How Social Media Impacts CPG Purchasing Decisions
Sales is a primary goal for most consumer packaged good (CPG) brands. While awareness, brand loyalty and other goals may exist concurrently, moving inventory is the primary measurable goal that many companies strive for. If you are looking to improve sales in 2023, social media marketing can help.
Social media marketing benefits brands
In most verticals—especially crowded CPG spaces like food, beverage, household products, clothing, self-care and makeup—your brand will need support to reach its sales goals. Social media marketing can play an integral role in boosting interest, engagement and ultimately purchase.
Here are some stats that underscore the value of adding social media marketing into your advertising strategy:
- When asked about the best channels for brands to use to connect, social media was the top reply from consumers.
- By 2025, social shopping is on a trajectory to become a $1.2 trillion
- Ninety-one percent of people believe in social media’s power to connect people, and 64% said that they also want to connect with brands.
- When looking for a product, 49% of consumers say they found what they needed on a targeted social media ad, while 40% discovered a product through an organic post.
- In the U.S., 72% of online shoppers have used social media to find new products, and 36% purchased directly on the platform.
Best practices to win customers
Social media marketing is about engaging with your customer. Here are some best practices to help your brand capture the attention and dollars of your target audience:
Connect with customers – It all begins with reaching your target audience. Refrain from pushing your products and promotions in every post. Provide value with your content. This can include a makeup tutorial or a recipe that uses one of your products, it can also share tips and tricks for creating a cleaning schedule or ideas on how to pack for a trip.
Build a community – People want to connect with other people, and that can be facilitated by your brand via social media. Aim to cultivate a community of brand enthusiasts on your social channels. Reshare their content or engage with them as social influencers.
Showcase your product – Think of different ways to showcase your products and how they can solve critical pain points experienced by your target audience. Your consumers might benefit from content that shows how the product works, how to use it to solve a problem, troubleshooting tips, recipes, tutorials and other types of content that highlight your product without a hard sales push.
Listen to your customers – Social media provides two-way communication with your customers. Listen to what they are saying and respond when appropriate. Think of this as an extension of customer service, particularly if there is a complaint.
Use platform-appropriate content – Resist the urge to post the same thing on all your social channels. Invest time to make posts that take advantage of each platform’s unique environment and features. Consider developing a piece of pillar content and modifying strategic messages from it for your brand’s specific channels.
Motivate CPG purchase through social media
Social media marketing is an impactful way to build a brand following and increase sales for CPG brands. Social shopping is expected to continue growing, so establishing a presence now could set your brand up for future success. Brands should employ best practices to nurture an online community, gain followers and tap into swipe-up-to-buy behavior.
Connect with the team at Beyond Fifteen to learn how our social media marketing experts can help your CPG brand increase sales through online platforms.