Social Ecommerce – What’s it all about?

Indeed what is social e-commerce and how is it in any way significant to web marketing? Well as the name may already imply, social e-commerce is all about the effective use of social media networks like Facebook and Twitter in the sale of products or services online. Let’s face it – social media is here to stay and its not going anywhere.

People in the web and social marketing scene need to come up with innovative and effective means to leverage the online marketing potential and advantages of social media.

A better look at social e-commerce

Now it’s hardly a coincidence that people in the retail business were among the first to make good use of social media in reaching their internet marketing goals and for good reason. For one thing, it’s a lot more effective at drawing in prospects online not to mention the fact that it’s also generally a lot less expensive compared to most other marketing solutions.

By integrating social media with e-commerce websites, businesses can leverage their business in a way that no one would have thought possible decades ago. People are often more likely to be persuaded to purchase or invest in products and services referred or recommended by family or peers compared to any marketing messages and social e-commerce enables businesses to benefit from such a fact.

Now you can probably attest to all these yourself – check out reviews, recommendations and ratings about a certain product or service shared by friends or contacts on their preferred social media networks. It’s the web marketing equivalent of what we call “advertising through word-of-mouth”. Its significance in today’s online marketing scene simply can’t be denied as prospects are generally more open to the opinions of the family and friends. Overlook social e-commerce and you can bet that you are leaving a lot of money on the table!