Tips for Capitalizing on Social Media Trends

Social media is continuously being mentioned as the most dominant force in the future of the internet. It started with blogs, followed by MySpace, then Facebook and Twitter, and now the latest craze, Pinterest. Social media is an ever-evolving means of online communication and, as an e-commerce retailer, it's imperative to keep up with the trends. Although recent trends have brought social media closer to e-commerce retailers, for the most part they've been unable to capitalize on the social realm quite yet.

The struggle for e-commerce merchants is to have their product pages seen and shared. Although many of the social networking sites are excellent platforms for sharing personal information, they're not always conducive for product sharing. When a person clicks the "Like" button in Facebook, the act is simple and requires very little commitment and effort. However, the impact is very small since it's hardly evident to his "friends."

If that same person adds a comment, the impact is greatly increased. However, this requires much more effort and as such is less likely. Pinterest, on the other hand, is much better suited for consumers to share product or service experiences. When a consumer repins an image it's clearly shared to his network of followers. To repin is as easy as it is to like, but the impact is much greater.

As social media evolves and becomes more product-sharing friendly, it's important to ask how can merchants benefit from this. What do retailers need to do in order to capitalize on these new trends in social media? Consider the following tips:

1. Create a social media strategy. Although many businesses have Facebook pages, few of them have a strategy for their page — or the rest of their social media activity for that matter. They tweet, blog and set up a Facebook page because "everyone else is doing it" rather than as a way to engage their audience.

To create a social media strategy, you first need to know what your customers want to talk about and where they're conversing, and then be willing to engage in those conversations. Once you know this you can determine how and where to talk to your customers, enabling you to monitor your social media effectiveness. I've found that overstockArt.com's customers want to talk about art and decorating. They do so on Facebook, by reading blog posts and now on Pinterest. We make sure that our social media strategy specifically includes tactics to engage with these customers and speaks to them in the ways they're listening.

2. Provide quality content. Creating quality content and sharing it with your readers is one of the best things you can do to present yourself as an expert in your industry. Add value to your various social media platforms by providing your readers with unique, exclusive content. Be sure to also leverage existing web content. When you find content that will appeal to your audience, share it on your various social media channels — e.g., post a link to an article on Facebook, retweet from your customers’ Twitter feeds and repin images from industry-related media outlets onto your Pinterest boards.

3. Invest in multimedia content. A retailer shouldn't just show a still image of a product in space. Rather, showcase the item "in the wild" being used, thrown, hung, worn or driven. Every product has got a function or purpose; use lifestyle images and video as a way to ignite a conversation about them. Product images need to be interesting, exciting and engaging so that visitors and customers enjoy sharing them with their friends and followers.

4. Engage in the conversation. Don't just create and post to social media profiles; engage with consumers via these channels. Follow people when they follow you and respond when they speak to you. You'd be amazed at how many businesses don't respond to tweets or posts on their Facebook pages. As an e-commerce merchant, social media provides you an amazing opportunity to engage your customers, which you can only do if you're listening to them and communicating in return.

5. Make sharing easy. Add social sharing buttons — Facebook Like and Send, Twitter Tweet, Google+1 and Pinterest Pin It — to product pages, checkout pages and, most importantly (and least thought about), the almighty confirmation page. The confirmation page is the perfect place to encourage your best customers to get social and talk about your products.

In short, social media is evolving and there are more opportunities than ever before for retailers to capitalize. Keep up with recent trends, create a strategic plan and then engage in the conversation by providing your audience with unique content and high quality, multiple product images that can be shared on Pinterest, Facebook and the next great thing that will soon burst onto the scene.

David Sasson is CEO of overstockArt.com. David can be reached at dsasson@overstockArt.com.