Promote Your Shopify Store on Social Media

 Ask any digital marketing professional about the best way to promote an online store, and the answer will invariably be social media. 

And, we agree with that. 

However…

Social media marketing is a broad field, and just about everyone is already using it. That means you’ll need a structured approach and consistency to see results. 

Below, you’ll find a basic primer on ways to promote your store organically on the most relevant social platforms.

Facebook and Instagram Content

You should have a Facebook and Instagram account set up for your store before you’re even done creating it. 

Facebook’s reach extends into just about every niche, and you’ll find an audience for most products. 

Plus, with new social commerce options, you can allow people to shop directly through Facebook. 

READ MORE>> Learn how to set up a Facebook shop to sell products from your ecommerce website.

Next, you’ll want to get acquainted with Facebook Business Manager. It’s the primary tool you’ll use to organize your site’s promotional campaigns.

As soon as you’re able, start putting content up on Facebook and Instagram and direct the social buttons on your site to your Facebook properties. 

Content should include:

• Pictures and videos that tell your story. Your social media accounts should be a resource where people can quickly learn who you are and what your store is about.
  
  
• Discounts and special promotions. The best way to keep people engaged with your social accounts is to provide value, and you can do that with seasonal and time-sensitive offers.
  
  
• Product reveals and announcements. If you’re launching a new product line or bundle, always use your social accounts to build anticipation with your target audience.
  
  

Happy Wax uses Facebook to announce limited-edition products.

• Contests and giveaways. They’re the most effective ways to reach new followers and engage existing ones. You’ll find more information about executing giveaways and contests further down.
  

Depending on your potential customers, content such as live streams and memes may also be appropriate. 

That’s what you should post. 

The other side of the Facebook content marketing coin is consistency. Get used to posting on a schedule and stick to it. 

Map Your Shopify Store Onto a YouTube Channel

YouTube is next on the list of the most impactful social platforms to promote your online store. And, it’s still relatively underrated in ecommerce, making it a spectacular differentiation tactic.

As soon as you can, start mapping your store onto a YouTube channel. 

You can start with an introductory video. It will be the first marketing touchpoint you have with some people—so, it should be short, direct, and include:

• A brief introduction to your store and goals. 
  
  
• What viewers can expect from your YouTube channel. 
  
  
• A call to action to like and/or subscribe to the channel. 

But, remember that…

YouTube isn’t a sales platform. Instead, people mostly use YouTube to learn about the products they might consider purchasing.

Think of YouTube as a tool to educate your target customers on what they need to know to make good buying decisions. 

The type of content you should consider creating includes:

• Product reviews. Create honest reviews about the products you sell. Point out their strengths, weaknesses, and problems the products can solve.
  
  
• FAQ videos. A quick video with five to ten frequently asked questions is often worth its weight in marketing gold for mid- to bottom-of-the-funnel decision making.
  
  
• Unboxing videos. Use a video to show exactly what your customers will receive when they purchase your product.
  

Also, make your channel stand out with YouTube’s customization tools. Finally, keep the design elements similar to your online store theme and maintain consistency. 

Turtle Beach maintains a visual theme throughout its setup video series.

And, as with any other organic strategy, consistency is key. 

Focus on creating short, relevant, and digestible videos regularly, and it will pay off. 

READ MORE >> Optimize your YouTube videos with keywords to go the extra mile. 

TikTok Advertising and Organic Content

TikTok is one of the most significant untapped resources in marketing right now. 

And Shopify is the first ecommerce platform to integrate shopping experiences on TikTok. You can set up the TikTok app natively on Shopify and use it to track conversions and marketing campaigns.

And, used correctly, it could lead to massive viral growth for your online store. 

For starters, create a TikTok business account. Then, use TikTok’s customization tools to match your account name and bio to your overall brand theme. 

Don’t feel pressured to post content right out of the gates. Instead, take some time to look around and see what competing stores are doing. 

The #ForYou and Discovery tab are a great way to get a feel for the platform.

Pretty soon, you’ll start getting a sense of what it takes to connect with your customers. 

🔎 Tip: TikTok is meant to be a raw and playful video sharing platform, so it’s not a good fit for matter-of-fact, weighty content.

Content on TikTok shouldn’t be too structured. Simply look at what’s trending with your target audience and try to follow suit. 

One of the easiest ways to see hockey-stick growth is by participating in hashtag challenges. Or, create your own hashtag challenge that goes viral. 

For example, Bose’s #CancelTheNoise hashtag challenge resulted in over 13 billion TikTok views for the brand.

Promote Your Shopify Store With User-Generated Content

User-generated content (UGC) is anything created by people who interact with your online store.

And, it’s a resource you can use to convince other people your brand is worth engaging with. Anything posted on your social media channels, your store page, or any other outlet falls under this category. 

User-generated content exerts social influence on people who interact with it to take your brand more seriously. 

First, you need to get some user-generated content. Some ways to do that include:

• Asking for it. You can simply ask for reviews or feedback in your post-purchase communications. If your customers are happy with their purchase, they’re likely to oblige.
   
• Create a branded hashtag. By encouraging customers to use your brand’s hashtag, you’re expanding your reach and it gives you a tool to audit fan accounts for usable UGC. It’s a double whammy!
  
  
• Insert actions into contests. If you choose to run contests online, include steps that allow participants to earn bonuses. Actions to earn bonuses can involve writing a review for a purchased product, using your hashtag, or other resources you can repurpose for UGC. 

Those are some ways to get UGC. 

But, what do you do with it once you have it?

Well, the simple answer is to share it! And here are a few concrete ways to do that:

• Add reviews to your online store. This is something you should be doing from day zero on your online store. You can use Shopify’s own review app to do so, or any of the hundreds of third-party Shopify apps purpose-built for UGC sharing.
  
  Yotpo and Okendo are two of our favorites.
  
  
• Showcase your customers’ social posts. Your customers are a gold mine of content that you can showcase on your accounts. As a result, you spend less time creating content and promote social validation!
  
  
• Put a social media wall on your store page. Social media walls are tried and true ways to promote a sense of community around any event or brand. Twitter is an especially good source of easily digestible social wall content, if your fans are active there.
  
  Shopify apps such as Elfsight Social Feed make it simple to curate and display UGC this way. 

Source: Elfsight

Need help setting up targeted advertising campaigns on social media? LET'S CHAT

🔎 Tip: It’s OK to curate your UGC and remove spam content. But don’t be too eager when sorting out the negative remarks. Responding to complaints is a sign of an active and responsible brand.