Social Commerce Strategies to Boost Sales

Social media is no longer just a platform for engagement—it has transformed into a vital sales channel for ecommerce brands. In 2023, social commerce accounted for 18.5% of U.S. online sales, with platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest playing a central role in influencing consumer buying decisions.

This trend reflects a larger shift in how consumers discover, research, and purchase products. Social commerce enables brands to turn social media engagement directly into sales, offering an integrated experience that combines discovery, purchase, and post-purchase sharing, all within a single platform.

This article outlines actionable tactics that brands can implement across different social platforms to capitalize on this surge in social shopping. From creating shoppable content to collaborating with influencers, the right strategy can help brands increase sales and build stronger customer relationships.

Core Strategies Tactics for Social Commerce Success

Regardless of the platform, several core strategies are consistently driving engagement and conversions in social commerce in 2024

• Shoppable Content: Simplify the buying process by integrating product tags into posts, stories, and videos. This makes purchasing seamless, with platforms like Instagram and Pinterest allowing in-app transactions.
• User-Generated Content (UGC): Build trust with authentic content from real customers. Showcase UGC on your channels to connect with potential buyers more personally.
• Influencer Collaborations: Partner with influencers who resonate with your audience. Their authentic product endorsements help build trust and drive conversions across platforms like TikTok and YouTube.
• Live Shopping Events: Engage audiences in real-time on platforms like TikTok or Instagram. These interactive sessions can spark excitement and drive impulse buys with limited-time offers or discounts.
• Dynamic Ads & Retargeting: Use user behavior data to retarget past visitors and show them personalized product ads, ensuring higher conversion rates.

These versatile tactics can be tailored to specific platforms but are universally effective for boosting social commerce success.

Platform-Specific Social Commerce Tactics

Meta Platforms: Leveraging Facebook and Instagram for Social Commerce Success

Facebook and Instagram, both part of the Meta ecosystem, offer unique yet overlapping features for social commerce. 

With 20.6% of U.S. shoppers using Facebook and 11.8% using Instagram for purchases in 2023, these platforms are vital to any social commerce strategy. While they share tools like dynamic ads and live shopping, each platform caters to different audiences and offers distinct opportunities to engage them.

Facebook Shops: A Unified Storefront Across Both Platforms

One of the biggest advantages of Meta is Facebook Shops, which integrates storefronts across both Facebook and Instagram, providing a seamless, unified shopping experience. Businesses can:

• Optimize product catalogs with high-quality images and clear descriptions to appeal across both platforms.
• Leverage dynamic collections that are platform-specific, like “Limited-Time Deals” on Facebook and “Exclusive Drops” on Instagram Stories, creating tailored shopping experiences for different user behaviors.
• Offer cross-platform promotions to encourage engagement on both apps. For example, feature flash sales on Instagram Stories while running exclusive discounts for Facebook followers through dynamic ads.

Dynamic Ads: Cross-Platform Retargeting

Dynamic ads on Meta help brands retarget users across both platforms based on their behavior, such as viewed or abandoned cart products.

• By using personalized retargeting messages, brands can offer tailored promotions or discounts to entice users back to complete their purchases.
• Test ad formats, such as carousel ads and short-form videos, to see which performs better for different audiences. Carousel ads are particularly effective when showcasing multiple products or features.

Live Shopping: Engaging Audiences in Real Time

Both platforms offer live shopping, allowing brands to engage audiences in real-time:

• On Facebook, brands can host longer, more detailed product demos for its older, more traditional demographic.
• On Instagram, shorter, spontaneous events with influencers resonate well with younger audiences. Collaborate with influencers for interactive Q&A sessions, offering exclusive discounts during the live stream to drive engagement and conversions.

Instagram Checkout: Frictionless Purchases

Instagram’s in-app checkout feature streamlines the purchase process, ideal for impulse buying.

• Optimize your catalog for Instagram Checkout by ensuring all product posts and stories feature shoppable tags. Seasonal tags like “Holiday Specials” or “New Arrivals” create urgency and encourage purchases.
• Combine shoppable Stories with limited-time offers to increase conversions, allowing users to “swipe up” and buy directly without leaving the app.

