Despite what you might hear about physical stores going the way of 2005’s “Beverly Hills,”, shoppers still love a good mall trip.
Nexus-security HQ’s mall is always bustling. A major reason, perhaps the biggest, is that shoppers often don’t start with a concrete shopping list. They hit the mall for inspiration, to see what catches their eye. Bob didn’t know he needed a life-sized bobcat replica for his mantle until the mall sparked that inspiration. That’s the essence of social shopping (or social commerce): recreating that sense of discovery and inspiration on social media, then making it easy to buy right then and there. Let’s delve into why social shopping matters, and how to weave it into your Facebook and Instagram marketing.
What is social shopping?
In short, it’s selling directly through social media. Think back to Instagram’s early days. Ecommerce brands could post gorgeous product photos, but the only link was in their bio – leading to an external landing page. You were essentially asking users to leave Instagram and browse your website – a dealbreaker for most.
Links like this were the only way to your site from Instagram. Asking users to leave the app creates friction in the sales funnel (the path from potential to paying customer). Imagine the funnel as a highway – ideally, a straight shot from Prospect City to Customer Village. (Apologies, the analogy’s stuck with me now). Friction is like adding an exit ramp with a giant neon sign: “FEEL FREE TO TAKE YOUR MONEY AND LEAVE.” Obvious statement alert: You don’t want customers taking their money elsewhere. You want the journey from first impression to “Buy Now” to be smooth sailing. That’s social shopping’s magic: engaging shoppers on their turf and making the follower-to-customer conversion effortless.
Top social shopping apps
In 2019, Instagram and its parent, Facebook, are the undisputed kings. 60% of Instagram users report finding new products to buy on the app, and 26% of people actually go to Facebook looking for things to buy. So, let’s focus on using these two for social commerce right now.
Social shopping on Facebook
While Instagram might be the trendsetter, we’ll start with Facebook for a practical reason: you need to be a Facebook advertiser to share shoppable Instagram content.
What it looks like
Even if you haven’t consciously noticed, as a Facebook user you’ve likely encountered shoppable content while scrolling your News Feed or Stories.
(Red squares added for emphasis) Imagine scrolling on your laptop and seeing this Nike post. You pause – the guy looks awesome, and who doesn’t want to look awesome? Then you notice all the tagged products. Intrigued by the sneakers, you click through to Nike’s site for details. Maybe you buy immediately (not the norm, but it happens). More realistically, you sleep on it. Next morning, Facebook serves you an even more enticing ad for those sneakers – Nike’s remarketing in action. You click, you buy. What just happened? Nike made product discovery frictionless. No need to open tabs, search websites – just one click and you’re on your way. No friction.
How to get started
If you already have a Facebook page, fantastic. If not, create one. Then, ensure it’s using the Shopping template. Click Settings (top right), then choose Templates and Tabs on the left.
Click Edit next to your current template and select Shopping.
Now you’ll see a Shop tab on the left. Click it.
Facebook will ask for basic business details: location, products, payment preferences, etc. This takes minutes, and clicking Finish launches your Facebook shop (once you add and Facebook approves at least one product). Adding products is a breeze: title, image, details, inventory, shipping – and you’re live. Finally, to complete your shoppable Facebook setup, tag products in your organic posts. Upload an image/video featuring your products, click the Tag Products icon (below), and tag away!
Social shopping on Instagram
Congrats! Your shoppable Facebook presence is live, eliminating friction from that funnel. Now, let’s extend that to Instagram.
What it looks like
The principle is identical to Facebook. Scrolling through your feed or Stories, you’ll see brands tagging products.
Clicking for details takes you to an in-app product page. From there, you can click through to their website and buy. Again, no app switching, no website navigation – just two clicks. Two clicks. That’s it. Friction, be gone! Soon, you won’t even need to leave the app. Checkout on Instagram’s launch (currently limited to a few big brands) enables buying directly within Instagram, further reducing friction. Stories work similarly, but with one tag per post. No worries – add more posts to your Story to tag multiple products.
How to get started
Good news: your Facebook shop has laid the groundwork. Now, open your Instagram settings, ensure you’re using a business profile (not personal), and link it to your Facebook page.
Head to Facebook Ads Manager. Click the top left icon, select Catalogs under Assets.
After connecting your Instagram to your Facebook shop’s catalog, Instagram will review it (expect a couple of days). Once approved for Shopping on Instagram, start tagging products from your catalog in your posts and Stories! You can tag up to 20 products per feed post (max 5 tags per photo, 4 photos per post). Stories remain at one tag per post. A multi-channel approach is key to ecommerce success. Download our free Google Shopping guide and expand your brand’s reach today!
Social shopping best practices
Now you know what social shopping is, its importance for ecommerce, and how it works on Facebook and Instagram. Let’s conclude with best practices for incorporating it into your strategy.
Stage your products naturally
Whether for Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, or Google Shopping, product photos should let customers envision themselves using those products. Why buy something you can’t imagine using? (Not literally the forest, unless you sell bear-fighting boxing gloves – then, by all means, go wild. Maybe use a drone, though). When staging photos for tagging, ask yourself: Where do my customers use this? What does it look like in action? Let that guide you. This is usually straightforward. Selling a couch? Stage it in a decorated living room.
This photo isn’t shoppable – but it easily could be.
Inject some aspiration into your photos
This one’s especially for fashion and apparel brands. Cliché alert: you’re not really selling clothes, are you? You’re selling the opportunity to turn heads, to elevate one’s status. Your product photos should reflect that. What are your prospects aspiring to? Look at MVMT, for instance.
Again, not shoppable, but it could be. This post’s message is clear: buy this watch, be this cool urbanite living their best life.
Remarket to website visitors
Remember the Nike example earlier? While some convert immediately from a shoppable post, many bounce after landing on your site. It doesn’t mean they’re not interested – just that they need a nudge. Enter: remarketing. Let’s stick with Nike. To re-engage those who considered those sneakers, create a custom audience of people who visited that product page on your site.
Serve them a compelling ad for those sneakers (perhaps channeling that aspirational identity), reminding them why they were interested in the first place. In essence, use shoppable organic content to drive traffic, then targeted paid content to close the deal.
Social shopping: your new secret weapon
Facebook and Instagram users aren’t just passively scrolling – many are actively seeking their next purchase. Implementing social shopping strategies across your accounts removes friction, making the browser-to-customer journey a breeze. Get tagging!