Social media has opened many doors for entrepreneurial endeavors. It has created a massive impact on the way we listen and connect to our audience in a way that boosts sales. Nowadays, social media has evolved to a digital storefront, a platform where people can do everything from viewing a product for the first time to paying for its purchase. This new revolution of social media that enables direct purchases is known as social commerce.

Instagram is one of the most prominent social platforms to enable social commerce features, notably experimenting on direct checkout capabilities for companies from global brands to local businesses. In light of recent urgencies for businesses to digitize, Instagram is developing and rolling out new social commerce features at a rapid pace to serve its global users.  This presents an opportunity for small-to-medium businesses to catch the first-mover advantage to build a presence in the social commerce scene to capture benefits as follows:

1. Get Discovered and Build Brand Awareness

The social commerce infrastructure lets users curate shoppable items into the explore page. In fact, Instagram itself has an account dedicated to highlighting top stores, @shop. Ultimately, this means social commerce increases brand reach. For small brands, this is very important because it is a much easier way to get discovered. A large number of users log in every day and actively search for products on Instagram. Research shows that the number can be as astounding as 70% of all internet users. Your opportunity increases even more as sharing and saving products are possible in this platform and even boosts your discoverability. 

2. Storytell to Turn Awareness into Trust and Credibility

As a small business, one of the biggest tasks to launch yourself is to establish trust among consumers. This isn't possible without a good platform to communicate your story in. Luckily, Instagram has long been a place to share things that are personal and social, allowing brands to emotionally connect with their audience. Instagram is a channel where users feel comfortable and express themselves. It is easier for your audience to not only discover you but also identify as part of your community by using and sharing about your products on their personal page. Additionally, help from influencer partnerships and other Instagram campaigns can truly help in launching your brand. 

3. Leverage Boosted Awareness and Credibility to Convert Audiences into Customers

Social commerce may be the best, if not only way, to chart marketing and sales plans in one ecosystem. Specifically, to sales, social commerce on Instagram allows more people to buy your products due to the simple and short method that doesn't require signing up for a new website. As a small business, this benefits you since it's more difficult for sites that are not yet established to get as many sign-ups. Users are less afraid to give your products a try as there are much fewer hassles in doing so.