Your guide to shoppable content and media for your small business

Your business' social posts are often nestled between photos of family vacations and the latest viral recipe. This is a great place for your retail store to be, and it just got better.

While social media has long been used by brands to promote products and events and drive website traffic, recently consumers are able to browse and buy directly from the social app they’re scrolling—thanks to shoppable posts.

Named one of the top five retail trends for 2023, shoppable content helps merchants get sales on every channel, wherever your customers happen to be.

People are finding it easier and safer to shop from their sofas—and shoppable content is no exception. It’s projected that ecommerce will make up around 25% of total global retail sales by 2026, so now is a good time to explore how to implement shoppable content for your business. Here’s your guide to shoppable content and media.

What is shoppable content?

Shoppable content is a new-ish way to shorten the customer buying journey by turning your best social media content into shoppable assets. Shoppable content typically includes product photos, details and pricing, allowing consumers to explore and purchase items from anywhere—often without leaving the app they’re already in.

Shoppable content can include posts, videos, ads and user-generated content (UGC) and is ideal for businesses who might be:

• Having trouble effectively advertising products
• Spending too much time or resources on creating original ads
• Struggling to generate enough buzz during product launches or sales events
• Frustrated by the lack of traffic to a website or landing page

Currently, social shopping is available on Pinterest, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram, though some retailers also use the service in major publications and on video platforms like YouTube. Each platform has some eligibility requirements for shoppable content, such as demonstrating trustworthiness and having a certain amount of followers and engagement, and it’s easy to check if your business qualifies.

What’s the difference between shoppable ads and paid ads?

Shoppable ads and paid ads are both designed to drive customers to your website, but the key difference is that merchants can create and run shoppable ads for free and shoppers can buy items directly from the ad. Paid ads, on the other hand, require payment and are usually charged based on cost per click (CPC) results, plus shoppers must complete their purchase on the brand website rather than through the ad itself.

Why is shoppable content important for ecommerce?

Over 130 million Instagram users tap shoppable posts each month. And that’s just one platform. Online, consumers have inspiration and information instantly available at their fingertips—and shoppable content gives buyers what they want, when they want it.

Buyers looking for inspiration based on their personal values and aesthetics can find it through shoppable content.

Imagine someone relaxing in their living room when they spot your shoppable post featuring a cozy, stylized image of a coconut wax candle resting on a coffee table. Not only are they able to visualize the item in their own home, they can immediately buy it.

Even if a customer doesn’t purchase a product instantly, there’s still plenty of benefit: The average person is able to recall 65% of the visual content they see almost three days later, ultimately reducing the customers’ steps from discovery to purchase.

Can I sell directly from Instagram?

Yes, you can sell products directly from Instagram with shoppable Instagram content. Facebook, TikTok and YouTube also offer in-platform buying shoppable content. Pinterest, on the other hand, supports shoppable content but buyers can’t complete purchases within the Pinterest website or app.

Now that you have a sense of what shoppable content is and the purpose it serves, let’s learn how it works.

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The four types of shoppable content

Shoppable content is currently available in four main formats: posts, videos, UGC and display ads. Depending on the type, consumers can either add products to the shopping cart directly from where they are viewing an item or they can be taken to a product page and complete their transaction there. On platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, users don’t even have to leave the app to make a purchase.

Your small business ecommerce strategy can include a mix of all four types, or you can experiment and focus on the one that serves your business best.

Ready to learn more about each type of shoppable content? Let’s dive in!

1. Shoppable social posts

There are a variety of social media platforms with shoppable content options to choose from. B2C brands selling tangible products can use shoppable social posts in multiple ways.

From collection ads on Pinterest to Product Shelf on YouTube, brands and influencers alike can create shoppable social posts using lifestyle images and videos. Is your business more active on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok? There are lots of shoppable social options on those platforms, too.

Here, you’ll want to use crisp, bright images, so clear away clutter, arrange the product(s) in the right setting and context and don’t be afraid to play with picture settings on your phone or computer to get the best ready-to-shop result.

2. Shoppable videos

Shoppable videos are designed to remove the friction from discovery to purchase, offering an interactive format that lets brands tell stories and enables viewers to buy products instantly.

For shoppable video content, you can use live videos—which provides a two-way consumer communication experience—or pre-recorded videos. For pre-recorded options, you’ll want to create high-quality, engaging videos that don’t overwhelm shoppers with too many options and that prompt buyers with a link to buy in the first few shots.

Not only do shoppable videos simplify the buying funnel and increase customer engagement, they also encourage and enable impulse buying.

3. Shoppable UGC

Between ordering merchandise, building customer relationships and processing payroll, you have enough on your plate. If you want assistance creating shoppable content or simply want to incorporate actual customers into your advertising, let your most loyal, technophile customers help you out.

Supplementing your own original content with crowdsourced media from influencers and creators saves you time, builds stronger relationships with your audience and helps earn trust from your community through social proof.

UGC can include product photos, unboxing videos, reviews and FAQ and answers from the customer’s perspective.

