The Impact of Continuous Scrolling on SEO

Google recently made a change to mobile search results. It’s called continuous scrolling, and while it’s a minor tweak to the SERPs, it might have an impact on your SEO.

Here’s everything you need to know about continuous scrolling.

What Is Continuous Scrolling?

You always hear marketers talking about the distinction between page one and page two in SEO.

However, if you’ve performed any mobile Google searches in the U.S. lately, you might have noticed the results keep going as you scroll.

That’s because rather than breaking the results down into pages, Google now shows four pages worth of results through continuous scrolling. This is currently limited to mobile searches in the U.S. but set to expand in 2022.

Plus, continuous scrolling isn’t limited to Google.

Traditionally, we’ve used pagination to break up information on the web. However, this requires people to keep clicking. Particularly on mobile, this isn’t ideal for user experience.

Some websites, apps, and, of course, Google are turning to continuous scrolling.

The big question is, what does this mean for your SEO?

Effects of Continuous Scrolling in Mobile Search on SEO, Impressions, and CTR

What does continuous scrolling mean for SERP performance? Will you get more or fewer impressions and clicks?

The answer is…it remains to be seen. Continuous scrolling will undoubtedly change how we interact with the SERPs. Still, without pagination, your actual location on the scroll—your search engine results position rather than page—-will matter more than ever.  

Here are five predictions you might see come true as a result of continuous scrolling.

Page One Click-Through Rate (CTR) Will Go Down

When page two results are more accessible, the CTR for page one results is likely to drop. Continuous scrolling has the feel of a newsfeed from social media, so people are more likely to explore their options. 

The results at the top of the rankings are there for a reason: They’re generally the best pages to answer the search query. As consumers, we’ve all been socialized to accept this point, as evidenced by the top result getting 43.32 percent of the clicks. 

With time, people might get more accustomed to scrolling through the results, which will likely impact CTRs for page one results. However, it’s still not time to start celebrating if you’re stuck on page two.

There May Be More Impressions for Page Two Results

If you make it easier for people to access page two results, they will get more impressions. The difficulty is, you’re also training people to scroll through the results and explore their options further, so they won’t necessarily stop on page two.

Pages on page two of the results might get some more impressions. At present, 0.78 percent of searchers click on something from the second page. However, those page two results have to compete with page one more immediately.

More Rich Results

When you imagine a news feed on social media, you see lots of images and videos. Google’s equivalent is rich results that contain features like shopping, video, featured snippets, commonly asked questions, and much more. 

The more users feel comfortable scrolling the SERPs, the easier it is for Google to include rich results. With static pages, it’s challenging to have too many rich elements because it would be overkill. With continuous scrolling, this becomes easier from a user experience standpoint.

More Zero-Click Searches

Zero-click searches have been increasing rapidly over the years. Nearly 65 percent of searches result in the user not clicking a link, which is likely to increase with continuous scrolling. 

There are many reasons people might not click on results, but perhaps the biggest one is they got all the information they need from rich results or meta descriptions. 

If continuous scrolling results in more rich features, it may well mean more zero-click searches.

Desktop Will Follow

One of the reasons continuous scrolling has been rolled out on mobile is because it fits better with the user experience. On desktop, it’s easy to click the “see more” button.

That doesn’t mean desktop is going to stay the same, though.

If Google sees promising results from continuous scrolling, like increased ad revenue and improved UX, it’s likely continuous scrolling will also roll out on desktop.

What Continuous Scrolling Means for Marketers

While it’s difficult to make any significant recommendations until we see how continuous scrolling plays out, there are some essential things you should be thinking about.

Keep a Closer Eye on Your Data

Data is important no matter what’s happening in the world of SEO.

While marketers often focus on the information we can glean from Google Analytics, such as visitors, bounce rates, and time on page, the information in Google Search Console (GSC) can be equally important.

For this particular update, all the information you need will be in GSC.

