For anyone looking to make a business work in the modern age, ecommerce has become a highly attractive prospect the longer that time goes on. Running a store from a nerve center that may be no bigger than your kitchen, it is possible to sell worldwide, run flash sales and create publicity campaigns that compare favorably with some of the biggest names. The most important thing to know about ecommerce is that your reach, your development and your success can be unlimited if you play things right.

One part of a successful ecommerce strategy is knowing how to market yourself. The internet has allowed for a significant readjustment in business by permitting people without a huge amount of seed capital to make profits early on. Knowing how to handle the digital aspects of business is more important in an eventual success than anything else – and that includes startup funds. Perhaps more important than anything else in the world of ecommerce is social media; learn how to harness this, and you’re well on your way…

Know the strengths and weaknesses of each media platform

Social media has been perhaps the defining phenomenon of this century so far: it breaks news, it makes stars, it launches memes and, some would argue, it can even get people elected to high office. There is immense power and potential in social media, but it is only worth anything in the hands of people who understand it.

Twitter, for example, has incredible reach, but nobody is on the bird site to hear a lengthy sales pitch. Even though the character count for a tweet expanded to 280 characters a few years back, don’t feel like you need to use them all when you tweet for your store. Make it snappy, make it eye-catching, make it shareable. If you’re using Instagram, meanwhile, make your posts shoppable so people can go straight from your post to your store. Always make it easy for people to give you money.

Each social media site has its advantages and disadvantages for reaching a customer base. Design your strategy around this, and around the fact that different platforms attract different people. Know the difference between a typical Pinterest user, a TikTok fan, and a Facebook customer; it will help you pitch your strategy.

Don’t just stand there, engage

Social media has taken off in the way we can see for a number of reasons, but perhaps the most important one is in the name. It’s social. If your media channels are set to transmit but never receive, then they’re not being used to their fullest potential. Use them to speak directly to customers, whether dealing with complaints or responding to queries about products. Consider engaging in topical discussion as well, but keep it in line with your business image; if you’re a gardening supply store, for example, you may have salient points to make about how gardens will be affected by a heatwave, or indeed by a pandemic.

You can take a fun approach to social media, although it’s worth steering clear of the jokes-gone-wrong experiences that some businesses have suffered with. Making tweets that people want to share can only be good for your business; whether that’s achieved by offering special prices to social customers, or by using engaging content, it’s something to aim for.

Use the visual aspect of social media to your advantage

One benefit of ecommerce is the fact that you don’t need a store and so don’t have to pay the high commercial rents that come with a brick-and-mortar shop. The counter-argument to that, and the reason people have a store at all, is that it allows people to see what they are buying. Humans are a very visual species, and while there are many factors that influence a shopping decision, it helps to be able to tick off as many boxes as possible. While an ecommerce store will allow you a certain amount of content, you can use social media to increase the visual, high-conversion impact of having a product to sell.

Working closely with an effective Shopify eCommerce Agency will allow you to use videos and photos to get the greatest possible impact and ensure that your business doesn’t miss out on the business of people who need to see an item before they buy. As time goes on, you can create more content of this nature as you see what works best. Additionally, if your business involves selling tools or tech, you can create videos that explain how to use them or how best to do a specific job. As an example, if you are selling power tools, you can have instructional videos on how to safely drill holes, how to hang shelves, and more.

Create a buzz by using the ideal medium for generating excitement

As we’ve noted, social media has immense power to create interest – breaking news, creating viral memes and all the rest of it. A major reason for this is in social media’s immediacy. While a print or broadcast journalist will need to clear space in a program or a paper to run a story, one committed amateur with a GoPro can make history in moments. You might not go that viral with a special offer or a voucher code, but you don’t need to reach millions to make a profit – just reach enough of the right people.

If you use your social media accounts to give customers special offers, then potential customers will be more likely to follow you. They’ll be more likely to share your posts, and your name will spread so that people don’t only come to you for those special offers. The more you establish yourself, the better it is for business going forward, and consequently the more people will be interested in your offers. Run your accounts intelligently, and success will become second nature.

Social media boosts ecommerce stores, as long as it is used correctly. Take the chance to go directly to your customers and you can harness a very effective publicity system.