Blog

Overview:

* Buying and selling through apps is common worldwide and is part of a business strategy known as Social Commerce;

* Recently, Facebook added a tab in WhatsApp fully dedicated to Social Commerce, following Instagram’s lead;

* Learn how to use this strategy effectively on your social channels, strengthening your brand authority and generating even more revenue.

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Facebook is preparing another major change in one of its social media apps. After the success of Facebook Marketplace and the rollout of Instagram Shopping, it is WhatsApp’s turn to receive a Social Commerce feature.

From now on, the messenger—already used by Brazilian users to transfer money in-app—becomes even more geared toward the commercial use cases of small and medium-sized businesses. That’s because it will be possible to publish shopping catalogs, menus, and custom product images, improving the customer experience when making a purchase.

The new feature is already being rolled out in parts of Europe and North America, and the expectation is that the whole world will have access to it in the coming months. The move aims to encourage a base of 2 billion users to use social media even more to buy and sell products through apps. 

Of course, all of these changes will directly impact the way people buy and sell online. But how? 

How can Social Commerce change the way you sell day to day?

By adopting Social Commerce, you can advertise or purchase a product more easily, without spending time creating accounts or searching on specific websites.

In a few words, this type of commerce is based on using social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to promote and sell products to a specific target audience.

One of the main advantages of Social Commerce is the ability to increase your brand’s authority with your audience. As your products become part of the consumer’s social feed, the odds that they feel more confident and buy from you increase.

As you earn users’ trust, sales tend to rise significantly over time—which leads to another advantage of Social Commerce: revenue.

It is also important to keep in touch with your consumers through interactions on the platform, giveaways, and other ways to attract new customers.

In short: if you run a business, using the internet and social networks in your favor is essential for brand expansion and for growth as a respected company in your market.

When a sale is made and the customer is satisfied, that customer is likely to share your product—through recommendations or even social posts—creating a chain effect and increasing Social Commerce’s effectiveness for your business.

Does this indicate a trend for the coming years?

The answer is simple: yes.

With technology advancing and an increasingly diverse mobile app market, almost everything we do today can be done on a smartphone. It’s practical, fast, and takes less effort from users. 

Because of that convenience, it’s easy to understand why big companies invest every day in new apps and technologies that can keep audiences engaged inside their ecosystems.

If we think technology has reached a point where it can no longer evolve, we will almost certainly be proven wrong in the near future. A relevant example is that, just 10 years ago, it wasn’t possible to order food through apps like iFood and Rappi—or hail an Uber—services that are now part of everyday life.

When Silicon Valley giants such as Facebook invest in new technologies, they tend to signal trends for smaller companies in the same space. That increases competition and drives technological evolution that ultimately benefits users.

Social Commerce is no different. Even though it already existed in other forms, Facebook Marketplace and Instagram’s Shopping tab helped disseminate and popularize selling through apps.

This important step by the company is also based on data about how users behave on the platform.

According to Facebook itself and HubSpot, around 70% of consumers look for products on Instagram, and 71% of customers are more likely to buy a product if it is recommended to them by someone on social media—data that helps justify large investments in the segment.

The feature works as a product aggregator, allowing users to browse a broad catalog based on the content they are interested in and the accounts they follow.

That brings us to another important topic:

What can you do to get the most out of Social Commerce?

Using social networks to increase brand visibility is not just about posting products. Apps and platforms offer a set of tools and data that help you understand whether your actions are on the right path.

Always check whether your sales are growing after adopting social channels, and make a detailed analysis of metrics such as likes, shares, comments, and the number of interactions with users.

That way, you’ll have a clearer sense of what works—or doesn’t—for you on each platform.

Another key point (even if it sounds obvious) is to verify whether customers are satisfied with how you sell and with your products. Apps like Instagram and WhatsApp offer features that enable more natural interaction with customers, such as polls, comment boxes, and more.

In addition, marketplaces usually allow customers to rate service quality with scores from 1 to 5, which is another valuable signal.

Technologies designed to boost Social Commerce are powerful tools to help a brand grow—but good results do not come on their own.

Engagement with your audience and consistent use of social channels are fundamental to building authority.

Even though it is a long-term process, it is important to combine the best of both worlds: offer attractive products at market-appropriate prices, and use technology and apps as a growth enabler for your business.

With daily app usage already consolidated in our lives and likely to grow in the coming years, you can’t miss the timing. Have you imagined what it would be like to have your own app?

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