In the midst of a turbulent year, marked by a global pandemic that sent consumers dashing to the web due to store closures, public restrictions, and enduring discomfort, more families are shopping from the safety of their homes.

According to a Digital Commerce 360 and Bizrate Insights survey, 77% of shoppers plan to do more than half of their holiday spending online. What's more, with changing buying behaviors and e-commerce penetration rising faster than ever, Digital Commerce 360 forecasts that U.S. consumers are poised to spend an unprecedented $198.73 billion with online retailers this holiday season.

Social media can serve as an impactful channel to stay top-of-mind in the hustle and bustle of life, while fueling traffic to your website, increasing sales, and driving business growth. In fact, 54% of social browsers use social media to discover and research products, and social networking platforms are among the leading sources of inspiration for purchasing decisions.

It's time to step up your social media strategy and take advantage of all the different features each platform has to offer to maximize your marketing success.

We're sharing four key social media selling tactics for deepening engagement and enhancing product discovery to ultimately boost online conversions and generate greater revenue this year.

Create a Facebook Shop

Earlier this year Facebook rolled out Facebook Shops to help small businesses bring in more revenue while the economy - and in particular, in-person shopping - continue to take a hit in light of COVID-19.

Facebook Shops helps you expand your business's social profiles and grow online sales through a simple and free digital storefront.

The fully customizable page enables you to spotlight shoppable products and tailor the product layout to capture your brand.

Even further, business owners can seamlessly integrate their Shop with Instagram, making it easy to manage their product offerings on both platforms from the same dashboard.

The new feature delivers a streamlined, user-friendly, and mobile-first shopping experience by:

• Showcasing bespoke collections to share featured products, categories, and more
• Providing easy-to-use design features and creative tools to bring your brand to life
• Empowering you with insightful analytics, including views, clicks, and conversions
• Offering convenient customer features, such as securely saved payment and shipping information

Wondering how to get started setting up your festive Facebook Shop?

Begin by transitioning your profile to the Shopping template via the Shop tab on your Facebook page menu.

Next, using the Commerce Manager, add your items individually or import your whole catalog from your e-commerce platform. Afterwards, personalize your Shop with imagery and helpful descriptions, and group your products into collections for effortless, mobile-friendly browsing.

Now you're ready to deliver a unified shopping experience across your Facebook page and Instagram feed, as well as story highlights and ads.

Your followers are then able to explore your Shop, tap to add items to their carts, and check out, either directly on the platform or your store's website.

Share Shoppable Posts

Rising social media features and convenience-driven capabilities continue to accelerate consumers' desire for instant gratification and easier-than-ever shopping.

Leverage your social platforms' native shopping options to outshine the competition, reduce unnecessary steps required to complete the purchase, and supercharge sales.

Facebook remains supreme in delivering the most referrals to e-commerce sites. In fact, according to eMarketer, Facebook accounted for more than 80% of U.S. social traffic to online stores.

Like Mud Pie, feature trending seasonal products with quality product imagery and compelling limited-time offer messaging, and include a "Shop Now" call-to-action to direct customers back to your website to purchase.

On Instagram, encourage your brand fans and followers to shop your curated feed by adding a shopping link to your profile bio. Create easy-to-shop posts with lifestyle photography and product tags to entice viewers to tap and discover items to fill their wishlists.

Motivate a purchase with a link to the product detail page on your website, or leverage Instagram's in-app checkout feature for a speedy shopping experience.

Maximize your Pinterest account by enabling the free Rich Pins feature to share perfectly curated collections, must-haves, and best-sellers.

Pinners see real-time pricing, product availability, your business name, and your website URL at-a-glance. In addition, the "shop more like this" menu allows users to find similar or related product recommendations available for purchase.

Run Sponsored Ads

While organic posts that feature your products can attract and convert new customers, they can limit your reach to a fraction of your followers.

Make the most of your reach as more than a quarter (27%) of internet users say paid social ads help them find new brands and products.

Unlock social shopping success by strategically investing in social media advertising to help you deliver hyper-relevant content, ensure greater brand visibility among your target audiences, and drive higher returns from your social activities.

For instance, Pinterest is an effective and highly visual platform to market your products. According to Quartz, 48% of Pinterest users are there to buy something now or research what to buy next.

Utilize Pinterest's diverse Shoppable Pin formats to display the price and availability of your stand-out merchandise, making it easier than ever for users to make purchasing decisions.

YouTube has even joined in on the social ad game. As of mid-June, Google Merchant Center users who sync their feed to their video ads can add a selection of shoppable products to the call-to-action on those ads - 55% of consumers turn to videos to help simplify the purchasing process, your in-ad product listings will reach people who are primed to buy.

Be a Trusted Source of Information

Wondering how you can stand out amongst the blizzard of competition? Creating trust and showing your expertise is crucial for both B2C and B2B brands, especially when looking to score a bigger slice of the social sales pie.

Many people follow brands on social media for inspiration and tips, so capitalize on the interests, preferences, and buying trends of your audience by establishing your company as a trusted, credible, and go-to resource for all their shopping needs.

Foster customer loyalty and set your brand apart by:

• Spotlighting user-generated content and photography
• Highlighting insightful product reviews, customer testimonials, and ratings
• Sharing inspirational and helpful product guides, how-to content, and more

Take Creative Co-Op for example. Their Pinterest is filled with style tips, decorating ideas, and, yes, products. They've thoughtfully grouped product collections and ideas into curated boards that not only provide seasonal inspiration, cute home decor ideas, and wonderful recipes for customers, but help retailers merchandise and sell their products.

Grow Sales With Social Selling

Social media platforms are constantly evolving to offer new and improved ways for companies to authentically connect, nurture lasting relationships, and expand their reach.

Maximize your social media success this year by following best practices for understanding your audience's needs, tailoring your posts to fit each platform, and building an engaged community. Once you've mastered these fundamental foundations, take your interactive platforms to the next level with advances in innovative social shopping tools and convenient checkout features.

Ready to send your social sales soaring using tried-and-true social selling tactics? Get in touch to talk with a digital marketing expert about optimizing your social media strategy to deliver an excellent experience to your customers, while boosting website traffic and reaching your end-of-year revenue goals.