Consumer behavior and their buying habits have shifted significantly since COVID-19 emerged, as 2020 will bring us into uncharted waters economically. In August, eMarketer reported that as a result of social distancing measures, retail sales in the United States will decline by approximately 11% this year, but ecommerce sales will likely grow by 18%.
The numerous social media advertising profiles we manage already illustrate the importance of brands leveraging social media for the holidays given these predicted outcomes. To maximize your holiday ecommerce advertising success this year, here are eight tips, best practices, and strategies that will help you succeed. A special focus will be placed on Facebook Shops and Instagram Checkout, powerful advertising platforms used by ecommerce merchants.
Holiday advertising success in social media and e-commerce
During the 2020 holiday season, social media is considered one of the most effective ways to connect with customers, and that’s not just the opinion of paid social professionals. According to recent studies and predictions about ecommerce, this is a valid claim. Customer service does not need to be sidelined.
Buying behavior predicted by social media
The following are some of the data-based predictions made by Salesforce based on their holiday 2020 predictions.
- This holiday season, digital channels will generate 30 percent of global retail sales.
- Social media channels will account for 10% of mobile orders.
- On peak shopping days such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, mobile orders may constitute as much as 15% of all orders.
- More marketing statistics can be found here.
Consumer behavior in social media
Furthermore, social media advertising for ecommerce this holiday season makes sense given consumer behavior. Seventy-three percent of Gen Z customers bought on social media during COVID-19, according to Salesforce’s Snapshot Research Series data.
Researchers from Radial, a company that creates omnichannel commerce technology, confirmed Salesforce’s forecasts. In a survey of 1,000 Americans about their holiday shopping plans for 2020, 66% reported that they would make more purchases online than in stores, and 60% stated that they planned to do less shopping in stores this year. Furthermore, most people plan to buy gifts at the same level as last year.
66% of consumers are planning to make more purchases online this holiday season, while 60% are planning to spend less at retail stores.
Our ecommerce advertising dollars can be invested in social media with the help of this data. Inspiration and purchase should no longer be separated by historical friction.
Making paid social advertising effective this holiday season for ecommerce
Although we can use these findings as a guide to planning and launching holiday campaigns, we can’t be sure for sure before the holidays exactly how consumers will spend on holiday shopping. In order to maximize revenue, reach, and purchases, we have to plan ahead, be in stock, develop a comprehensive strategy, ensure our sites as well as apps function properly, and leverage social media to increase our reach and volume.
Is paid social enhancing the success of your holiday advertising campaign?
Ecommerce professionals are in luck this year as both Facebook and Instagram have released new features designed to help advertisers make better use of their ecommerce capabilities. Instagram Checkout and Facebook Shops provide seamless online buying experiences using Facebook and Instagram audiences; both are exciting new tools for small and big businesses. To help you drive more online sales this holiday season, we’ll cover best practices, tips, and these tools below.
1. Mobile strategies should be prioritized
As quarantines, shelter-in-place, and social distancing measures were enforced because of the pandemic, people spent more time on mobile. According to Salesforce’s forecast above, 15 percent of mobile orders this holiday season are expected to come through social media. This reveals that consumers across a range of demographics are becoming more reliant on mobile-first ecommerce.
2. Avoid losing frustrated mobile shoppers by optimizing the user experience
Last year’s Facebook Holiday Insights Report found that 82% of global shoppers experienced problems with the online shopping experience during the holidays. Furthermore, over 25% of all consumers reported that images were not clear on their mobile devices; 32% of Baby Boomers reported too small font sizes on their mobile devices; and 25% of Millennials reported too small content sizes. We need to create mobile experiences that align with how users view our branded content on Facebook and Instagram in order to optimize our Facebook and Instagram campaigns.
3. Ensure engagement by performing additional quality assurance checks
It is easy to avoid these problems. Prepare ahead this season by detecting and resolving them now, especially before peak shopping times. Perform quality checks on your ad creatives and landing pages before launching new Facebook and Instagram campaigns-especially on mobile devices. When it comes to creating social media ads that engage and inspire, the devil is in the details. Your competitors will surely grab the money you leave on the table if you don’t produce an optimal mobile experience.
To create mobile experiences that match the way our branded content is viewed by users, we need to optimize our Facebook and Instagram campaigns accordingly.
4. Facebook Shops can enhance your e-commerce capabilities
As part of its efforts to help small businesses expand their ecommerce efforts, Facebook launched Facebook Shops earlier this year. In light of COVID-19’s economic impact on small businesses, this launch is very timely. By using Shops, small businesses can now sell more online and reach their target audiences by allowing them to discover and purchase their products.
Businesses can create mobile-first online stores using Facebook Shops, which are accessible through Facebook Business Pages and Instagram profiles. You can upload your product catalog to the app so customers can browse and order directly from the app.
5. Check out the design layouts of Facebook Shops
As of July, Facebook Shops was updated with new layouts for brands to display individual products. Brands can also measure their Facebook Shop’s performance with the latest update, via Facebook’s Commerce Manager.
6. Make sure your Facebook Shop is ready for the holidays now
The holiday season is just around the corner, and brands should familiarize themselves with Facebook Shops ahead of time. In the future, they can use it to advertise popular products that people may want to buy as gifts for the holidays. You will gain more exposure for your products and make online shopping more accessible to audiences with this approach.
7. Instagram waives selling fees, so take advantage of this
Besides allowing more brands to use Checkout recently, Instagram will also waive its selling fees through 2020 in order to encourage small businesses, especially, to use the in-app shopping feature. You should leverage the waived fee this holiday season no matter what brand you represent, as it can provide you with a seamless interaction from product discovery through acquisition with little upfront investment.
For inspiration, click the Discover tab on your Instagram app and then click the Shop link to see some examples in the wild.
Closing Thoughts
Come out ahead of the holiday shopping rush this year by optimizing your ads to streamline your shoppers’ online buying experience by creating a seamless buying experience – with Facebook and Instagram offering the tools to help you do so.
