Thibaud Clement, co-founder and CEO, Loomly
Social media marketing and ecommerce have transformed the way we communicate and sell products. I have been lucky to see this first-hand over the past eight years of my career.
First, as an ecommerce store owner (building our brand and driving sales), then as an advertising agency manager (optimizing organic and paid campaigns for consumer brands big and small, including L’Oréal), and now as CEO of Loomly (observing 4,000 marketing teams publish posts and ads to social media through our platform).
Capitalizing on these experiences, today, I would like to share three social media marketing hacks you can leverage to generate more sales through your online store.
1. Harness the Power of the Facebook Pixel
Chances are, if you run an ecommerce company, you have already installed the Facebook Pixel and ran some Facebook Ad campaigns; however, the potential of the Facebook Pixel is actually so massive that you may not have explored all your options just yet—think product feed, advanced matching, custom conversions and much more.
If you run your operation hands-on, and are eager to hone your skills, then you should definitely obtain the Facebook Certified Ads Product Developer I certification. Aside from the satisfaction of passing an exam, you will develop a deeper sense of how the Facebook Pixel works and how you can best use it on your website by applying what you learn. The exam costs $150 and will require some prep time on your end, but this is definitely a worthy investment if you want to take your social media advertising game to the next level.
Alternatively, you can hire Facebook Marketing Partners for Technical Services to help you optimize the implementation of the Facebook Pixel on your online store. These professionals have passed the above certification and have been vetted by Facebook for the excellence of their services. Hiring them (hourly) will come at a cost, but you will likely recoup your investment through the improvement of your ROAS (Return On Ad Spend) and an increase of your sales. The icing on the cake: until December 31, 2019 you are eligible to a $2,000 coupon to redeem in Facebook Ad credits.
2. Make Your Website Consistent With Your Ad Campaigns
This next hack has been given to me by Fabrice Gibert-Darras, CMO at BH Cosmetics.
Fabrice has implemented a process that allows him to constantly update his online store with banners and copy that match either their latest organic post on social media or their main running ad campaign. This way, BH Cosmetics is able to provide a more immersive and consistent brand experience to shoppers.
In October, to support Breast Cancer Awareness, the company is donating 20% of its proceeds to the Young Survival Coalition. This is mentioned in the latest BH Cosmetics organic Instagram post:
A BH Cosmetics Instagram post promises to donate to breast cancer awareness programs.
Then, when followers jump from Instagram to BH Cosmetics’ website, they see a consistent proposition:
What consumers see on BHCosmetics.com after clicking on the Instagram post promoting breast cancer awareness.
This is a very smart approach that incentivizes followers and prospective customers to visit BHCosmetics.com frequently to see what’s new, which in turns creates nuanced repetition, builds the brand over time in a fresh, dynamic fashion and drives growth.
3. Take Advantage of Stories and Stories Ads
From a Snapchat exclusive, Stories have now spread to Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube. At F8 2019, Facebook reported that over a billion stories were shared every single day across the company’s family of apps. Additionally, in the 2019 issue of her famous Internet Trends Report, Mary Meeker featured the rise of Stories, flagging them as a new channel toward which attention was clearly shifting.
Most importantly, according to Facebook’s research, one in two people surveyed say they have visited a website—and 31% have gone to a store—to buy a product or service as a result of seeing it in stories. Which means that stories drive sales, and now is the ideal time to invest in this medium, both on the organic side and on the paid side.
Here are eight best practices we have identified at Loomly to help you max out the efficiency of your Stories and their ads:
- Focus on high-resolution assets.
- Develop quick, dynamic content.
- Break down your narrative arc into scenes.
- Think vertical-first to offer an immersive user experience.
- Keep stickers to a minimum, to avoid visual noise and distraction.
- Open and/or close with your brand.
- Implement compelling CTAs.
- Test, Learn, Rinse and Repeat.
In Conclusion
It’s hard to think of ecommerce without social media marketing nowadays. So much so that everyone tends to follow the same playbook; but you don’t have to, if you learn how to make the most of the Facebook Pixel, keep your funnel fresh and consistent and harness the power of Stories and Stories Ads, you will stand out as a brand and drive more sales.
Loomly provides social media management technology.
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