Understanding Social Commerce: How to Boost Sales Through Social Media

If you’re familiar with terms like rizz, brain rot, or beige flags, you’ve probably spent a fair amount of time scrolling through your For You Page (FYP) or social media feed. Call it a trend, a phenomenon, or buzz du jour, there’s no denying that social media has proven to us time and time again how a single post or an idea online can sneak into our lives, sometimes for days or years, without us even realizing it. 

No judgment here on how chronically online (as they say in social media parlance) you are based on your screen time. We’re here to talk about how the widespread use of social media across all generations has significantly shaped people’s shopping habits. And as the number of users continues to increase, with a current record of 5 billion as of writing, social media platforms have added features for users to make purchases of goods or services directly on the app. 

Shopping has come a long way: from brick-and-mortar stores to online storefronts, and now on social media through social commerce. It makes shopping easier and more interactive by letting businesses showcase their products while customers browse and buy directly on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok. Everything is made possible in one place. Spot a product you love? It’s right there on your feed. Want to know if a brand’s legit? Check their social media presence. Ready to buy? A few taps and it’s done. That’s the beauty of it! 

In this article, we’ll explore the best practices in social commerce and share tips on how you can make use of your social media accounts to drive sales and traffic for your business. Do you need to know all the internet lingo to get started? Not really, but it doesn’t hurt to be in the know. Do you need to go viral to boost sales? Follow along, and we will try to answer that. Stick with us and learn because in da clurb, we all fam!

Redefining Shopping: The Social Commerce Experience

Social commerce allows consumers to discover and purchase products directly through social media and content creation platforms. The appeal? It’s convenient! A user discovers an item they like in a social media post or live video, checks its quality by reading the comments or reviews, and decides to buy it—without ever leaving the app.

As a fast-growing offshoot of e-commerce, social commerce has made online shopping more interactive and social, which makes sense since these platforms are all about engagement.

Does this mean social commerce is better than your e-commerce site? While many businesses now use shoppable features on their social media pages, having an e-commerce platform is still a must. But that doesn’t make social commerce any less powerful.

E-commerce and social commerce both let you showcase products and gather reviews and ratings. The big difference? Customers intentionally visit an e-commerce site to shop. In contrast, in social commerce, users often stumble across products or items they didn’t even know they needed or wanted while scrolling. (Emphasis on “often,” because some social commerce activities, like live selling, also attract returning customers who already know the brand and want to buy more.)

The key differences lie in how customers discover products, how they engage with the brand, how they use social proof, and the level of personalization they experience. Let’s unpack these! 

Key Differences Between Social Commerce and E-Commerce

Social Commerce Platforms and Trends

Now, let’s get started with the practical question: what are the best social media platforms to sell your products or services?

There are plenty of social commerce platforms to choose from, but in this article, we’re focusing on the ones everyone knows: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. 

1. TikTok

No need to give you numbers to tell you how popular TikTok is—it’s practically everywhere. But just to give you an idea, TikTok has 955 million users worldwide. In the U.S. alone, it has around 120 million unique users as of July 2024, making it the second-largest audience after Indonesia.

TikTok Commerce offers a range of solutions, features, and advertising tools designed to help brands connect with their audience. You can sell your products directly through TikTok videos, live streams, and even on your profile page’s product showcase tab, making it easy for users to discover and purchase your products while engaging with your content. 

There are two ways to sell your products on your account: Shop Ads and TikTok Shop.

Shop Ads

If you have a TikTok Shop, you can easily create Shop Ads through TikTok Ads Manager using the Product Sales objective. These ads use products from your Shop, Showcase, or Catalog and can be optimized to drive sales. 

You can add shopping options to your TikTok videos with Video Shopping Ads, make your livestreams shoppable with LIVE Shopping Ads, or create targeted ads for specific products using Product Shopping Ads. It’s a simple way to turn engagement into purchases.

