Social Commerce is term often used to describe marketing strategies that incorporate established social networks to drive sales. The journey might seem simple: find potential customers on social media sites first and then drive them to your e-commerce site where you will convince them to make a purchase.  With luck you will retain them as a member of your social community after the sale is completed.  Unfortunately that doesn’t always happen, in fact it’s rare.   oyalty isn't created by offering a cool offer or asking a customer what they think about a product.  Communities are not created quickly and they are not short-term goals. Communities are built over time and if they are not mutually nurtured, they fall apart.

Here are some tips that will help your business create a Community that will succeed..

Let’s talk about where social commerce going….

Social Commerce is more than just liking brands Facebook pages or following their twitter accounts.  All of the top e-commerce sites (Amazon, Best Buy, & Apple) have brought the conversation to their site.  As a result, these businesses can create and own a unique social experience that encompasses the entire customer life cycle. Customers can review products, ask questions, and join conversations about a brand without having to seek out fans of the brand they are interested in. For retailers this brings an end to nameless, faceless shoppers.  It provides retailers with the opportunity to get to know their customers while building relationships through interaction.

What can a business do with this information?

A business can do nothing but benefit from a socially integrated e-commerce site.  Consumers who take the time to have conversations about your product (positive or negative) are the consumers you want to invest A customer who made a purchase on your site and was angry once they received the product, might turn to your site to vent. This is just like receiving a phone call to your Customer Service department but it shows your audience how well you handle complaints.  Even with this negative experience being public, the outcome is valuable to a business.  Good customer service is so important to a consumer. Nobody expects a business to satisfy every customer they encounter but they do expect the business to provide exceptional service once the customer expresses disappointment.  Online communities give your business the opportunity to make it right and to let everyone know that you did.

You have decided to build a socially integrated Community for your brand. Great! Now what?

Hotcakes Commerce offers a great solution for building your brands social Community.  With Hotcakes Social your brands Community members can post reviews on products, share reviews with members of their social channels, and blog about their experiences… all on your site. What could be easier?  Once you have activated Hotcakes Social on your site it’s easy to bring your customer back to your site through incentives or by creating conversations.  Hotcakes Social makes it easy to create Customer Groups that will offer discounts to members of your Community.  Offering incentives to active members is a great way to keep them active.

Community Managers will keep the conversations going

Once your Community is buzzing with conversation, it’s time to appoint a Community Manager to maintain it.  Community Managers are responsible for responding to questions, managing conversations between customers, and visiting sites where relevant conversations are happening and trying to draw them back to your site. Community Managers are administrators of your e-commerce site, usually marketing people, who know a thing or two about social media, can answer any question about your products, and are willing to go above and beyond for your brand. Pick carefully because your Community Manager will become the online voice of your brand.

If you have any questions about Hotcakes Social or how it can help your business, stop by our Community section.  We would love to hear from you