With AI transforming industries, the eCommerce market is no exception, as the AI market is projected to reach $15.7 trillion. But are you prepared to leverage AI for eCommerce? If so, begin with social media, where AI gives options to create content, ensure top customer service, run targeted marketing campaigns, and do much more. The tips below will help fine-tune the social media presence of your eCommerce brand.
TL;DR Here’s a quick video summarizing the blog –
1. Craft scroll-stopping social media content with AI content generators
2. Level up your customer service with AI chatbots
3. Refine audience targeting with AI-powered tools
1. Craft scroll-stopping social media content with AI content generators
When it comes to social media campaigns, your content is at the center of it all. Good content and consistency translate to great ROI, whether it’s your everyday social media posts on your business page or your social media ad campaigns. Creating content that grabs attention and encourages action is hard to create. That’s where AI content creation tools can help.
Platforms like Narrato offer a diverse range of AI templates and tools to help you creat, plan, edit, repurpose, and even publish or schedule content effortlessly on social media. Need new social media posts every week? Just input your website URL and target themes on the AI Content Genie one time, and this pioneering tool will give you a fresh batch of social posts based on your preferences at the beginning of each week!
Or just try out the multiple AI templates on the AI social media post generator to create holiday posts, posts with links, and more.
For your social media ads, there are dedicated AI ad copy generator templates too. The AI LinkedIn ad copy generator gives you copy tailored for LinkedIn ads, and not just one but three versions in one go. The AI Facebook & Instagram ad copy generator also tailors your ad copy to the respective platforms. Multiple versions of the AI-generated copy make it easier to A/B test your ads too.
Want to create social posts promoting your products, but don’t have much else except product images? Well, Narrato’s AI image to text generator tool can work its magic here. This AI tool lets you upload any image and turn it into text for social media posts, captions, articles, summaries, and much more.
Or just use the AI content repurposing tool to turn any content into a social media post or an ad copy. AI for eCommerce marketing can be a game-changer, especially on social media. The sheer volume of content that social media campaigns demand can be overwhelming for your team, but with AI’s assistance, it can be a cakewalk. Social media success depends on how often and when your followers see you. In this regard, AI tools will significantly boost content production volumes, ensuring you never miss posting fabulous content at the right moments.
2. Level up your customer service with AI chatbots
No matter how excellent your products are, you can’t sleep on the customer service part in an eCommerce business. Over 65% of social media users (Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram) expect brands to respond via private messages or public posts.
That’s where AI chatbots swoop in to save the day. These virtual assistants act as a 24/7 support team, capable of answering FAQs, tracking orders, and even nudging customers toward that “add to cart” button.
You also free up human agents to tackle the trickier stuff.
Did we mention that businesses using chatbots have seen their customer service costs drop by 30%?
Here’s how you can roll it up for the best results.
Deploy AI chatbots on your social media platforms
Integrate AI-powered chatbots like ManyChat, Chatfuel, or Tidio into your Facebook Messenger, Instagram Direct Messages, or other social channels. These chatbots can handle multiple customer inquiries simultaneously, so no customer query goes unanswered, regardless of the time or channel.
Your eCommerce can deploy ManyChat on Facebook to automatically handle common customer inquiries, such as product availability or shipping details.
As a good practice, set up AI chatbots on the social media platforms where your customers are most active. Configure them to handle routine questions, provide order updates, and deliver product recommendations based on the customer’s browsing history.
This also requires integrating your chatbot with your CRM linked with your inventory management software.
What happens here is that now you can send —
- Instant, personalized responses based on their past interactions and preferences.
- Proactive order updates on order status, shipping information, and even potential delays
- Inventory-aware recommendations since the management system feeds the chatbot to track the stock levels and avoid recommending out-of-stock items.
Personalize customer interactions using AI
Since you now have customer data seeded into the chatbots’ memory, use it to drive personalized interactions. Since these chatbots inherit AI, they can analyze past purchases, browsing history, and previous interactions. Based on that, they offer tailored recommendations and solutions to elevate customer experience.
For instance, a skincare brand may program the chatbot to recognize returning customers and suggest products based on their previous orders. You can also use it to offer a discount or a complimentary product as part of a personalized conversation.
Smoother handoff to human agents
AI chatbots can handle many tasks, but you can program them to recognize when a query requires human intervention. Use tools like Zendesk or LivePerson to facilitate a seamless transition from bot to human agent. This ensures that more complex issues are addressed promptly and efficiently.
If you run a fashion eCommerce store, Zendesk helps manage inquiries about custom orders or product alterations. Here, a chatbot can gather initial details before transferring the customer to a human agent for final resolution.
For this to work, configure your AI chatbot with clear escalation paths. When the bot detects a query it cannot resolve, it can collect relevant information and pass it along to a human agent. It should contain detailed handoffs so customers don’t feel abandoned or frustrated and maintain a high level of service throughout the interaction.
3. Refine audience targeting with AI-powered tools
AI powers tools like Facebook’s Lookalike Audiences and Google Ads Smart Bidding. For your eCommerce business, you can use these tools to identify and target potential customers who are most likely to engage with your content or even trigger a ‘buy’ button.
These platforms use machine learning algorithms to create profiles based on your existing customers so that you can reach out to users with similar traits, behaviors, and interests.
