Choosing the best Shopify social media platforms for your business shouldn’t be so hard. But with all the conflicting advice out there, it can actually be pretty daunting.
Let’s put on the brakes, block out the noise, and focus in on the top 5 Shopify social media platforms specifically for e-commerce businesses like yours.
In this ultimate guide, we’ll highlight the top strengths and unique features of each platform, so you can decide which ones fit your needs. From there, we’ll cover everything you need to get started on a systematized Shopify social media plan. All in one big, tasty scoop. 😉
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Before we get into the details of how to get your Shopify store in all the right social media hotspots, let’s jump straight into the best channels. Here are the top Shopify social media platforms to help skyrocket your e-commerce brand’s growth.
Instagram is a highly shoppable visual platform perfect for product-based businesses, with established influencer marketing features that make high ROI collaborations possible. It’s also one of the most flexible platforms in terms of available content formats, plus you can source user-generated content (UGC) and even repurpose content within the platform to save precious time creating new marketing assets.
With Instagram, you can:
🔥 Instagram‘s hot take:
“People have always come to Instagram to shop and discover new products. [With that in mind,] [w]e built a world of Shopping features that tap into people’s existing behaviors to turn your business’s Instagram account into a shoppable storefront.”
Top feature: We’re calling a tie between the feed grid for showing off your top products at a glance, and Instagram’s ever-expanding suite of influencer marketing tools.
Pricing:
With its huge reach, Facebook is a no-brainer for many businesses. It’s highly likely your audience already hangs out here, Facebook’s familiar messaging function can be used to provide customer support, and you can run targeted ads based on a surprising number of criteria. Organic reach and engagement from pages and posts isn’t what it used to be though, making Facebook ads the real game changer for business accounts.
With Facebook, you can:
🔥 Facebook‘s hot take:
“2.7 billion people use Facebook every month to connect with friends and family and to discover things that matter. Find new customers and build lasting relationships with them.”
Top feature: Take advantage of Facebook’s robust ad targeting and retargeting capabilities to reach highly specific audiences worldwide. This means your ads not only have a huge reach, but save you money by only displaying to people already primed for your offer.
Pricing:
YouTube isn’t just a social media platform. It’s also the world’s second-largest search engine, with robust analytics, targeting, and SEO features. Master its unique requirements, and you can make a huge impact with YouTube marketing and advertising.
With YouTube, you can:
🔥 YouTube‘s hot take:
“YouTube is where the world goes to watch video, and that means your customers do too. For businesses of all shapes and sizes, YouTube offers a simple way for people to discover you online when it matters, especially if they’re using mobile devices.”
Top feature: Its focus on mobile-friendly video content makes YouTube the perfect place for high-impact video marketing and advertising, especially on mobile.
Pricing:
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This fast-paced, text-first platform is the place for establishing authority, building awareness, and starting real-time conversations around current events and cultural trends. Twitter users tend to quickly and publicly weigh in on anything they feel strongly about, which makes social listening and customer service processes crucial to protecting your brand on Twitter.
With Twitter, you can:
🔥 Twitter‘s hot take:
“Businesses come to Twitter to connect to our culture and see what’s happening. And because people are in a discovery mindset when they’re on Twitter, you’re likely to make a lasting impression.”
Top feature: Twitter’s short-form content is super fast and easy to create and share, making real-time social listening easier than ever. Plus, tweets are often shared to other social media platforms or in articles on developing stories, which can further amplify your reach and authority outside the Twitterverse.
Pricing:
This highly visual, feel-good platform is built to inspire people to try new things. Users are highly motivated to buy, and they come here to see what’s possible. In contrast to Instagram’s emphasis on individual product shopping, Pinterest is geared towards fun projects users want to try, from building a wardrobe to redecorating a family room — then finding and buying the products needed for each project.
With Pinterest, you can:
🔥 Pinterest‘s hot take:
“People aren’t here to fend off FOMO or doomscroll. They’re here to try new things. To save new ideas. And often, to make their next purchase.”
Top feature: Pinterest lets you organize shoppable image or video posts (‘pins’) into boards that users can save, share and use as a buying guide for their entire project. Users can also create and share their own themed boards by saving pins they found helpful.
Pricing:
Now that you know the top options, take a step back and think about what you really need from your Shopify social media platform, your goals, and your bandwidth. Here are some tips to help you choose a platform and create a solid plan for social success.
Get as clear and specific as you can with your goals. Are you focused on:
Before committing to a social media platform, ask yourself:
Put some thought into where your needs and your audience’s needs intersect. Here’s what to look for in the perfect social media platform for you:
And don’t forget to consider your bandwidth for both content creation and managing your social media accounts. It doesn’t matter how well a platform matches your goals, if you struggle to consistently create effective content for that platform, you’ll struggle to succeed.
To hit your social media goals without burning out, you need systems in place. Start slowly as you learn the new systems, then get more ambitious when you’re ready.
Here are some basic systems to reduce overwhelm:
Once you’ve fleshed out these four points, write down all your key decisions, systems, and processes in one big, beautiful Shopify social media marketing plan. Now you’re ready to get all your accounts set up, and start creating content!
Use the magic of social listening tools to monitor social media conversations for you. They watch for keywords, alerting you to problems and opportunities, like when someone posts a fab piece of UGC you want to share or a customer complains about you on social without tagging your brand.
Check out tools like Hootsuite, Mention, and Conversocial to automate the listening and notification processes, so you can swoop in and save the day!
Good news: the actual integration process is simple. Here’s what you do.
Make sure your shop theme includes clickable Shopify social media icons, and link them to your social profiles. That way, customers can easily find your social accounts straight from your shop. And don’t forget to put these buttons in all your marketing email templates, too!
Share blog content directly from a published post to social, building customer trust and directing traffic to your shop. Then document this sharing step in your processes so you don’t forget!
To drive even more traffic and sales with advanced custom features like social shopping and product reviews, add the Shopify apps that do exactly what you need.
Once you’ve decided on the setup that works for you, go back and document your processes in the Shopify social media plan you created. This will help create consistency and prevent mistakes, especially as your shop and your team grow.
There are a ton of Shopify social media platforms out there — but once you know your goals, choosing the right one for your business is simple.
Whether you join the #InstaTribe or the ‘oldie-but-goodie’ Facebook, just make sure your decisions are based on your audience’s needs and your ultimate business goals.
And remember, if you block out the noise that doesn’t apply to your business, work your plan, and update it periodically as you go, you’ll see great results in no time.
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