From inspiration to conversion: social’s evolving role in retail

Social media’s influence on commerce has been steadily increasing for over a decade. From advertising to influencer marketing, defining brand identity through ‘social stories’ to using social channels to provide direct service to customers, social media has become a key battleground where brands and retailers compete to attract, engage, and inspire consumers.
More recently, social media has become a new digital commerce channel where products are sold. Social media marketing has long made use of links – think Pinterest product pins and Instagram sponsored products – which take people from a promoted product on a social page to an external shopping cart, providing an obvious and necessary route for converting buzz into sales. Read more…