Businesses overlooking social commerce could be missing out on big revenue.
People are spending more time on apps such as TikTok and Instagram, with the former surpassing 1 billion monthly active users in 2021 and accomplishing the feat faster than any other name in the 1 billion club.
No longer solely content-sharing platforms, these apps provide a way for brands to reach consumers in an organic way, and shoppable links are making the path between business and consumer even simpler. With shoppable content, brands can tag products in posts or stories, removing unnecessary steps from the transaction process. This makes it easier for consumers to find what they’re looking for and purchase it directly from the business website. It also allows brands to market, sell products and communicate with an audience without leaving the app.
TYPES OF SHOPPABLE CONTENT
There are five main types of shoppable content: shoppable posts, shoppable video, shoppable stories, user-generated content and shoppable ads.
Shoppable social posts
This is the most common type of shoppable content, where a brand tags one or more products in an organic social post. The product can be tagged in the photo itself or in the caption. When a consumer clicks on the tag, they’re taken to a page with details about the product, such as price and availability. According to a report from Spiralytics, Instagram shoppable posts can increase page traffic by 1,416%.
Shoppable video
In shoppable video, the product is featured in the video itself and can be tagged just like shoppable social posts. Shoppable video accounts for about a third of shoppable content views and conversions. A recent report indicates 88% of people say they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video.
Live shoppable content
This type of shoppable content is featured in live social posts, where consumers can purchase products in real-time during the stream. Brands like Sephora have used this method successfully. The makeup retailer partnered with Facebook last year for live shopping events, during which customers could interact with brand ambassadors and buy products during live videos.
Shoppable stories
In shoppable stories, consumers can tap on a tagged product in the image or swipe up to go directly to the product page and purchase it.
Shoppable user-generated content
In shoppable user-generated content, brands allow consumers to tag products in photos and videos they’ve created themselves. This type of shoppable content has increased in popularity in recent years as it allows consumers to share their favorite products in a natural way, in turn, creating trust between brands and prospective customers who encounter UGC. Some platforms, like Instagram, even have built-in shopping features that make shoppable UGC easy.
TIKTOK AND SHOPIFY
Since TikTok’s creation in 2016, the video-sharing social network has exploded in popularity worldwide. E-commerce platform Shopify recently partnered with TikTok to bring product links to Shopify merchants. As its number of active monthly users skyrockets, TikTok should already be on every marketer’s watchlist.
With TikTok Shopping, Shopify merchants with a TikTok for Business account are able to add a shopping tab to their profiles and sync product catalogs that link directly to their online store. Merchants can tag products in organic TikTok posts and stories, which will then appear as shoppable links in the app. It’s the first partnership of its kind for the social network.
The folly of business ignoring TikTok users means neglecting a key demographic — the app lives on millions of Gen Z and millennial devices. A December 2021 Forbes article projects TikTok to reach 1.5 billion monthly active users in 2022, which would place it behind only Facebook and WhatsApp.