The field of social commerce is one of the fastest-growing subsets of ecommerce, and most social platforms are constantly releasing new in-app tools to aid the advertising efforts of online merchants. The expansion of social commerce not only benefits the platforms themselves by generating more advertising revenue, but it also helps startups and growing retailers expand their customer bases.
Online Social Shopping’s Convenience
The demand for shoppable content is rising as consumers place higher expectations on their favourite brands to meet their increasingly busy lifestyles. Nine out of ten consumers are more likely to shop at a store if doing so would save them time and effort. For this reason, many companies are integrating social commerce into their preexisting ecommerce platforms by showcasing user-generated content (UGC) from actual customers. With Pixlee, you can gather user-generated content, publish it on your site, and tag it so that it can be shopped like any other product.
In other words, what exactly is shoppable content?
Shoppable content refers to posts on social media platforms like Instagram that include direct links to products. Suppose you’re interested in purchasing one of the items depicted there. When you click the link in the post, you’ll be taken to the app’s product page where you can buy the item shown. Instagram and similar apps have made it possible for consumers to shop without ever leaving the app.
The Real Value of Shoppable Video Goes Beyond Social Media
A shoppable video is a valuable piece of content because it allows viewers to see a product in action before they buy it, which greatly improves the customer experience. There is more to shoppable video content than just its popularity on social media, where it is primarily used as a marketing tool by brands. Creative companies integrate shoppable videos across all of their marketing channels, not just on product pages and galleries.
Puma collaborated with a number of influential influencers for the first-ever TikTok Fashion Show, issuing a challenge to use specific Puma graphics in their own original creations. Following this, Puma utilised Pixlee to compile a collection of its TikTok videos featuring branded content and influencers. This is a fantastic application of social shoppable videos beyond the social media platform.
TikTok Storefront on Shopify
Through user-generated content (UGC) and an algorithm that facilitates content sharing among users with varying numbers of followers, TikTok has quickly become one of the most popular social media platforms for marketing. For e-commerce businesses eager to enter the social media sphere, it is the platform of choice, having seen over 2.6 billion downloads and 1 billion active users. Hashtag Challenge Plus is TikTok’s first foray into shoppable features, and it was designed with e-commerce companies in mind. Customers who tap the ad will be taken to a landing page tailored to the brand, where they can choose between two tabs: one for videos (content) and the other for discovery (for in-app shopping).
Exactly how do I link my Shopify and TikTok accounts?
This new Shopify feature is currently available for free testing by users in the US and UK. How? Read on!
- Create a business profile on the video sharing platform TikTok.
- Linking your Shopify and TikTok accounts is a breeze.
- Insert all applicable hashtags here.
- You can then tag your products in these videos, as well as approve or reject video content and products, as well as decide whether or not they should appear on your store, by using the hashtags. You can tag as many products as you like and sync as many videos as you like.
- When you tag something on TikTok, it will appear on a new page just for you. These videos can be played directly from your website, as well.
Instagram Videos You Can Buy
When it comes to shoppable social media features, Instagram has been at the forefront. Instagram is the fourth most popular social media platform, with over 1.3 billion monthly active users, behind only Facebook, YouTube, and Whatsapp. As an added bonus, Statista estimates that Instagram made close to $10 billion in advertising revenue in the United States in 2019. Instagram, with all of its built-in tools for social selling, is another excellent choice for your shoppable video strategy.
Instagram launched its Shops feature in 2020, giving businesses a place to showcase their wares and connecting users directly to product pages and in-app purchases.
Installing Instagram Shoppable Videos
Instagram has compiled a helpful seven-step guide for tagging products. It’s important to note that this functionality may not be available in your area. Instagram recommends the following procedures for preparing shoppable video content:
- The availability of shoppable video may vary by country.
- Prepare an Instagram account for your company.
- Join Facebook as your company.
- Send over your online store’s product catalogue.
- Please send in your catalogue and financial records for evaluation.
- You can enable purchasing options for your business account.
- Tag goods in paid video advertisements, such as Reels and Stories.
Create shoppable social videos to boost sales and brand awareness
Check out some of our resources on social commerce if you’re still unsure how to promote your online store, and whether shoppable content will do the job.
Increased brand awareness and sales can be achieved through more efficient and streamlined customer journeys made possible by shoppable video content. Businesses, especially those operating online, will need to find new ways to connect with customers as ease of use becomes increasingly important and as competition increases. You can get started quickly and easily with shoppable video content.