Forget casting a wide net and hoping for the best. It’s time to get strategic and make every ad dollar count.
Here’s how to use AI to zero in on your ideal customers and turn clicks into conversions:
Clone your VIPs
Think of your top customers as your brand’s VIPs. These are the ones who keep coming back for more, spending big, and raving about your products.
Use this segment as the seed audience for Facebook Lookalike Audiences. The AI will help generate a new audience resembling your best customers, potentially increasing your campaign’s ROI.
Perform A/B tests
Even with AI on your side, there’s always room for improvement. Think of it as a friendly competition between audience segments. Pit different lookalike audiences or bidding strategies against each other to see who comes out on top.
For instance, the image below shows how to create ad sets comprising different audience sets.
So, are your website visitors more responsive than past purchasers, or vice versa? These A/B tests reveal the hidden gems in your data to fine-tune your targeting for maximum impact.
Take the multi-channel approach
Your customers are everywhere—scrolling through social media, browsing websites, checking their email. Use retargeting tools like AdRoll or Criteo (both AI-powered) to make this an advantage. These tools help track potential customers across the digital landscape so that your ads pop up right when they’re most likely to convert.
Track real-time data
AI’s beauty is its ability to adapt on the fly. Keep a close eye on campaign metrics like CTR and conversion rates. Don’t hesitate to switch things up if one audience segment isn’t pulling its weight. You can tweak the targeting, adjust your bids, and let AI do the heavy lifting with tools like Google’s Smart Bidding.
4. Laser-focused ad targeting
No more throwing your ads out there and crossing your fingers. Why not involve AI that functions like a matchmaker? It connects your campaigns with the people who are actually interested.
With AI for eCommerce social media ad targeting, you get a surety that your ads are seen by people most likely to convert. The result is improved ad efficiency, reduced wasted ad spending, and maximized return on investment (ROI).
Below are some actionable tips that can help.
Leverage dynamic ads
Dynamic ads on platforms like Facebook and Instagram automatically put the right products in front of the right eyes. AI works magic to pull images and details from your catalog based on user browsing history. This creates a personalized ad experience that boosts conversions.
For example, an eCommerce brand selling home decor items can gently remind a potential customer about that gorgeous lamp they were checking out earlier. That’s the power of Dynamic Ads. This is classic retargeting, where ads featuring the exact products users have shown interest in showing up to turn casual browsers into happy buyers.
For this, set up your product catalog in Facebook Business Manager and create a Dynamic Ad campaign targeting users who have viewed or added products to their cart but haven’t yet made a purchase. This allows AI to present these products dynamically in their feeds.
Try Google Ads’ smart shopping campaigns
Use Smart Shopping Campaigns, which leverage AI to combine standard Shopping and display remarketing campaigns. These AI-driven campaigns take your standard Shopping and display remarketing ads and sprinkle them strategically across Google’s vast network (think YouTube, Gmail, and more). Forget manual tweaks – the AI maximizes the optimal time, place, and audience for each ad.
Simply connect your product feed to Google Ads and let the AI take the wheel. It’ll handle everything from where your ads appear to how much you bid. All you need to do is monitor performance and adjust your product feed or campaign goals as required. It’s like having a 24/7 ad strategist working behind the scenes.
Implement predictive audience targeting with AI-driven tools
Meet tools like Cortex by Unmetric and Albert AI to analyze your eCommerce brand’s social media data. It can predict which audience segments will most likely engage with your ads in the future.
These platforms are backed by sophisticated machine-learning algorithms that assess past campaign performance and identify trends. It can allow you to refine your audience targeting even further.
For instance, your eCommerce beauty brand can leverage Cortex to analyze engagement data from previous social media posts. Determine your target audience based on their likelihood of interacting with makeup tutorials on Instagram Stories. Use this insight to create AI-driven ad campaigns tailored to this format.
Optimize ad spend with automated bid strategies
Marketing professionals are constantly bidding for their ads. But, sometimes, it’s risky as you need to figure out the correct bid for a particular campaign.
Overcome this using AI-driven automated bidding tools like Google Ads and Facebook Ads Manager. You can then optimize your ad spend by adjusting bids in real-time based on the likelihood of achieving your desired outcome — clicks, conversions, or impressions.
For example, Meta Bid Strategy helps optimize conversions, where AI takes over to increase bids for users with high chances of conversions. This is based on their browsing history and interaction with previous ads.
To get started, set up automated bidding in your ad campaigns and choose specific conversion goals for which the AI will optimize. Then, regularly monitor its performance so that the AI effectively manages your budget and delivers the expected ROI.
Signing off
AI is no longer something you contemplate in the future. Instead, it’s happening ‘now, and you read this: AI is changing the game of social media marketing.
How prepared are you to use the knowledge we share for your eCommerce brand?
The actionable tips, solutions, and tools are great starters that help you stand out in the crowded social media marketplace. AI is set to change your approach to engaging with customers, helping you stay competitive in the fast-paced eCommerce market.
Author Bio:
Taher Batterywala is an SEO and Growth Content Marketer. With over 7+ years of B2B marketing experience and a diversified skill set, he helps craft winning strategies and execute end-to-end campaigns for B2B and SaaS companies to achieve scalable organic growth. Outside of work, he enjoys watching movies, photography, and dabbling in design. You can find him on LinkedIn and X.