TikTok: Driving Social Commerce with Entertaining, Short-Form Content

TikTok has quickly emerged as a social commerce powerhouse, with 11% of U.S. households making purchases through TikTok Shop. The platform’s short-form, trend-driven content is uniquely suited for engaging users in entertaining and interactive ways while driving sales. 

Brands that succeed on TikTok understand the platform’s shoppertainment model, which blends entertainment with ecommerce. By creating engaging and creative video content, brands can connect with TikTok’s user base, driving engagement and conversion.

Best Practices for TikTok Shop and Shopping Ads

To maximize TikTok’s potential for social commerce, brands need to prioritize native content that fits seamlessly into users’ For You Pages (FYP). Here’s how to do it:

• Create TikTok-Specific Content: Ads should feel like organic content. Short, engaging videos that use trending sounds, filters, and challenges will increase viewership. The key is to avoid overtly “selling” and instead, entertain first, sell second. Brands like Fenty Beauty have excelled in creating videos that look like natural content rather than traditional ads.
• Utilize Shopping Ads: TikTok’s Shopping Ads allow brands to target users as they scroll through their personalized FYP. These ads should leverage TikTok’s personalized algorithm by featuring highly relevant products based on the user’s behavior, helping to convert impulse shoppers. Think of these ads as a direct extension of users’ browsing habits, creating a frictionless path from discovery to purchase.
• Branded Hashtag Challenges: Branded challenges are one of TikTok’s standout features for driving user-generated content (UGC) and boosting brand visibility. Take inspiration from campaigns like Gymshark’s #Gymshark66, where users shared fitness content for a chance to be featured, creating widespread engagement and community-driven content. To make these challenges successful:
  • Encourage user participation by offering incentives like giveaways or features on your official page.
  • Integrate product placement within the challenge so that user-generated videos naturally showcase your brand’s products.

Live Shopping Events: Combining Entertainment and Sales

TikTok Live Shopping Events blend real-time engagement with ecommerce, allowing brands to showcase products and interact with customers instantly. Success hinges on authenticity, entertainment, and a sense of urgency.

• Influencer Partnerships: Collaborate with influencers who can authentically present your products. Their trust with the audience helps drive more conversions.
• Exclusive, Time-Limited Offers: Use event-only discounts or deals for the first 100 viewers to create urgency and prompt immediate purchases.
• Interactive Features: Boost engagement with polls, quizzes, and Q&As, which not only entertain viewers but also provide real-time feedback to address any purchase hesitations.

YouTube: Driving Engagement and Sales through Video Commerce

10.7% of U.S. shoppers made purchases on YouTube in 2023, which makes it ideal for brands looking to leverage video content to drive conversions. The platform offers numerous opportunities to integrate social commerce seamlessly into content, helping to guide users from discovery to purchase without leaving the video.

YouTube Shopping Ads

YouTube Shopping Ads allow brands to place clickable product listings alongside or within relevant video content. This is particularly effective for videos such as unboxings, product reviews, or tutorials, where the product is the focal point.

• Align Ads with Relevant Content: Collaborate with content creators who resonate with your target audience. For example, a fitness brand can run Shopping Ads on health or workout-related channels, targeting users already interested in wellness products. By strategically placing ads in front of the right audience, you’re more likely to capture engaged viewers.
• Maximize Retargeting Potential: Use YouTube’s powerful targeting tools to ensure that Shopping Ads appear in front of users who have shown interest in similar products, thereby increasing your chances of conversion.

Product Pins in Videos

Product Pins offer brands the opportunity to embed shoppable links directly within video content, allowing users to buy items without leaving the video. This strategy is particularly effective in tutorial-based videos, where viewers are already engaged with a product’s functionality and may be more inclined to make an immediate purchase.

Given the rise of short-form video content, brands can increase their visibility and tap into impulse buys by embedding product pins within YouTube Shorts. 

