Successful SEO strategies are moving away from exact match keywords and towards overall user experience. Social media is playing an increasingly larger role in creating a great user experience.

Your social media presence will influence customer behavior, brand recognition, search ranking and more. As a Toronto based SEO company we here at Fade Digital understand this in its entirety as it is our job to help businesses succeed online. Here are some actionable strategies for social media for ecommerce:

Increase Customer Engagement

Social media allows for a direct route to one-on-one customer engagement. Providing excellent customer service via social media is crucial. Customers turn to social media with questions, comments and complaints.

Potential customers watch how a brand responds. If you consistently go the extra mile on social media, people will trust you. Social media showcases the trustworthy people and policies behind the brand name.

Improve Transparency

Brands will always have to deal with complaints and anger on social media. But there’s no need to shut down or ignore negative feedback. Instead, engage with complaints in a thoughtful, professional manner. Attempt to solve the problem as quickly and completely as possible.

Even if you can’t please a specific user, social media users in general will notice your attempts at professionalism. Always treat every problem seriously, even if the complaint is completely out of your hands.

Showcase Your Brand’s Personality

Social media allows for a fun, more informal type of communication. While you never want to cross the line of good taste, you can still create a unique voice. Taco Bell’s twitter is a great example of a brand with a fun, irreverent voice which matches their customer demographics.

Your brand should have a consistent “personality.” The type will depend on the product or service you sell. For instance, a retail store can be a bit more humorous than a financial planner. All brands should communicate in a friendly, relatable way to social media users.

Showcase User Content

Get your followers involved. Make your brand fun by encouraging user-created content. When real people are involved in your brand, other people will tend to trust your brand through the power of social proof.

Hashtags are an easy way for users to be involved with your brand promotion. You can also aim a bit higher and request fan-made videos and other creations. Dorito’s has found great success with their user-submitted Super Bowl Ad contests.

Add Value to Your Content

Consumers respond to free gifts, especially if those gifts are directly related to the brand. If someone follows a brand on social media, they’re already interested in the product. When you give them a sample of your product, they’re more inclined to purchase later on.

Another type of value content is an exclusive deal. Reward your social media followers with special “social media only” coupons and discounts. That helps maintain engagement as time goes on, because customers will be on the lookout for more value content in the future.

Ecommerce and social media are intertwined and unlikely to separate. With the right social media for ecommerce strategies, you can leverage your social media platforms for increased brand awareness, customer engagement and sales.