Love it or hate it, today’s online users are all about social media. That’s why, for you as a merchant, every click counts, and every interaction matters. Using it, you gain a valuable marketing channel to connect with your audience, amplify your brand presence, and drive sales. Who would want to miss such an opportunity?
Social Media Usage on Magento Stores
Among the numerous social networks available, certain platforms have carved a niche for themselves within the Magento community. According to Store Leads, Magento merchants leverage these social media platforms to grow their businesses. Let’s dive right in.
| Type | Stores |
|---|---|
| 62,967 | |
| 52,918 | |
| YouTube | 27,350 |
| 25,552 | |
| 5,436 | |
| TikTok | 4,025 |
Facebook: Bridging Communities
A staggering 43.8% of Magento stores utilize Facebook, placing it at the forefront of their social media marketing strategies. Although it seems as if Facebook is outdated, especially from the perspective of younger generations, this is far from the truth in regards to eCommerce. In addition to being the most popular social media platform for Magento merchants, Facebook accounts for 85% of all Shopify orders placed via social media.
Even though Magento usually has a merchant base different from Shopify, we can imagine Facebook is of significant importance to them as well. Why is that so? Facebook makes it easier for you to sell, from direct integrations for your Magento store, social login, and shoppable posts to options for creating engaging posts or targeted ads.
Facebook offers merchants a versatile toolkit for captivating audiences, fostering communities, and driving store traffic. Most importantly, Facebook has 2.9 billion active users, reaching almost every possible target audience.
One more powerful advantage are Facebook groups. They bring together a large number of people interested in similar topics. Those groups can be joined, where you can post (if the rules of the group enable it), or you can create your own group where you can grow a community interested in what you or your brand has to say.
Instagram: Visual Storytelling
With a strong 36.0%, Instagram has emerged as the go-to platform for visual content. It’s not that we didn’t include pictures in our posts before Instagram, but they were not that quality-oriented (to say the least).
Today, we’re on another level, and Instagram serves its purpose as the social media platform for showcasing products through pictures in a lifestyle context. Just like Facebook, Instagram has features such as integration with Magento, shoppable posts, social login, and Instagram Checkout, and you can also create engaging posts or targeted ads.
Along with other social media platforms, like YouTube, it created influencing and made it popular. Today, influencers represent the bridge between your brand and your target audience. In most cases, brands are choosing influencers in niches tightly related to their products. That is because of the assumption their followers believe them and would most likely buy the product if they confirmed it was great.
How they confirm that the product is great can vary, but in most cases, it can be negotiated when arranging the partnership and can vary from one brand or influencer to another. Through this kind of collaboration your brand accumulates reviews, lifestyle photos, and user-generated content, allowing you to build closer relationships with your buyers.
YouTube: The Power of Video
Video reigns on YouTube, and 18.6% of Magento stores recognize its potential. YouTube was one of the first platforms dedicated to video content, making many “YouTubers” or YouTube stars many of whom later became influencers. Among them, other video types were popular as well, from product demonstrations, behind-the-scenes glimpses, vlogs, DIY’s or educational videos, and more.
Despite the high value of reviews written in words and illustrated with pictures, YouTube videos bring even more to the table. With their favorite influencer review, customers can see the product more realistically. They can assess better if it would suit them or their needs and order with more certainty and less fear.
Today, you can leverage YouTube to educate, entertain, and engage your audience as well. With the ability to reach a vast audience and optimize search content, YouTube is a powerful platform to foster brand loyalty and drive traffic back to Magento stores.
Shoppable ads and YouTube integration enable viewers to explore and easily buy products directly from video content. However, you must meet the YouTubes minimum requirements in order to be eligible to promote your products.
X: Real-Time Engagement
While Twitter’s usage among Magento stores is at fifth place, it remains a vital channel for real-time engagement and customer service. With its fast-paced nature and concise format, merchants leverage Twitter to share updates, address customer queries, and participate in trending conversations. With Twitter, merchants can gain deeper connections with their audience through meaningful interactions and agility.
Your business just got a new environment-saving strategy? You partnered up with another business or influencer? Hop on to X and post about it. There’s no better way to reach millions of users. You can also run ad campaigns on Twitter and target an audience based on other users they follow and the content they tweet. So, if you’re looking to expand your paid advertising options, Twitter could be the logical next step for your business.
Twitter also provides the Shops option that enhances eCommerce on the platform. It allows you to display up to five products at the top of your profile, providing users with quick access to product information and the option to make purchases without leaving the app.
WhatsApp: Transform Engagement into Sales
Up to now, we have discussed the platforms most Magento merchants use for their business. Based on the number of users, it is evident that few Magento merchants use WhatsApp.
WhatsApp Business has two products: the Business App and the Business Platform.
The WhatsApp Business App is meant for solopreneurs and small businesses, while the WhatsApp Business Platform serves enterprise customers (medium and large-sized businesses).
Now, let’s continue on to why more eCommerce businesses should use WhatsApp. Its 98% message open rate and 45-60% click-through rate make WhatsApp the most actionable platform to market eCommerce businesses. The platform is valuable for dealing with abandoned carts, one-time customers, people clicking your ads but not converting, or even users refusing to accept COD orders, doubling your shipping charges.
TikTok: Video, But Make It Short
TikTok, known for its short-form videos, has become an extremely popular eCommerce platform, especially among the younger generations. TikTok’s shoppable features, including in-feed ads and branded hashtags, offer businesses a dynamic way to drive product discovery. Most importantly, its algorithm is designed to surface content that, regardless of the creator’s following or popularity, gives the opportunity to create viral videos to almost anyone with an account and mobile phone for free. Like the previously mentioned platforms, TikTok allows you to purchase items directly.
TikTok is the starting point of 43% of Gen Z users’ online product searches, surpassing Google in the Q1 2023 Consumer Trends Report. In recent years, hashtags like #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt have shown TikTok’s ability to influence purchases, especially amongst younger consumers.
In total, the hashtag has received over three billion views as users share affordable or life-changing products. It reminds us that we trust fellow consumers and peers who can provide trustworthy results, recommend what works and what doesn’t, and lead us to new discoveries. This is why this is definitely a platform you shouldn’t overlook.
Choosing Wisely
While some platforms dominate the social media landscape for Magento merchants, it’s essential to tailor strategies that align with your business objectives and target audience preferences. By understanding each platform’s unique strengths, you can unlock new avenues for growth, engagement, and success in the dynamic world of eCommerce. However, choosing many platforms may cause you to struggle if you fail to determine the right ones. Be creative and choose wisely!
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When doing a Google Analytics self-audit, a good first step is identifying the gaps in monetization reports. Compare the monetization numbers in GA4 and your website’s reports. It’s normal for GA data to be slightly lower than the actual numbers. However, if the difference is more than 10%, it means that you should seek assistance from an expert and figure out whether something that can be done. Please note that if you are using “Ecommerce purchases report” in GA4, the item revenue metrics show the total revenue from items only, excluding tax and shipping.
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