This is where you can see how your page ranks for a search term and the click-through rate it gets. If you start seeing significant fluctuations in your CTR on mobile, it could be partly due to continuous scrolling.

Don’t just watch this happen; brainstorm how to get your CTR back up and keep bringing those clicks to your site.

Optimize to Feature in Rich Results

One of the ways to optimize for continuous scrolling is to make sure you’re doing schema markup well. Schema is like a language that allows you to communicate with the search engines and tell them what pages are about and which bits are most important. 

By using Schema markup correctly, you’re more likely to perform well in featured snippets, local results, and commonly asked questions. 

Focus on Your Titles and Metas

The more competition there is for clicks, the more you’ve got to use the limited real estate you have to stand out. For standard results, this means optimizing your titles and meta descriptions. 

It’s easy to get drawn to the rich results, but people are still looking for the same thing they always have—quick access to information. The right title and meta description can assure people they’re going to get this.

You’ve got to grab people’s attention, match user intent, and give people confidence that you’re going to answer their questions.

Look Out for the Continuous Scrolling Trend

Continuous scrolling has been around for a long time, especially on social media. You tend to see it more often on apps because they’re specifically designed for mobile devices, but that doesn’t mean it won’t become standard on websites. 

While continuous scrolling can offer a slightly improved UX (particularly on mobile), it comes with limitations. To get the maximum benefit, it has to be implemented exceptionally well, and even so, it doesn’t offer a big SEO boost. 

For now, continuous scrolling isn’t the norm on websites, but we can’t say this won’t change.

Frequently Asked Questions About Continuous Scrolling

Why should I care about continuous scrolling on search?

Continuous scrolling is going to affect a lot of searches. If you’re not ready for the changes, it could have a significant impact on your traffic.

Is there going to be continuous search scrolling on desktop?

For now, Google has only announced plans for continuous scrolling on mobile. However, this could change.

How are users affected by continuous scrolling on mobile search?

Continuous scrolling makes the results on pages two, three, and four more accessible.

When did Google roll out continuous scrolling on mobile search?

Google announced continuous scrolling for US mobile searches in October 2021.

Continuous Scrolling on Mobile Search Conclusion

Continuous scrolling certainly doesn’t mean you need to rip up the SEO rulebook.

It’s a SERP change designed to improve user experience. With additional pages’ results being more accessible, it might mean a drop in CTR for the top results. However, those results may still stay on top if they provide the most credible and immediate information.

We’re also likely to see more rich results on mobile, which could result in increased zero-click searches.

To keep up with these changes, marketers have to ensure they’re focused on getting their schema markup right, and optimizing titles and meta descriptions. Of course, these are all important for SEO anyway. As long as you’re doing the basics well, you shouldn’t have a problem. 

How do you feel about continuous scrolling?

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Keyword Cannibalization: What It Is and How to Avoid It

Most digital marketing teams rely on keyword optimization to rank their content higher in search results. The idea is more keywords = better optimization. 

Because of this, it can be tempting to use the same keywords on multiple pages to increase your chances of ranking. 

However, this strategy can backfire if your posts compete for the same keyword.

Think about it: If you’re looking for “the best running shoes” and see two articles from the same company with these keywords in the title, you’ll be pretty confused about what to click on.

Not only is this confusing for readers, but it’s also bad for SEO.

Keep reading to learn what keyword cannibalism is, why it’s bad for SEO, how to find keyword cannibalization, and how to fix the issue.

What Is Keyword Cannibalization?

If multiple pages on your website are optimized for the same search query, you’re essentially competing with yourself—which can result in all pages rankly poorly. When this happens, we call it keyword cannibalization.

Never heard of it before? Here are some examples below.

What Are Examples of Keyword Cannibalization?

Say, I’m new to digital marketing and want to learn more about link building. So, I search “link building” on Google, and here are the results:

At the top of the search results, I come across two posts from the same website, covering almost the same subject matter. Which one should I click?

And, I won’t say I’m perfect, either. Here’s an example from my blog. 

