Social climbing – growing your brand in the moment through social eCommerce

This post is sponsored by Kantar Singapore.

We love social media in Southeast Asia. And when we shop, it’s our main channel for new product discovery, brand consideration, and product research – even more so in our post-pandemic world.

So, if your brand wants to capitalise on part of APAC’s online retail market, which is projected to be worth $2.8 trillion by 2025, then a social eCommerce strategy is integral to your media and brand building plans.

Using the right strategy and tactics will give your brand more visibility in the short term, and build its equity in the long term. So how do you crack the social set to convert browsers into shoppers?

Well, the great news is that advertising on social commerce sites is very well-received. Kantar’s Media Trends and Predictions 2022 reveals that 61% of online shoppers globally say they are likely to buy from social sites.

Their engaged mindset brings enormous potential for generating brand awareness across different campaigns that you employ. But ensure credibility (that is, original product or matching the description) as it is a key driver of a shopper choosing a social channel for purchase, and assurance on faster response customer service, timely and guaranteed delivery, and trust.

But social media can also have a negative impact on your brand if done badly with less control over how your products are shown, priced and compared.

Do you know the true influence of those celebrities and ambassadors spruiking your brand?

Celebrities and influencers form a key part of the advertising culture. In fact, influencer content boasted a six-point jump in ad equity to lead online channel content in Kantar’s Media Reactions 2022 – it is seen as more trustworthy, fun and entertaining, and more relevant and useful than last year. But are they having the right influence on your brand?

While influencers can definitely pay off, consumers are more inclined to listen to the personal messaging of people they trust – and 54% of people across the globe do not trust influencers according to the Media Reactions study.

It’s vital to identify the right influencers who will enhance your brand’s credibility. A mention from a respected influencer can make people trust your brand more, and you can tap into their loyal audience, potentially driving more conversions and higher sales in the short term. But the wrong choices can be detrimental to your long-term brand building.

Influencer success is heavily reliant on them delivering the brand message genuinely and authentically, so:

• Be discerning with who and where you allow your influencers to be placed.
• Be clear on your brand positioning and ensure their channels align to your values and positioning and can enhance your brand equity.
• Remember that more is not necessarily better.

Give shoppers what they want by transforming their social experience into omni-channel

Social eCommerce touch-points are more integrated into omni-channel than ever before with sophisticated targeting capabilities.

Kantar’s CrossMedia database shows that a well-integrated campaign generates more than 1.5 times the contribution to impact compared to a non-integrated one. Couple this with the fact that making a social media purchase fuses the shopping experience missed in the online store environment, then you’re onto something special.

Discussions, direct messaging and video-sharing features and other social chatter is a fast active driver of brand choice underpinning the influence of advertising.

Stepping ahead of dynamic customer engagement, social eCommerce is also a proven cost-effective alternative if you’re reeling under the pressure of mounting customer acquisition costs and struggling to protect them from competitors wooing them endlessly with deep discounts.

But you have to make it seamless. Cutting the number of steps that customers have to take to make a purchase on your social platform will help boost sales. Offer a hassle-free checkout process, and an undeniably great customer service experience, to create more loyal followers and attract new customers.

Capitalise on your brand’s social eCommerce triple threat, especially during inflationary times

If your brand is meaningful with deep connections that give shoppers confidence that you’ll meet their expectations and they’ll like what you do, you will sustain your demand power. If your brand is different with qualities that mean shoppers won’t want to swap it for something else, it’s a key driver of your pricing power. And if it is salient with the ability to access shopper mental connections with its benefits and purpose quickly and easily, then it will be top-of-mind when they’re faced with a choice.

Augment your social eCommerce triple threat with opportunities to strengthen brand equity. How? Cost-effective insights using Brand Equity Evaluation on Kantar’s Marketplace platform. This allows you to see if your brand is connected to the things that people value fast. In these turbulent economic times, this is an essential heads-up on your brand’s health, equity drivers, and category factors influencing short and long-term sales.   

Social media is a powerful place to extend your brand reach and connect with your audience. Make it an integrated, but valuable addition to your overall marketing strategy by:

• Tailoring social content to its environment for campaign success – ascertain which social media channels will mesh with your products and services – and your audience. Successful social eCommerce ads optimise content based on how, when and where people are accessing the platform. And telling a coherent story across your brand website, marketplaces, and other digital touch-points will increase online channel synergies.
• Being discerning in who and where you allow your influencers to be placed – they can impact your brand affinity and enhance your brand equity.
• Aligning your media and advertising strategies – this will maximise brand building and improve marketing ROI. Kantar’s Context Lab e-commerce data reveals content is seven times more impactful among more receptive audiences, and brand building through the platform can have a strong impact on your KPIs through social media content.

Remember, content and context are the social queens, but those that will take the reign for the long-haul integrate all these rules as part of a truly integrated media strategy. They always take the time to understand their competitive context and measure success.

But don’t forget that your owned assets allow you to control the right narrative that your brand needs for consumer communication, and serve as the source of truth for the proposition – invaluable in converting social shopping to powerful purchasing.

The writer is Pablo Gomez – head of media, Kantar Singapore.