TikTok Shop

This tool allows business owners to run an e-commerce business directly on the TikTok platform. Users can discover your products through Livestreams, video content, and the Showcase tab, creating a fully native shopping experience. With TikTok Shop, you’ll have access to key tools like:

• TikTok Seller Center: A portal to manage your shop and streamline operations, from product management to shipping.
• TikTok Affiliate Program: Collaborate with creators to promote your products through commission-based content.
• Native Checkout Flow: Customers can browse, purchase, and pay directly within TikTok, making the process seamless.

Should You Aim to Go Viral?

Many businesses have hopped on humorous trends to promote their products. If you’ve seen those funny marketing transition videos on TikTok, you know what we’re talking about. While it created buzz for a time, the real question is: did it attract the right audience and drive meaningful sales? That’s not always clear.

Going viral can be intentional or pure luck. While there’s nothing wrong with aiming for viral content, it comes with risks like attracting the wrong audience, dealing with an unsustainable overnight spike in engagement, or even facing copyright issues from copycats. 

Instead of chasing virality as the ultimate goal, you should focus on consistently creating content that truly speaks to your target market or community. Going viral should be seen as a bonus, not the main objective. How? Let’s take a look at Goli Nutrition’s successful marketing campaign on TikTok.

Best Practice: Goli Nutrition’s TikTok Marketing Success

Goli achieved an incredible $4.1 million in revenue in just 30 days through its TikTok Shop. How did they do it? Here are the key strategies behind their success:

▶︎ Incentive Program for Affiliates: Goli motivated its affiliates with attractive tiered incentives based on their amount of sales. 

• $4,000 in sales: Free iPhone
• $25,000 in sales: Exclusive retreat in Miami
• $250,000 in sales: Brand-new BMW

▶︎ Targeted Outreach to Creators: They took a more strategic approach by targeting communities of young content creators aged 18 to 24 on platforms like Discord. 

▶︎ High Volume of Video Content: Goli sent their products to around 4,900 creators, generating 177,000 videos on TikTok within one month. One video alone brought in $370,000 in sales.

This campaign shows that success in social commerce comes from strategic planning, authentic connections, and consistent, engaging content.

2. Instagram

According to Capital One Shopping statistics, around 70%, or 1.4 billion active users, shop on Instagram, while 83% of users claim that they search for new brands and products on the platform.

Purchasing an item on this site has been made possible and much easier through Instagram Shopping, which lets users purchase your brand’s products directly on your page. Here are some of the tools on Instagram Shop that you need to get familiar with: 

• Product Tags: This feature makes it easy for shoppers to tap and learn more about your products. You can highlight up to 5 items from your catalog directly in your Feed, Stories, Reels, and Live.
• Ads with Product Tags: Want to reach more people and spend less to get new customers? Ads with product tags can help lower your cost per acquisition by 20%. You can easily set them up in Ads Manager or boost your existing shoppable posts right on Instagram.

Aside from tagging your products on your posts or live videos, how can you market your product on the platform? Here’s a proven strategy:

Work with Influencers that Resonate with Your Brand

This strategy isn’t new and can be employed across different platforms. The key here is to know who to get in touch with. 

There are different types of influencers depending on their follower count. Here’s a quick breakdown:

• Nano Influencers (1K–10K Followers): Nano influencers are everyday social media users with loyal, engaged followers. They’re known for relatable content and often have the highest engagement rates among influencers.
• Micro-Influencers (10K–100K Followers): Micro-influencers have a solid following but still stay connected with their audience. They keep things authentic, often focus on a niche, and usually partner with brands that align with their followers’ interests.
• Macro Influencers (100K–1M Followers): Macro influencers are experienced content creators who got in early and built a strong following over time. Their broad reach and presence across multiple platforms make them great for brands looking to boost visibility.
• Mega Influencers (1M+ Followers): These are celebrities and stars with massive followings. They might not specialize in your niche, but one post from them can instantly boost your brand’s visibility. Just keep in mind, they come with a big price tag.

Now, if you’re wondering about costs, here’s a guide to influencer pricing in 2025 to help you plan your marketing campaign. 

Does the Size of Influencers’ Following Matter?