If you choose to draw on the expertise of content creators who have channel-specific knowledge and know what works and what doesn’t, plan to compensate them. You can reward them with free gifts, affiliate commission or direct payment.

How do you find brand influencers? It could be as simple as paying attention to your own social media feed and taking note of user-generated product reviews or unboxing events. If you spot a potential brand ambassador and their content seems like a good fit for your brand, consider hopping into their direct messages to offer a free product in exchange for their review.

4. Shoppable display ads

Shoppable display ads are commonly found on Google, major publications and other informational websites. This format is often seen at the top of the search results page in a scrollable ad panel, findable in Google image search results or viewable in a banner format.

The ad can contain pricing and links to buy, but you can also highlight product ratings and customer reviews to showcase your brand’s reputation and demonstrate customer satisfaction.

Creating a display ad on Google, for example, is fairly straightforward. During set up, Google will prompt you to make selections based on your goal, budget and target strategy for the campaign. Once you’ve set up our preferences, you can add assets like images, videos and logos and review the ad to ensure it’s ready to publish.

Google also offers Shopping ads from its Merchant Center, which builds ads—so you don’t have to—based on information you provide. The ad may include your business name, product title, pricing and product image.

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What are the benefits of shoppable content?

Your customers are busy people. Whether they’re a top executive at a growing organization or an involved parent running kiddos from soccer practice to ballet recitals, shoppable content lets them browse and buy on their watch.

Sure, shoppable content helps you monetize your social channels, but it’s helpful for your customers, too, saving them time and hassle.

With a little work behind the scenes, you can:

• Target and reach people primed to shop: Buyers who are purchase-ready and hanging out on social media tend to convert easily since shoppable content gives them a secure, convenient way to browse for things they want or need.
• Provide a seamless shopping experience that keeps customers coming back: Nothing discourages a digital customer faster than complex navigation or unclear value. Quick and easy is the name of the game here, and your audience is feeling receptive — give them a low-friction path to purchase with an in-app checkout. Cha-ching!
• Make sales faster with a shorter sales funnel: Shoppable content efficiently and effectively condenses the awareness, consideration and conversion rates in the customer journey, creating additional revenue on top of your brick and mortar and other ecommerce offerings.
• Receive insight into product performance: Most shoppable content provides some digestible metrics for your ad or campaign, letting you know which content resonated most with your audience. Now that you have these special insights, you can refine your next digital marketing strategy to continue driving conversion rates and boosting sales.

OK, you’re convinced it’s time to try shoppable content. Now let’s chat about best practices.

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Best practices for shoppable content marketing

There’s no shortage of ways to market your business online or give shoppers a superior customer experience, but shoppable content marketing is one way to effectively reach potential customers.

If you’re ready to incorporate shoppable content for your small business, consider these tips:

Use product tags for better discoverability

Tagging products can be done across feed posts, in stories and on Reels, and the gist is this: product tags help your customers locate your products faster than businesses who don’t use this functionality. On Instagram specifically, businesses can use up to 20 product tags. That’s a lot of ways to let your target audience know what your brand offers.

Provide all essential product details

According to Instagram, all product listings should include “snappy descriptions, [around] four high resolution images and at least three attributes like color, size or materials.” Giving customers all the essential details about your products helps them finalize their decision with confidence and excitement.

Show your products in action

Whether you sell marbled party hats or flour sack tea towels, give your customers ideas for using your products. Colorful pictures of children or pups bedecked with the marbled party hats demonstrate to your customer how your products can elevate their special celebrations. Images of the flour sack tea towel tucked under a freshly-baked loaf of sourdough inspires buyers to adorn their kitchen with gorgeous linens.

A lifestyle shot of your party hats is almost always going to outperform a static picture of the hats packaged in plastic, so get creative and have fun.

How to blend shoppable content into your marketing approach

Consumers today use a mix of devices and platforms throughout their buying journey. By introducing shoppable posts to your marketing mix, you are positioning your business to serve your customers wherever they are.

To meet the moment for your customers, retailers should:

• Test shoppable images and video on popular social media platforms
• Consider influencer marketing or UGC
• Infuse email marketing with shoppable ads or embedded links
• Integrate email marketing efforts with a retail management solution

Yes, you have lots to do each day, but when you use an all-in-one retail management hub, you free up time to explore shoppable content for your small business. And that’s a win-win for you and your customers.

Final thoughts

As a savvy merchant, it’s important to stay on top of the latest trends. Now you know how shoppable content works and how it could benefit your store. If it’s right for your business, there’s no time like the present to get started.

Shoppable content is just one way to generate leads and build revenue for your retail business. Want more ideas? Subscribe to The Entrepreneur’s Studio to hear what other entrepreneurs are doing to help their companies thrive.

And if you’re wondering what other forward-thinking technologies—like customized payment processing solutions—are available for your small business, wonder no more. Global Payments offers tailored recommendations for software solutions designed to help your brand level up.

Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) is a leading payments technology company delivering innovative software and services to our customers globally. Our technologies, services and team member expertise allow us to provide a broad range of solutions that enable our customers to operate their businesses more efficiently across a variety of channels around the world.