credibility has become a dynamic and continuously audited asset, rather than a static message controlled by advertising. Every customer interaction on social media contributes to a permanent, publicly accessible record that future consumers will use to evaluate your trustworthiness. This shift means consistent operational excellence is now a marketing imperative.
As you plan for the future, you must internalize these realities:
Reputation is Cumulative: Your brand's reputation is built from thousands of individual interactions over time, making every response critical.
Transparency is Unavoidable: Attempts to hide or delete negative feedback are often more damaging than the feedback itself.
Proactive Service is Key: The brands that thrive will be those that use social media not just to react to problems but to proactively improve their customer experience.
Your digital footprint is your legacy. The complete article offers more insight on how to build a brand that stands the test of public scrutiny.
The blending of e-commerce and social platforms is collapsing the consumer journey, turning feeds into storefronts and comment sections into service desks. This integration means the lines between purchasing a product and discussing it publicly are disappearing, making the entire experience more immediate and interactive. To prepare, you must view social media as a holistic commerce and communication channel.
Strategic adjustments should include:
Investing in Social Commerce Tools: Adopt features like Instagram Shops or Facebook Marketplace to enable seamless in-app purchasing.
Training Social Media Teams for Customer Service: Equip your team to handle everything from sales inquiries to return requests directly within the platform.
Fostering Community Around Products: Encourage post-purchase sharing and discussion directly on your social pages to create a continuous feedback and engagement loop.
This shift demands a more integrated and responsive approach to digital customer interaction. Read the full analysis to stay ahead of these evolving trends.
A frequent and damaging mistake is deleting negative comments or responding defensively, which only escalates the situation and signals a lack of accountability to other users. A far more effective approach is to view public criticism as a valuable opportunity to showcase your commitment to customer satisfaction. The text emphasizes that a quick and helpful response is crucial for maintaining your brand name.
To transform a complaint into a positive interaction, follow this process:
Acknowledge and Empathize: Respond publicly with an apology and show that you understand the customer's frustration.
Take it Offline: Offer to resolve the specific issue through a private channel like DMs or email to handle personal details.
Close the Loop: Once resolved, consider a follow-up comment on the original thread to show the public that a solution was found.
This transparent and empathetic strategy builds trust not only with the affected customer but with everyone watching. Explore more on this topic in the full article.
Brands that neglect the post-purchase phase lose customers because the modern consumer journey does not end at the checkout. In an era of public feedback, a poor post-sale experience or an ignored complaint can quickly damage the trust you worked hard to build. The content notes that before social media, a brand might lose one buyer; now, that one buyer's negative experience can deter countless others.
To prevent this and foster loyalty, you must prioritize post-purchase engagement:
Streamline the Return Process: Make returns easy and clearly communicate your policy, as this is a major concern for online shoppers.
Be Highly Responsive: Acknowledge concerns posted on social media quickly to show customers they are heard and valued.
Encourage Positive Reviews: After a successful resolution or positive experience, prompt satisfied customers to share their feedback.
An excellent post-purchase experience is one of the most powerful drivers of repeat business. Learn more about crafting a loyal customer base in the full post.
A small marketplace can support its sellers by creating a dedicated social media space focused entirely on their growth and success, just as Etsy did with its 'Etsy Success' page. This strategy positions the brand as a partner rather than just a platform, fostering a strong and loyal seller community. The goal is to provide tangible value that helps sellers improve their own businesses.
Key content formats to implement include:
Expert Q&As: Host live sessions with successful sellers or marketing experts to answer common questions.
How-To Guides: Create and share content with tips on product photography, writing descriptions, and marketing their shops.
Seller Spotlights: Feature successful shop owners and their stories to inspire others and showcase what is possible on your platform.
Community Forums: Encourage peer-to-peer support and discussion to build a sense of camaraderie.
This seller-centric content strategy is a powerful way to strengthen your entire ecosystem. Find more actionable ideas in the full article.
Amol has helped catalyse business growth with his strategic & data-driven methodologies. With a decade of experience in the field of marketing, he has donned multiple hats, from channel optimization, data analytics and creative brand positioning to growth engineering and sales.
Growth Strategy and Planning
