Choose right: How to pick the best e-commerce platform for your online store
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This is a tough one....first it depends on what you are selling, is it a product or a service. Seems Facebook is limited, Yelp unless you are a restaurant is more interested in showing bad reviews, they think it makes them special and seem to promote bad reviews. I like Google for the listing, it is straight forward and they do publish reviews that your customers may sibmit. I think in the end you need a good E mail list following and using direct contact with this through Mail Chimp has been the best on line service so far. Other platforms are really all about social interaction. Instagram is social, does not really help with respect to On Line stores. None of the social online platforms seem to convert to sales. I have a brick and mortor store which absolutely is the best platform.
Barbara,
> None of the social online platforms seem to convert to sales.
We manage a fair number of e-commerce clients who run successful Facebook promotions with great ROI (but it does depend on the product type and ability of your marketing person to set the ads and choose the target market) and Instagram feed shown in the store adds a lot to the social proof component of your sales process by showing the photos of your products being used y real people (check the bottom of this store for example www.packitgourmet.com )
I did not hear about much sales coming from other social networks but above two worth including into any online store marketing strategies. Plus Instagram feed is pretty much automated after the initial setup.
I want to touch on the social topic for a second. Social platforms definitely take a long time to develop, especially when you are pushing product. We see it all the time but the hard work does pay off. For example, one of my customers sells wine. This customer said time and time again that social does not work for them, and we did see why they would think this. So we developed a strategy where (in addition to consistent follows and likes of our target audience) we would have a "schedule". Post pretty pictures with interesting info about the region where the wine came from on Tuesday, interesting info about the vineyard on Wednesday, then something about the wine itself on Thursday and every month a promo on Friday to match our Liquor Board's wine launch schedule.
In 3 months of work, we had a small but dedicated base of customers through Instagram. One fellow actually messaged us and said: "hey thanks for what you do, now I always know what to bring home for my wife to drink on Friday based on your recommendations." That one fellow was worth it. It, of course, extended beyond that but that one customer really changed my client's outlook on social media.
It isn't easy. And you have to get creative. But with the right strategy that makes sense for your product, social media can have a great impact. :)