As we move into 2024, two trends are reshaping the way businesses do business engage with their customers. The first is the narrowing of the gap between awareness and purchase, which is evident in the growing popularity of social commerce, which merges social media discovery with e-commerce. The second is the growing consensus around the country that businesses should contribute to the well-being of their local communities. This expectation transcends traditional notions of corporate responsibility and requires companies to take the lead in building stronger local economies and more resilient communities.

Both trends present opportunities for businesses to generate competitive advantage and growth opportunities, and why an organization social platforms it should be a strategic priority in the coming year.

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Bridging the discovery-purchase gap

With a growing demand for convenience and immediacy, CUSTOMERS are moving through the consideration phase of the traditional awareness-consideration-purchase journey online and at lightning speed. This shift requires businesses to focus on converting customers in real time. Social media is quickly becoming the first option for consumers to engage with their favorite brands, buy the products they love and discover new ones. Because digital discovery often leads directly to purchase, integrating shopping experiences into consumers' social media feeds is essential to satisfying their desire for convenience and immediacy. This approach caters to the change in consumer behavior by emphasizing seamless and personalized interactions with brands in popular online spaces.

Social media platforms regularly release new features and functionality. For example, last year, TikTok launched its TikTok Storeand Instagram is replaced its Buy Now section with Buy Now and Add to Cart buttons to make it easy for users to purchase products as they navigate through their feed and scroll interfaces.

Retailers are realizing that social commerce platforms like TikTok Shopping, Instagram and YouTube Shopping have become vibrant marketplaces. This is not a fad; The extra PROJECTS social commerce will generate $3.37 trillion by 2028 with an annual growth of nearly 30%!

Walmart harnessed the power of social commerce last December with our innovation “Add to heart” shopping series that combines the holiday season traditions of shopping and watching holiday movies. This first-of-its-kind commercial series to shop over 330 products featured in the series available for real-time shopping, including furniture , holiday decor and clothing items Customers could watch Add to Heart on TikTok, Roku, YouTube and Walmart social media channels, and TikTok's video shopping ads and Roku's Ok to Text feature allowed them to they bought whether they were at home or on the go.

The applications and benefits of social commerce are not limited to consumer retail. LinkedIn lead generation is a short step toward something like video actions to bridge the gap between discovery and B2B sales. Social commerce is also a viable sales platform for service providers. An insurance company may not offer products that its customers can add to a virtual shopping cart, but it can distribute engaging content through social commerce to generate leads and sales.

For now, capitalizing on this trend requires businesses to do just that create interactive, entertaining content that engages audiences who may never set foot in their physical locations. But with ever-changing social platforms and the tools they provide, what works today may not work tomorrow. That's why it's essential to regularly review your customer engagement and social media strategies and adapt and take advantage of them.

Make community building a business priority

As social commerce platforms are transforming traditional sales modelsan equally important shift is occurring in the way businesses interact with their communities and the role social media platforms play in those interactions.

Organizations of all sizes should make promoting the well-being of their local communities a top priority in 2024. Companies can achieve higher visibility and create positive change by gaining an understanding of what matters most to their community. theirs. Demonstrating a commitment to communities, employees and customers is a strategic choice and a key driver for long-term success.

At Walmart, we know that goes for us, too. Walmart is a big company, but we're also a collection of businesses in more than 4,600 communities committed to being good stewards of the places our associates and customers call home. We aim to:

• Create value for communities by providing convenient access to affordable, quality goods and services through our omnichannel business model and everyday low prices.
• Contribute to economic vitality by providing quality jobs, training and career paths, investing in local suppliers and contributing to local economies.
• Strengthen community resilience by supporting local organizations and causes that matter to our customers and associates, increasing access to food, and preparing for and responding to disasters.
• Build more inclusive and engaged communities by advancing equality, supporting caring and connected communities, and deepening engagement between our stores and clubs and their surrounding communities.

Consider how your social media strategy can help you optimize your reach. Social media platforms are great tools for “listening” to ongoing conversations to understand what's important in your community. They also identify opportunities to get involved and make meaningful contributions to the things that matter to your community. Humbly sharing a business's social media involvement will help increase awareness and favorability, strengthening its reputation.