My two posts compete for the same search query, “SEO writing” and creating a keyword cannibalization situation.

This confuses the readers and search engine algorithms, making it difficult for your content to rank and get the audience’s attention.

How Do I Find Cannibalized Keywords?

If you believe your website may have some keyword cannibalization, don’t worry. You can easily find and fix them by following a few simple steps.

Here are some techniques you can try to find keyword cannibalization.

Search Through Your Website

A straightforward way to search for keyword cannibalization is to look up search queries relevant to your industry.

For example, if you’re a company offering digital marketing services and frequently upload content on marketing and SEO topics, do a Google search with some of the keywords you use often. 

These could look like “SEO strategies” or “marketing tips for beginners.”

Such a search pulls up all web pages ranked for this query. Check to see if two or more of your posts are competing for a spot.

Google-specific Site Search

To make finding keyword cannibalization easier, type the name of your site before entering the search query. Here’s what it looks like in Google search engine:

Using External Tools

You can also use keyword research tools like Ubersuggest to simplify things and get comprehensive data for better keyword planning. This can help you find keyword cannibalization faster and reduce the time, money, and effort required to weed out competing pages from your site. 

Tips to Prevent Keyword Cannibalization

Finding and fixing keyword cannibalization is possible, but sometimes it’s better to prevent the issue than spend time and money fixing it.

How?

Here are some expert-recommended strategies to prevent keyword cannibalization and improve your digital marketing plan. 

1. Create a Targeted Keyword Strategy

If you’ve been working in digital marketing for a while, you know keyword strategy matters.

The good news? One of the best ways to prevent keyword cannibalization is to hone your targeted keyword strategy, so there’s no competition and problematic overlap.

In a nutshell, this means optimizing different pages to target different keywords and search queries.

So instead of having five pages competing for the search query “SEO tips,” you can optimize each page for a similar but separate query like “digital marketing strategy,” “marketing techniques,” “SEO for beginners,” and so on.

This way, you can stay on topic while offering different content for various search queries relevant to your industry.

Here are some free and paid tools you can use for keyword research and planning:

• Ubersuggest
• Google Trends
• Answer the Public
• Google Search Console
• Moz Keyword Explorer 

2. Track Keyword Rankings and Performance

Having a keyword strategy isn’t enough. Once you have identified the keywords you want to work with, you also need to track their performance over time. 

Consistently tracking keyword analytics will help you understand which keywords are ranking, which ones have too much competition, which may be caught up in cannibalization, and which ones need a boost.

You can track keyword rankings, performance, and other analytics directly through your website analytics tool, or you can use external tools like Google Analytics, Ubersuggest, SErush, Ahrefs, Moz, SEO monitor, and others.

Keep track of this data and use it to tweak your keyword strategy to avoid keyword cannibalism or fix it when it happens (more on that below).

3. Focus on Topics First, Keywords Come Second

Sometimes keyword cannibalization happens because marketing teams become more focused on optimizing keywords than creating content around relevant topics.

If you’re running behind keywords, there’s a chance you’ll neglect the topics and content quality, which will eventually slow your progress towards meeting your marketing goals.

So instead of pouring all your resources into keyword research, make it a part of your marketing strategy to focus on topics as well.

Find what topics your audience is interested in and direct your resources toward serving those interests. Let the keywords come second.

This will help increase audience loyalty, pull in new readers and establish brand authority in the industry.

How do you find what topics your readers are interested in?

Here are some ways to find what your audience wants:

• conduct surveys
• ask for feedback
• hold social media polls
• offer giveaways in exchange for audience opinions
• reach out to loyal long-time readers for ideas

You can also use tools like Quora, Google’s “people also ask” feature, and Reddit to find what people in your target demographic are talking about and what their pain points are.

When you start incorporating these ideas, the quality of your content will likely improve, and your organic reach will increase without relying strictly on keywords. 

4. Do Regular Content Audits

Okay, so you’ve outlined a solid keyword strategy, set up tools to track performance and put more effort into audience interest topics. Now what? 