According to Forbes, going bigger isn’t always better.

“Micro-influencers have the potential to engage audiences around topics that are specific to a particular interest. This type of micro-influencer tends to be an expert in their area and has followers because of their unique, specialized interests. Brands can tap into these highly curated communities, enabling a degree of targeting that’s impossible with macro-influencers.” 

– Kelly Ehlers, Forbes Councils Member and Founder of The Evoke Agency

Of course, there’s no one-size-fits-all rule when it comes to influencer marketing. Customize your campaigns and collaborations to fit your niche, target audience, business goals, and budget.

3. Facebook

Around 1.2 billion shoppers make purchases on Facebook Marketplace every month, while 40% of Facebook’s 3.07 billion active users shop on Marketplace regularly.

The Facebook Shops tool allows you to create a personalized digital storefront across Meta’s platforms, making it easy to showcase your brand and help customers find the products they love.

Here’s how it works:

• Use Commerce Manager to organize products into themed collections. Each collection includes a name, description, cover image, and at least two products, helping customers easily browse your shop.
• Customers can access your shop on Facebook or Instagram through their mobile apps. The full-screen display shows your collections in a personalized and visually engaging way.
• When you add new inventory, it appears in the Feed, Shop tab, or even as notifications, encouraging customers to check out your latest products.
• Your shop is seamlessly integrated on both Facebook and Instagram, so your collections are visible on both platforms. 

Curious about how to set up your Facebook shop? Check out this simple guide to get started.

4. Pinterest

Pinterest isn’t only for your vision boards. It’s also a powerful tool to market one’s products or services. 

With 32% higher Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) compared to other digital platforms and 97% of Pinterest searches being unbranded, the opportunities for small businesses are huge. Whatever your brand, you are welcomed.  

Pinterest for merchants allows you to create contents or Pins in shoppable formats:

Pins with Shopping Link

Create content that fits your brand, like how-tos, expert tips, trend roundups, or inspirational visuals. On your Pin info page, select "Tag products" and add items by searching their name or using a link. Product tags make it easy for your audience to go straight from inspiration to shopping on your site.

Product Pins

From the world itself, these Pins showcase a product and link directly to the merchant’s online store. There are two ways to create Product Pins: uploading your catalog or integrating product rich Pin data to your site.

Social Commerce in a Flash: A Simple Guide

Feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the information? Simply follow the steps below to get started with your social commerce site. 

1. Choose the Right Platform for Your Brand

You know your audience best, so think about where they’re most likely to hang out. And don’t feel like you have to stick to just one platform! Explore multiple sites.

2. Set Up a Business Profile

Switch to a business account on your chosen platform. Make sure your bio is clear and catchy, your logo stands out, and your shop or website link is easy to find. Don’t forget to add contact info so people can reach you.

3. Create and Organize Your Product Catalog

Upload your products on your platform. Use high-quality photos, detailed descriptions, and accurate pricing.

4. Use Smart Inventory Management Tool

Manage your stock easily with a modern inventory tool. It helps you track what’s selling on your social commerce platforms, get alerts when you’re running low, and restock quickly to keep customers happy. BoxHero is equipped with these powerful tools for your social commerce activities. Need help getting started? Check out our user guide or schedule a live demo for a convenient walkthrough.

5. Post Your Shoppable Contents

Share fun, engaging posts that showcase your products in the best light. You could highlight user-generated content (UGC) for word-of-mouth marketing or collaborate with influencers whose niche aligns with your brand.

6. Keep Tabs on Your Social Commerce Metrics

Most social commerce platforms come with built-in analytics tools to track engagement and performance, which are perfect for shaping your marketing plans.

That’s it for now! Social commerce is a big and exciting topic, but we’ll save the rest for next time. So roll up your sleeves, get back to your drawing board, and start planning your social commerce strategies and marketing campaigns.

And don’t forget to give BoxHero a try! If you’re not ready to commit yet, the 30-day free trial gives you plenty of time to explore all our features and see how it can work for your business.