So, social media, we all use it but do we use it to maximise our sales potential and store visibility? That is the question we will seek to address today.
Why is social media presence so important when selling on online marketplaces?
Globally, over 3.6 billion people use social media for around 144 minutes per day (statista.com). That is nearly half of the entire human population. Let that sink in for a moment…
This statistic is powerful, it shows us that from a marketing perspective, social selling (using social media platforms) is key. For eBay sellers, using social media marketing can be a really effective way of getting in front of new and existing customers at the right time in their shopping process. Whether they are researching product options, your company, or even your specific store.
eBay shoppers are already digital consumers by the nature of their shopping habits, eBay’s own social media accounts have 13 million followers. So we know the presence of sellers is there in a big way.
Plan, plan, plan
At Optiseller, we believe in goal setting. Make it structured and planned so your objectives are always clear and achievable. So, to that end, we have made our ‘Top 5 Tips’ for eBay social selling:
- Set your objectives 🔍
Decide what your goals are. Do you want to boost awareness of your listings and store overall? Or do you want to increase loyalty and encourage return trade from existing customers?
- Pick the tools that work for you 🔧
There are a lot of social media platforms to choose from. And each one has its own strengths and weaknesses. Deciding which ones to go with depends on your objectives and customer base. For example, if you do a lot of business-to-business (B2B) selling then maybe LinkedIn is the platform for you. However, if you sell collectibles and jewellery, Instagram might be the right tool for you as it is very imagery-focused.
- Set up the accounts 💻
This is important for eBay sellers. Consider making your social media handle the same as your eBay store name, this makes it easier for customers to find your store. And it also keeps your brand presence across the market identical.
- Learn the do’s and dont’s ✅⛔
Social media posting can be daunting, but like anything, it gets easier the more you do it. There are lots of resources out there to help you get to grips with things. But we would advise using the right hashtags (#) and tagging (@) to make your products and posts show to the write potential buyers.
- Boosted posts 💥
Use adverts to increase your reach on social media platforms. This is what we call paid posts, while free ones are called organic. By placing a budget and duration behind a post, it will allow you to target specific audiences or geographic areas, therefore pushing your social media posts in front of new audiences that you may not reach at all without paying. We would advise a degree of caution here, test the waters with a low budget and build up from there once you see success.
Evaluate and evolve
Yes, we know this may all seem like a lot, and it might feel like too much to get your head around. However, as we enter peak season trading, it is an exciting time to test out new marketing techniques. Our advice would be to test the waters, see what works and change from there. You can also have a look at our own Optiseller posts for ideas on how to write your social media posts and the language we use for our audiences.
So happy selling and let's get #social!
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