Now you need to perform regular content audits to see if what you’re publishing is still in line with your readers’ interests and marketing goals.

Your content audits should ask the following:

• Are your topics still relevant?
• Is the information you’re posting outdated?
• Are the statistics correct?
• Are you prioritizing the right keywords?
• Which topics and keywords best meet your marketing goals?

5. Create Comprehensive Pages

Some topics can seem too complex to cover in a single blog post, so content teams decide to break it down into several sub-posts.

For instance, “how to make money blogging” is a complex topic, so you often find multiple posts addressing different parts of the subject.

A quick Google search with the query “how to make money blogging” immediately pulls up three different results. One talks about blogging for beginners, the second talks about monetizing your blog in 2021, and the third addresses the time concerns of monetizing a blog.

Now, imagine if these were all from your site rather than three separate sites.

As most of these are addressing overlapping concepts, it creates a lot of unnecessary competition. In addition, since most rank for a similar search query, it creates keyword cannibalization.

You can avoid this by creating one single comprehensive page addressing all the relevant subtopics instead of posting a separate blog post for every question the audience could potentially have.

This is better for SEO as it lets you target long-tail keywords, add relevant headers, include multiple search queries on a single page, and avoid competition with yourself.

This could make for a very long blog post, so consider a clickable table of contents so people can easily find the sections they need.

How to Fix Keyword Cannibalization

There are various ways to fix keyword cannibalization. Follow the steps below to find which strategy works best for you.

1. Change Content Optimization
   If multiple pages are ranking for the same keyword and search query, change the optimization settings. This could mean reducing the keywords, changing the keywords, or restructuring the content.
2. Consider Deleting Some Posts

   Sometimes merely re-optimizing posts may not be enough to fix keyword cannibalization. In this case, consider deleting some of the overlapping content. 
   Note: Don’t do this if both posts generate decent organic traffic and bring in business leads.

3. Merge Content

   If two or more posts of yours are ranking for the same keyword but you don’t want to delete them, consider merging them.
   Going with our previous example, this could mean clubbing the “blogging for beginners” and “how long it takes to monetize a blog” posts together to form a single comprehensive guide for monetizing a blog aimed at new writers.
   

Keyword Cannibalization Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some frequently asked questions about keyword cannibalization:

Why is keyword cannibalization bad?

Keyword cannibalization is bad for SEO as it forces two or more of your pages to compete with each other for a higher rank. It can reduce the ranking of both pages, eventually wasting your marketing efforts and resources. 

How can I target longtail keywords without cannibalizing keywords?

You can target longtail keywords without cannibalizing keywords by using separate longtail keywords to optimize each post rather than creating multiple content pieces ranking for the same search query.

You can also consider creating one comprehensive guide to act as a landing page instead of many small subtopic pages that compete with each other.

What's the difference between keyword stuffing and keyword cannibalization?

The first step to avoiding keyword cannibalization is to see where it happens. Then, decide what your personal best path is. For example, we recommend creating one comprehensive post rather than publishing multiple posts competing for the same search query. Another option is to work with separate keywords for different posts. 

Keyword Cannibalization Conclusion

A few years ago, people believed keyword stuffing and using the same keyword for multiple pages would help rank their content higher. However, this is no longer true. 

Now, ranking multiple pages for the same keywords and search queries forces you to compete with yourself and drive down your success.

Instead, it’s much better to focus on targeted keywords for specific posts, prioritize topics over keyword stuffing, and create comprehensive landing pages in place of mini blog posts. 

This can potentially help increase your rank on the search engine results page and eventually help increase your organic reach.

Even if you’ve already experienced keyword cannibalizing, fixing it is relatively easy. Rework your optimization options, delete posts that increase competition but aren’t helping you meet your marketing goals, and focus on merging competing content whenever possible.

Which keyword cannibalization management strategy will you try today?

