By now, you know that simply setting up your eCommerce site and waiting for customers to sign-in and shop is not the formula for business success.

The competition is stiff and the challenges great and increasing eCommerce conversion ratios is going to require some effort.

One place that you want to spend some effort is on social media. It is difficult to increase conversions without increasing leads and social media is a place where you can generate contacts and new leads with minimal effort.

The trick is developing a solid social media presence and using that to reach out to and interact with customers.

The place to start is by defining your audience. When you have a clear picture of who your target audience is and where you will find them, you will have a starting point for social media marketing.

There are plenty of social media sites out there, but you can’t go wrong by starting with the basics — Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest and don’t forget the mobile community.

Leveraging your social media profiles to generate contacts rests on a simple premise — content. If you have interesting content, people will find you.

Let’s say you are selling gardening tools. You could set up a Facebook page, post pictures of neat gardens or reviews of tools. You can comment on new tools and invite your visitors to add their comments. Maybe you want to sponsor a contest. Have people submit pictures of their favorite gardens and award prize for the most popular. It’s always a good idea to ask questions and start conversations. The point is to engage with potential customers and get them to visit your site.

Social media can provide a wide-range of opportunity for eCommerce operators to generate new leads and drive traffic to their sites. Those people that come to your site through a social media contact already know something about you and may have developed a connection that will spur them to make a purchase. That will certainly help boost your conversion numbers.

Social media, when done well, has proven to be a great asset for businesses large and small. All it takes to succeed is to develop a plan or strategy, stick to that plan and put forth the effort. Your initial results may not be overwhelming, but stay with it. Keep refreshing your content and keep talking with your visitors. Social media marketing is about building contacts and relationships over time and developing a broader digital footprint that allows more people to find you.

If you want to learn more about how you can improve your conversion rates, contact us.