1. Increase trustworthiness and brand recognition:
The internet can be a dangerous place; the exploding world of E-commerce has made it a veritable playground for hackers, scammers, and cyber-crime. There are three main categories of these crimes: Buying Scams, Identity Theft, and Monetary Fraud. According to data collected by the European Commission, 56% of those surveyed experienced at least one of these types of fraud/scams in the last two years. As consumers become better versed in dealing with threats to privacy and security online, they look for demarcations of trustworthiness before proceeding with transactions with a new or previously unknown business.
2. Increase levels of customer service and satisfaction:
One advantage of social media for brands is that it provides a direct line to your audience; opening up the ability for customers to interact with brands in real-time. For brands, this can be both a positive and a negative. Brands who take advantage of the real-time feedback provided by social media, listen to their followers and react accordingly. Consumers can comment with praise or criticism of your brand, how quickly and appropriately you respond can impact your brand reputation. Brands that do not take advantage of this line of communication appear uncaring and cause consumers to become frustrated, losing brand loyalty.
3. Foster online community and tell authentic stories:
Representation is a big part of why social media has taken over the world; it gives a voice to so many types of people that we rarely hear from or see in traditional media and connects diverse people with others like them. Virtual communities for many, are places where they feel seen and heard; less alone than in their day-to-day life. Brands that know the importance of online communities and the people within them, strive to tell authentic stories by highlighting the core issues and values that are important to the brand and their consumers. Speak to the heart of your target audience on social media and you will be rewarded with higher engagement and loyalty. Google calls this type of community building practice “Identity loyalty”; consumers who resonate deeply with the powerful and authentic stories told by a brand, freely participate in promotional activities such as telling their friends and family.
4. Increase revenue with social commerce:
Social media is now deeply ingrained in the customer journey with 74% of consumers consulting the medium before making a purchase. But switching from review sites to social media, to product sites, and back again, is laborious for consumers. Social media platforms are quickly realizing that streamlining the customer journey is the way forward. Enter social shopping. Created in the wake of an exploding e-commerce revolution, social shopping takes advantage of the increasing presence of brand inventory online. Whilst brands retain their traditional e-commerce stores housed on websites, in-app stores and shoppable images enable users to view, save, and purchase products all in-app. The convenience of social shopping has made it one of the fastest-growing commerce trends in years with some brands seeing up to a 20% increase in Instagram revenue after implementing the feature.