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4 Ecommerce trends you need to know for 2022

Today, it’s easier than ever to shop online with just a few touches on your smartphone. Before 2020, online shopping was already on the rise. The pandemic only pushed the growth of ecommerce faster with revenue projected at $5.02 billion in 2022.

While physical stores aren’t going away, consumers want choice and conveniene. It’s important for businesses to keep up with the latest ecommerce trends because consumer behavior is constantly evolving. Product launches no longer take place solely in the physical space, the digital one is just as, if not more, important.

Let’s take a look at the top ecommerce trends you need to prepare for in 2022.

Types of ecommerce trends to watch for

• Social commerce
• Augmented Reality (AR) commerce
• Livestream shopping
• Conversational commerce

Social commerce

Social commerce is when you buy and sell products or services directly from a social media platform. With the maturing of the influencer industry, the natural next step is for platforms to help influencers and companies sell to consumers. Why make someone leave Instagram if they can just click on a product tag and purchase something in less than a minute?

Social commerce trends

According to research conducted by The Harris Poll, on behalf of Sprout Social, 73% of businesses are already participating in social commerce while 79% expect to be doing so in the next three years. If you haven’t already started selling on social media, chances are high that your competitors already are or are planning to.

For businesses that want to market to the younger generations, it’s important to know that nearly half have already purchased online. According to a recent survey, 55.5% of consumers aged 18-24 and 48.7% of consumers aged 25-34 made at least one purchase on social media in 2021. By 2025, US social commerce is estimated to be nearly a $79.6 billion industry.

What challenges does social commerce solve?

When consumers are already learning about products and brands on social media, it makes sense for them to purchase items through the platform. In the buyer journey, it’s one less click for customers to take and that’s one less chance for them to abandon the cart.

Social commerce brand example: Eagle Creek

Travel outfitters Eagle Creek utilizes Instagram Shop to offer shoppers the experience of checking out directly on Instagram. You can explore their various collections, choose product sizes and colors and ask questions directly within their shop.

How to get started in social commerce

The platforms that are currently offering social commerce are Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and WeChat. Plans to add social commerce have already been announced by YouTube, TikTok and Twitter. To get started, identify where your most engaged audiences are and set up shop there.

Track your success through native platform analytics and website referral traffic. To personalize your customer interactions more, use the Sprout integrations with Facebook Shops and Shopify to tag products in posts, link to products in messages and track orders statuses. Social commerce blends well with your social customer care strategy.

Augmented reality (AR) commerce

Augmented reality (AR) in ecommerce is using 3D mapping to help customers try on products or preview experiences before making a purchase. Some examples of AR ecommerce include virtually trying on glasses frames, placing a piece of furniture in a room to see how it’ll look, and applying various makeup products to see what compliments your skin tone.

AR commerce trends

Snapchat was the first to introduce AR into social media platforms. In 2020, AR was used often because consumers weren’t able to shop as easily in stores. And in 2022, AR is projected to be used at least once a month by 101.6 million consumers.

With the development of AR technology and the trend of social shopping on the uptick, AR commerce will continue to grow. In mid-July 2021, Snap purchased Vertebrae, a company that produces 3D images of products for brands. This investment indicates the company’s interest in developing more in the AR commerce space. Other major social platforms like Facebook and Pinterest have already invested in AR technology of their own to add to the social shopping experience.

What challenges does AR commerce solve?

“Try before you buy” takes on a whole new meaning with AR commerce. AR helps brands reach customers who might be too busy to go to the nearest store or don’t have a store near them. In fact, brands don’t even need brick-and-mortar storefronts to take advantage of AR commerce.

Because customers are able to preview products and experiences without purchasing, their purchase decisions are more informed, leading to fewer returns. AR also offers consumers the ability to test on their own time, making this marketing and sales channel quite cost-effective.

AR commerce brand example: Wayfair

Within its iOS app, Wayfair has used AR to improve the customer shopping experience since 2017. Common furniture items are able to be superimposed into customers’ spaces so they actually picture how they’ll look. If you’re able to see how well a leather armchair fits into your living room, you’re more confident in your purchasing decision and less likely to return the item.

