Here in 2016, we’ve finally reached a time when the “what if” of social media platforms have seemingly dissipated. No one’s wondering whether Facebook will become the new Myspace or if Google+ will catch on, and more importantly, we finally understand how we can use the established tools in front of us.

While most businesses have figured out how to use different social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, many don’t know that these sites are constantly rolling out new ways to use these platforms as promotional tools. Here are some growing social commerce features you can use to promote your brand.

-Social media ads. With all the advancements in social media, this serves as a good way to find and engage potential customers. However, you can’t step into this tactic with the expectation of increased sales. This tactic is best used to increase brand presence and awareness. Look at high engagement from customers as a big win in this space, if they are engaging with you they are interested, next step is a sale. 

–Boost Posts. Facebook has this magnificent feature where you can pay to push posts into targeted viewers’ news feeds. When you use this tool, your post will show up show up as a “promoted” post in viewers feeds. This way Facebook appears to be backing you and adds to your brand credibility. In addition to the credibility of boost posts, the way they fall inline with other items on viewers news feed is more organic and appealing to viewers. Bonus: You can set your own budget, so this can be a very inexpensive form of advertising.

–Mobile sites/apps. In a 2014 study, 87% of millennials said that they almost always have their smartphones with them. If your business doesn’t have an app, you should at least have a functioning mobile website. This tool from Google will help you determine how well your site works on a mobile platform.

 

Resources: Sprout Social, Ecommerce Platforms