Guest article written by Kevin Warhus, eCommerce Marketing Manager, ShopTab.

In today’s ever-changing, digital market there are new hurdles and opportunities popping up all the time. Recently, a trend in social selling through channels such as Facebook and Twitter has begun to captivate the B2C and B2B markets. Never before have marketers been able to reach such targeted groups in personal ways. With a wide variety of mediums at your disposal, almost any company can find a social solution that is right for them.

With the recent growth of social selling great opportunities are created as well as new problems to overcome. What is the best way to connect with your customers in this new channel? What kind of ROI can you expect from social selling? While unfortunately there is no golden goose to provide all the answers for your brand specifically, companies like ours can help your business overcome the frequent challenges of social selling.

B2C challenges

Booz & Co predict $15 billion in social commerce revenues by 2014. That is approximately 10% of the eCommerce market, and your brand is foolish to not fight for your share. That being said, we know it can be challenging for many brands to make their initial entrance into social commerce, so take the time to plan your attack. There are countless options to reach your audience through social commerce, but one of the most innovative and exciting methods for B2C companies is though social stores on Facebook.

To get started, examine your competition to see if they already have stores active on their Facebook page or other social pages. Explore their site to see what works for them and what could be improved upon. Then, you must decide how you are going to build out your store and gain an edge on your competitors. For instance, ShopTab, our social commerce storefront, has many customization options to set your brand apart. ShopTab offers customizable colors and logos for branding, language and currency options, full text control on each page, and a large variety of personalization options to help change the look and feel of your Facebook store. One of our clients changes their page banner for each store page weekly to support their specific promotions calendar.

Once your store is up and running it is crucial to develop a marketing plan to get customers aware of your new social efforts. Selling happens with smart promotion and positioning in each unique channel – social is no different and requires its own strategy and tactics. Drive them to your social store through featured posts on your social pages, offer promo codes or specials for your social users, or make customers aware of your Facebook page when they are on your website. Remember, buying on Facebook is new to most users so take your time to educate them on this new option.

Overall having a social presence for your store can help your brand connect with customers. It can be a fun way to further build your relationship while also making sales as customers will enjoy this new shopping experience from their favorite social sites. Social stores can also help show customers you are on the cutting edge of the newest trends which can encourage trust and credibility in your brand. It is important to note that many retailers understand that many times it takes multiple impressions to create a sale – your social store is one more option to create that impression through a view of a product on your page or a friend’s like of that product on your wall. Together these elements create the unique value of a user’s social experience while buying from your brand and will be critical to creating repeat revenues in the future.

B2B challenges

Social selling for B2B companies presents similar opportunities, but often need to address different challenges. Beyond the need to create fun shopping experiences for customers, B2B social selling is primarily about educating clients with intelligent and engaging marketing, not just presenting your standard approach in a new medium..

Social selling may not be right for every business, but it is definitely a large opportunity for many B2B brands. Ask yourself who you are trying to target, and what you want them to get out of the social experience. Then, design your social selling strategy to best fit the specific needs of your target clients and their businesses.

Social selling for B2B can often include email marketing, building close client relationships through social media, and offering convenient and innovative alternatives to traditional business methods. Whatever the solution may be, it is important to utilize these tools to not only acquire new customers, but also to strengthen the relationship with your existing customers. Don’t forget to bring them along for the ride!

Overall

For either type of business is it crucial to monitor your efforts and keep a close eye on your store’s behavior through purchases and activity levels. We highly recommend that client’s leverage products like Google’s free analytics tools to track your conversion of sales on your website and to monitor traffic generated from your social sites and shops. The features within a product like Google Analytics can help pinpoint your social ROI and help determine what is working and what is not.

Another necessary component to social selling is monitoring and responding to your customers who reach out to your brand through social media. This element of your marketing mix is mandatory if you desire to build strong relationships with your clients. Make it a habit to check your social pages at least daily and keep up the conversation with customers. Don’t be afraid to ask questions to get a better idea of what they want from your brand and your marketing efforts.

Last but not least, it is vital to constantly change up your store and marketing efforts. Keep up with the changing demands of your clients and continue to surprise and stimulate them with fresh, innovative ideas! We have one client that takes a very different tone in describing their products on Facebook because they believe the audience reacts to their products differently in that environment.  Your creativity and passion will be rewarded!

Whatever your strategy may be, integrating social selling into your marketing plans is an excellent way to connect with customers and increase sales through personalized interactions. Analyze your customers and determine what they want to see from your brand now and in the future. With the proper mix, your business will soon see amazing results and can capture its share of the social selling revolution. Good selling!