How to get started on AR commerce

For both Facebook and Instagram, Spark AR Studio is available for anyone to use. Both developers and creators are able to create their own effects and experiences. You can build simple face filters or more complex world filters using Spark AR, with or without code. Spark AR offers tutorials so you can learn how to add a fun filter to your face or add an object virtually into a room.

Livestream shopping

Livestream shopping is the blend of social commerce and live-streaming. Using their social capital, influencers and brands livestream to highlight products and services. During the broadcast, consumers are able to interact with each other and the brand via a chatbox and purchase the highlighted products. The experience is similar to how one would shop in a store with store associates answering your questions but now it’s from the comfort of your home.

Livestream shopping trends

Livestream ecommerce shopping is highly popular in China and is starting to take off in the US. In 2020, the 11.11 Global Shopping Festival report revealed that livestream sales were at $6 billion, twice the previous year’s event sales. Research predicts that in 2022, livestream commerce in China will reach $446 billion USD, which would be 15% of total online sales.

Challenges that livestream shopping solves

Livestream shopping is interactive in nature. When a consumer isn’t able to shop in-store or doesn’t have a shop location nearby, a livestream demonstrates the product for them. The chat component allows them to ask questions to the influencers or brands, much like how they’d do so with a store associate.

Sometimes, live-streaming can feel a little scripted. When you’re doing one that incorporates shopping, you need to interact with consumers, which leads to being a more intimate and authentic shopping experience.

Livestream shopping brand example: Dermalogica

Skincare brand Dermalogica uses Facebook Live shopping to demonstrate their products. With a themed topic of summer skin care essentials, customers asked questions about their products and their usage.

Must Have Summer Skin Care Essentials

Summer skincare essentials

Posted by Dermalogica on Friday, June 4, 2021

How to get started in livestream ecommerce

Livestream shopping is available on multiple platforms. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest all either already have or are actively testing livestream features as part of their ecommerce feature.

Other ecommerce platforms like Amazon are also getting in on the action. It should be expected that additional platforms will offer livestream shopping in the near future.

Conversational commerce

Conversational commerce is the selling of goods and services to a customer via a chat or messaging platform. Imagine having a conversation with a brand on Facebook Messenger. They answer your questions about a product and facilitate the purchasing process all without you leaving the platform. Conversational commerce is a lot more personalized and interactive on a one-on-one basis.

On top of text-based conversational commerce is the other kind: voice shopping. Having a natural conversation with your Amazon Echo or Google Home that leads to a purchase is another example of conversational commerce.

Conversational commerce trends

According to a study on live chat, 41% of consumers prefer to use live chat as a support channel and 52% are more likely to remain loyal to a company that offers it. The chat doesn’t have to have a human on the other end, either. As long as their question is answered, 40% of customers don’t care if the chat is human or bot-driven. This is a big deal since live chats do take up a considerable amount of time and investment.

Challenges that conversational commerce solves

Conversational commerce helps your brand to be “always on.” Having a personalized shopping experience for consumers builds trust and offers a more frictionless buying experience. With the help of a chatbot, you’re able to route questions to the right people and always be available for your customer.

Conversational commerce brand example: Gymshark

Athletic clothing company Gymshark uses a Messenger bot to help customers easily check on their order status, report an issue and conduct returns. Setting these common scenarios up in a bot frees up time for the support team for more detailed customer issues.

How to get started in conversational commerce

First, get your social teams on board. Conversational commerce goes with your social strategy, which means your social media managers are likely at the forefront of customer interactions. They’ve likely already built up knowledge about interactions they’ve had with customers and can easily personalize future conversations.

There are plenty of live chat services available to use on your website. If you’d like to create a customer service chatbot, use a tool like Sprout to build it within Facebook Messenger or Twitter DMs.