This format appeals to YouTube’s younger audience and increases engagement through shareable, snackable content.

Influencer Marketing & Shoppable Galleries

Partnering with influencers who have established trust with their audience is one of the most effective ways to drive conversions on YouTube. For example, a beauty brand can collaborate with an influencer to create a shoppable gallery in the video description, linking multiple related products. 

YouTube’s From YouTube to You initiative highlights how influencers can drive social commerce by curating personalized product recommendations or exclusive deals in their videos. Brands can capitalize on these influencer-driven opportunities by offering tailored promotions through shoppable galleries and live-stream shopping events.

Pinterest: Converting Visual Inspiration into Seamless Shopping

With a shocking 15.3% of Gen Z identifying Pinterest as their preferred platform for shopping and discovery, Pinterest is a hub for visually-driven, high-intent consumers. Particularly popular in niche markets like fashion, home decor, and wellness, the platform excels at turning inspiration into action. 

Its focus on visual content makes it an ideal platform for brands seeking to engage users who are primed to move from browsing to buying.

Pinterest Buyable Pins

Buyable Pins simplify the shopping process, allowing users to purchase products directly from within the app, making it a frictionless experience. To optimize Buyable Pins:

• Use high-quality images and clear, concise product descriptions to grab attention.
• Create seasonal collections or themed groupings like “Holiday Picks” or “Summer Essentials” to attract shoppers interested in timely or trendy items.

One key to success is integrating contextual visuals that show products in real-life scenarios. 

For example, rather than just showcasing a chair, display it within a stylish living room setting, highlighting its appeal in a functional, attractive environment. This approach taps into the aspirational nature of Pinterest users, who are often looking for inspiration and ideas on how to improve their spaces or personal styles.

Visual Appeal and Engagement

Pinterest is highly visual, so creativity and quality are crucial. Go beyond static product images by incorporating video pins and Idea Pins, which combine images, videos, and text. These formats offer interactive engagement and are particularly effective for tutorials, DIY projects, or educational content.

To engage users further:

• Incorporate quizzes or polls that guide users to personalized product recommendations. For example, a beauty brand could use a quiz like “What’s Your Skin Type?” followed by tailored skincare solutions, all of which can be purchased within the platform.
• Use video pins to demonstrate how products work in real life, from beauty tutorials to home decor hacks. This multi-step interaction keeps users engaged longer, increasing the likelihood of conversion.

Pinterest Shopping Ads

Pinterest Shopping Ads allow brands to target high-intent users who are actively searching for inspiration. Syncing your product catalog with Pinterest enables dynamic retargeting, ensuring that users who have previously viewed or engaged with your products see relevant ads that keep your offerings top of mind.

For example:

• A home decor brand could use Pinterest’s keyword targeting to reach users searching for terms like “boho bedroom ideas” or “minimalist living room,” ensuring their ads appear in front of the right audience at the right time.
• Leverage Pinterest Trends to align your ads with trending topics, such as “sustainable fashion.” This strategy ensures that your product offerings resonate with current consumer interests, particularly for eco-conscious shoppers.

Social Commerce: The Future of Shopping is Now

The future of social commerce is not just about adopting tactics for today’s platforms—it’s about recognizing the rapid growth of social commerce as a whole. 

The integration of shopping experiences into social platforms will only deepen, and staying on top of these trends is critical for maintaining competitiveness.

As social media increasingly becomes a primary channel for purchasing, now is the time to refine and implement these strategies, and those who do will be ready for the next wave of social shopping innovation.

About the Author: As the Director, Marketing at adQuadrant, Nick Grant leverages more than 20 years of experience working across a variety of tech verticals. Nick grew up in California and earned his BS in Business with a concentration in Entrepreneurship. After college, he relocated to Seattle to pursue his passion for startups, where he worked at various dot-coms before co-founding a successful visual strategy agency in 2010. Now back in California, Nick spends his time hiking around San Luis Obispo County with his wife and son, honing his talent as a concert photographer, and perfecting his handstand skills.