Selling Socially

Business is not the same in the present retail scenario as one has to sell in an embryonicsituation. Technology is the buzz word and is moving at an unstoppable pace. Marketing needs to be more creative, stylish and unique to grab the eye balls. But not to worry! To help the sellers attain all of these, there is a gigantic world of new-age tools all set to be explored. Are you curious to know what it is all about? Kunjal Karaniya checks out these gen-next tools, techniques and the digital marketing strategies.

Branding has always been the last step when it comes to marketing and advertising. No one ever expected much from websites, mobile applications and social media sites.

But, the time has changed. It is time to expect the unexpected. Prospects for the ‘social selling’, which means selling products directly off social networks are thriving hugely. Basesh Gala, Managing Director of 39 Solutions provides some insights about the power of social selling.“Social media is the current buzz word in the jewellery marketing world. More than promoting the brand, social media creates a platform for interacting with the customers and fostering a better relationship with them. Social media is not only about jewellery but also about the trends customers can follow, the latest technology in watches, international jewellery news and other luxury areas,” explains Gala.

Social Media attracts new customers as customers like and share your social media content, their friends see it and it leads to a viral effect. However, loyal customers like to know what their jewellery brand is doing and social media is the best place to keep in touch.

Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Google+, Twitter, and LinkedIn are by default the most talked about mediums of selling, but there are some new and promising names too that include applications and websites both.

Let’s get started:
House Account
House Account is an app that helps retailers connect with the clients. The client can discover, follow and shop hundreds of local boutiques from their smart phone. It is created to focus on the elite sovereign boutiques; one can watch the products shared pictures and stories along with a provision to directly chat with the sales executives via a friendly user interface.

Hashbag
Hashbag – a website, run by Swedish entrepreneur Johan Simonsen, allows retailers to insert their products to a database of products online. Instagram a photo of something you want to sell, if you tagged it #forsale Hashbag will automatically email you asking the price. The product will go live and be listed in your personal storefront. Be sure to advertise your storefront in your instagram bio.

Soldsie
Soldsie, an app that uses Facebook and Instagram, making it feasible for fans to purchase the à la mode things they spot on the photo-sharing site just by commenting “Sold”. The invoice is then sent through email.

Chirpify
Soldsie has a tough competition from an app called - Chirpify, which is an in-stream mode for clients to make purchases on Twitter and Instagram to a great extent in the identical manner. Users sign up with Chirpify, enter their PayPal and shipping information and check the items being sold via Instagram tagged #instasale. Then they comment the word “buy” for purchase.

Vendevor
Vendevor lets you create online storefronts for your products which can be easily embedded into your website, blog, Facebook fan page, Vendevor page and immediately accept credit cards from the customers. For individuals and small businesses, selling online has never been faster or easier. The way it works: Upload products through the app or website, design your store that is posted to your website, blog, Facebook fan page, and Vendevor page, share your store on Facebook and Twitter and accept credit card payments and transfer sales to bank account.

Ecwid
The website, www.ecwid.com, a widget allows seller to incorporate e-commerce into Facebook or their existing website quickly. You can sell simultaneously on websites, mobile phones, social sites and marketplaces like Google Shopping, Yahoo and Shopping.com. You can add an online store to Facebook, Tumblr or any other social media site. Ecwid is the #1 e-commerce app on Facebook with over 40,000 stores.

With a pinch of salt:
Selling on social platforms and Social Media Marketing might appear simple but is actually a constantly built strategy, which has to be applied rightly for effectual results. Choosing the perfect content, timeliness of articles, clarity of targeted audience, constantly monitoring and lot more is very critical in this segment. If this tool is handled well, it can create popularity and enhance the brand but it has an equal capacity to create negative popularity and diminish the brand. This holds true as once the content is published online, one has no control over it, there are many incidents of copying and forging the designs, obtaining negative comments and all these takes just a click to spread across the online universe and tarnish the brand name or individual.

Conclusion:
India is a country where almost each and every person owns a mobile handset loaded with numerous applications. With a gigantic young population which is very much tech savvy, these selling and marketing tools surely have a long, long way to go.It is time for India to take the marketing, selling, branding and advertising to a next level.