Conclusion

There are several ecommerce trends to keep an eye on in the coming year. New technology is being developed to ensure smoother customer journeys and a better brand experience. Social commerce, AR, livestream shopping and conversational commerce are all ecommerce trends that benefit both the customer and the company. Personalized shopping is the future. Get ahead of the curve by conducting interviews to set up your social commerce strategy.

The post 4 Ecommerce trends you need to know for 2022 appeared first on Sprout Social.

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Jack Dorsey's weirdest tweets of all time, because why not

Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey announced that he will be resigning from the company in an unusual tweet.

Now that he’s gone, it's as good a time as ever to look back at some of his strangest tweets.

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The top GIF of 2021 is an 'Office' classic

GIPHY unveiled its most popular GIFs of 2021, and the winner is – drumroll, please – Bored Stanley!

Via Giphy

In a year where many of us were pretty fed up with, well, everything, this iconic Office moment summed up most of our feelings perfectly. Bored Stanley is exactly how it feels when you're stuck in endless Zoom meetings, or when you're completely unimpressed with whatever was dropped in the group chat.

Other notable GIFs of the year include "Kathryn Hahn Winking," "Daphne Bridgerton Laughing," and "The Weeknd Halftime Performance." These GIFs captured both pop culture moments and our collective emotions. Struggling to see how you could use these GIFs? Let us provide you with some situational examples:

Texting your mom "Yeah, I'll totally do the dishes before you get home!"

Via Giphy

Gossiping about small town drama while home for the holidays

Via Giphy

Trying to explain to your roommate how it feels when they move your stuff without telling you

Via Giphy

GIPHY also rolled out Clips this year, the company's video format that incorporates sound into its looping videos. Top Clips included "Cake Jiggle by Drew Barrymore," "It Is Your Birthday by The Office," and "Happy Pride by GLAAD."

While the addition of sound is fun, there's nothing like a classic GIF, and Bored Stanley is clearly the GIF(t) that keeps on giving.

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80% of consumers agree brand awareness makes them more likely to buy on social

Several years of research has gone into optimizing the ecommerce checkout process. Every facet of the customer experience has been peeled back, tested and tested again, resulting in an abundance of data marketers can use to optimize for conversions.

Social commerce, on the other hand, is the next frontier.

The latest evolution in online shopping comes with new limitations and opportunities. What worked on your ecommerce site may not make an impact in a crowded newsfeed. As consumers continue to embrace this distinctive checkout experience, understanding their motivations will be crucial to building a lucrative strategy.

We surveyed 1,000 US consumers to better understand what’s driving perceptions and behaviors around social commerce (i.e., did TikTok really make me buy it?)

According to our data, 65% of participants have already made purchases directly through social media. US retail social commerce sales are projected to exceed $56 billion by 2023, marking an opportunity businesses can’t afford to miss out on. This report unpacks what brands can learn from these early adopters and how they can become even more competitive in this uncharted market.

Brand awareness is the key to unlocking more purchases on social

People are spending more time on social media and consequently, they’re spending more time shopping. Seventy-one percent of consumers found themselves using social media more in the last year than ever before and 34% say they’re using it to learn about products, services and brands.

When you’re scrolling through a sea of content from friends, family and creators, posts that make you want to stop and shop are likely coming from brands you’re already familiar with. Social is one (crucial) lever in an integrated marketing strategy, so consumers may also learn about your brand in another channel and decide to turn to social for some quick product research.

 

Building buzz around your brand does more than just boost your reputation. Our survey found that 80% of consumers say that brand familiarity (i.e., knowledge of the brand) makes them more likely to buy on social. On top of that, our data shows a positive correlation between time spent on social media and the likelihood of purchase based on familiarity with a brand.

In an increasingly crowded social media landscape, there are myriad ways to get in front of your target audience. But what type of social content actually captures consumers’ interest when they’re inclined to buy?

When it comes to getting noticed, audiences are highly receptive to paid media. Consumers ranked in-feed ads as the most common method of finding new products to purchase, followed by discovery pages and story ads.

