Email teams should be on their guard for the
growing move toward social media by brands.
B2C companies are investing in social commerce and achieving a return, but they need to improve, judging by Cashing In On Social Commerce, a
study by Forrester commissioned by Emplifi.
Based purely on speculation, this might result in moving resources from email to social.
Of the firms polled, 83% are
investing in two or more social shops.
Specifically, 46% are investing in two to three shops, while 37% are investing in four or more, and 4% are investing in
one. And 14% say they are driving commerce to their online shopping cart from social media but are not currently investing in social shops.
Of those that have invested in social
commerce, 50% have realized or expect incremental revenue or distributed cross-channel sales. And 86% expect a return on their investment within one year.
What’s more, 54% say
their social commerce revenue currently accounts for 10% or less of total sales. But 58% expect to attribute more than 10% within the next 12 months.
This kind of
complex revenue and the need for accurate attribution can have an impact on a firm’s email marketing. In particular, there is a need for a strong triggered email program.
The
primary objectives of investing in B2C social commerce are:
- Drive revenue — 46%
- Create enduring customer relationships —
28%
- Increase customer engagement with the brand — 27%
- Optimize social commerce across the most effective social channels — 22%
- Nurture customers throughout the social purchase journey — 21%
- Develop an understanding of customer needs and expectations, both in the moment and over time
— 15%
But users identify several challenges. For instance, 45% say it’s difficult to refresh content across multiple channels.
And 52% report they lack
“the ability to manage and/or optimize inventory across social channels."
In addition, 47% struggle to convert followers into customers.
Moreover, there are these
technological challenges: 46% complain their tech is “overloaded and unable to support our projects when it comes to scaling across multiple social channels." And 43% point out that each social
channel has its own set of technical integration requirements.
Finally, 42% have limited ability to analyze performance across multiple social
channels.
Companies are using these accelerators for social commerce success:
- Intelligent escalation of customer issues to a
customer care agent — 59%
- Holistic view of revenue performance per social shop(s) and storefront(s) — 57%
- 24/7
post-purchase customer service — 54%
- Holistic view of inventory across all social shops/storefronts — 45%
- 24/7 in-purchase customer service or sales support — 45%
Forrester surveyed 228 B2C leaders in the U.S., U.K., France and Germany.