[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"BlogPosting","name":"What is social commerce? Everything you need to know","headline":"What is social commerce? Everything you need to know","dateModified":"2021-04-12T16:52:00Z","datePublished":"2021-01-12T17:19:00Z","description":"Social commerce is the use of a social platform for e-commerce sales, and it's huge: By 2027, it's projected to drive $604 billion in sales.","about":[{"@type":"Thing","name":"e-commerce","@id":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q484847"},{"@type":"Thing","name":"social media","@id":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q202833"}],"author":{"@type":"Person","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/joanne-laing\/","name":"Joanne Laing","description":"Joanne Laing is a Senior Product Owner, for SAP Upscale Commerce.  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Everything you need to know","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/"},"datePublished":"2021-01-12","about":["http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q202833",{"@type":"Thing","name":"E-commerce","@id":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/E-commerce"}],"mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is social commerce?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"<p>Social commerce is the use of a social network community to drive e-commerce sales, and it's a massive market: By 2027, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prnewswire.com\/news-releases\/assessment-of-the-social-commerce-industry-2020-2027-and-impact-of-covid-19---mobiles-segment-readjusted-to-a-revised-39-2-cagr-for-the-next-7-year-period-301125465.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">it's projected<\/a> that social commerce will drive $604 billion in sales.<\/p> <p>Apps like Facebook,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2016\/09\/12\/how-to-use-instagram-stories\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a>, and Pinterest have both dedicated \"buy now\" indicators on ads, as well as live streams run by influencers that are resulting in e-commerce goods being sold out on the regular.<\/p>","name":"What is social commerce? Answer","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/01\/12\/what-is-social-commerce\/#Answer"},"@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/01\/12\/what-is-social-commerce\/#Question"},{"@type":"Question","name":"So, what\u2019s the difference between social media marketing and social commerce?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"<p>At a high-level, here's the difference between social media marketing and social commerce:<\/p> <ul> <li><strong>Social media marketing<\/strong> is used by brands to drive traffic to their websites. Brands will post ads showcasing their products and\/or services, and include a CTA (call to action), for consumers to click-through to the website.<\/li> <li><strong>Social commerce<\/strong> allows consumers to purchase products and services from a brand directly, from within the social commerce platform. This could be via either clicking on a paid ad (like the above), or by clicking on the \"View Shop\" CTA on the brand's social media profile (page).<\/li> <\/ul>","name":"So, what\u2019s the difference between social media marketing and social commerce? Answer","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/01\/12\/what-is-social-commerce\/#Answer1"},"@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2021\/01\/12\/what-is-social-commerce\/#Question1"},{"@type":"Question","name":"So, what comes next in social commerce?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"<p>It goes without saying, that as consumer behaviors surrounding e-commerce and social commerce rapidly evolve, so will a new wealth of data and opportunity, allowing brands to understand even more about their existing and potential audiences.<\/p><p><strong>Here are several items about social commerce to watch and understand:<\/strong><\/p><ol> <li>Brands will need to embrace an end-to-end commerce strategy, supporting consumers in the buying lifecycle, and bringing relevancy from browsing to post-sales support.<\/li> <li>Using brand data across all digital touch points allows for better interactions with consumers.<\/li> <li>Personalization allows brands to present products and services that are of greatest interest to consumers specifically, at the right time and place, without causing annoyance or disruption to their social or onsite experience.<\/li> <li>Providing consumers with even more relevant experiences can help better optimize marketing spend, with clear and measurable strategies to utilize both paid and organic activity, further supporting brands to prioritize cash preservation and overhead costs.<\/li> <\/ol>","name":"So, what comes next in social commerce? 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