The takeaway: To get more ROI on social, you need to get noticed. A hybrid paid and organic social strategy can increase brand discoverability by getting your most popular content in front of relevant prospects right when they’re ready to buy.

Consumers use social commerce to treat themselves

Between a global pandemic, social justice movements and several environmental disasters, many of us are looking for some much needed stress relief. Social commerce seems to be inspiring people to indulge in retail therapy, as 71% of consumers are most likely to shop for themselves when buying directly from social.

Consumers shopping for personal enjoyment makes sense considering the targeted nature of paid social and algorithm-driven discovery pages. After all, the products they’re likely seeing are tailored to their own interests.

After more than a year’s worth of disruptions to their daily routines, consumers are envisioning what their lives might look like on the other side—and they’re shopping to suit these lifestyle changes, as well.

This might explain why apparel tops the list of most popular product categories to shop for when buying on social media, followed by media (i.e., movies, songs, etc.) and app subscriptions. When analyzing the data by gender, we found that women are also more likely to shop for arts and crafts, cosmetics, and jewelry. Men, on the other hand, show a more significant interest in app subscriptions and electronics.

Understanding the needs and wants of your target audience is more important than ever, thanks to demographic driven differences in social commerce habits. If marketers want to make in-platform sales, they’ll have to dig into audience data to find out what people are looking for and why.

The takeaway: If your audience is shopping for themselves, you need to know what compels them to hit “buy now.” Use a social media management tool to track how your audience varies by platform. From there, you can plan your product listings and promotion strategy based on consumer interest.

Brands need to rethink product listings to catch consumer attention

Social commerce user experiences are not one in the same. As networks continue to release transactional features that are unique to their own standards of engagement, marketers will need to rethink what an effective product listing looks like.

In this new world, the importance of compelling visual content cannot be understated. Consumers expect detailed product listings that make the most of a network’s capabilities by showcasing user-generated content, reviews, live video and more. The more detailed the listing, the more people are able to imagine the value your product can add to their day-to-day lives.

Consumers state that they are most likely to make purchases on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube—all three of which support media-rich listings. Both Facebook and Youtube have introduced shoppable live video to help brands bring the televised home shopping experience into the new decade. Instagram product listings allow brands to include tagged posts from real customers, giving users a more authentic look at why people love a product.

As social commerce features push the envelope on creative advertising, producing and collecting high quality video and photo content will only become more important.

The takeaway: Content-rich product listings are a deal-maker when it comes to social commerce. Luckily, you should be able to repurpose your existing social content to spruce up your shoppable posts. If you find that you’re light on visual content, assess your future social media strategy to see where there’s room to create more resources that can complement commerce initiatives down the line.

Ready, set, sell

Consumers turn to social media to make connections, but they stay to get inspired by content from influencers, creators and brands. With social commerce, they now have the power to act on that inspiration with little to no friction.

As buying on social becomes faster and easier than ever, brands will have to work to unravel what’s driving purchase decisions on individual platforms. Using this data as groundwork to inform your own tests and strategies will help get you closer to your end goal—driving more sales.

If you want to set yourself up for even more success, check out our additional data on the common issues that prevent people from making purchases on social. Just a few tweaks can take your social commerce experience to the next level.

About the Data

The consumer survey was conducted by Lucid between October 20-22, 2021 among 1,037 US adults ages 18-75. Selected participants were those who use at least one social media platform. Information collected includes gender, age, household income, self-reported minutes per day spent on social media, and social purchasing behaviors. Sprout recognizes gender beyond the binary, although some responses have been omitted due to sample size. Relationships between variables collected were analyzed using parametric statistics for statistical significance. Direct purchases through social media were defined as “purchases that were completed on a social platform, or purchases completed on a brand’s website after clicking a post from a social platform”.

The top 0.5% of data was winsorized to limit the impact of extreme outliers.

For questions about the data, please contact pr@sproutsocial.com.

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