Today, customers expect companies to have several efficient sales channels. Social media provides an opportunity to increase your brand’s recognition and sell more effectively. In this article, we’ll address what social networks are, their pros and cons, strategies, and more.
What’s in this article?
- What is “social selling”?
- Why sell on social media?
- What are the pros and cons of selling on social media?
- What platforms should you focus on?
- Increasing your visibility
- Selling successfully on social media
- How Stripe Connect can help
What is “social selling”?
“Social selling” refers to the integration of social media into a sales plan. On these networks, businesses are able to either sell directly by showcasing products and services on various platforms or use this method to attract buyers and then redirect them to the website, where they finalize their purchases. In both cases, social media facilitates sales and brings you closer to your customers and prospects.
Why sell on social media?
Social media creates opportunities to boost online orders and raise visibility. In 2025, 50.4 million French people will have already used these channels. On average, they spend 1 hour and 48 minutes per day on their favorite platforms. By signing up for these networks, you gain direct access to this audience, enabling you to communicate with your target market, build a community, and run your professional account to promote items and attract new customers.
Thanks to the many integrated sales features on social media apps, you could offer users a no-hassle shopping experience that’s simplified and immediately accessible. People can discover your brand, interact through your content, and purchase products or services without leaving the platform.
Offering customers a smooth shopping journey can boost satisfaction and increase the repeat purchase rate. Social media is a powerful tool for growing your company, expanding your market, and promoting customer loyalty.
What are the pros and cons of selling on social media?
Selling on social media has multiple advantages for businesses, specifically:
- It’s free to get started
- Being responsive to modern customers’ expectations
- Having direct access to a large client base
- Visibility and potentially going viral thanks to shareable content, collaborations with influencers, and platforms’ powerful algorithms
- Strengthening customer relationships and shaping how they view your brand
- Increased orders and revenue
However, it’s also important to consider some of the disadvantages:
- Being dependent on social media networks, which might change their algorithms and methods at any time
- Investing significant amounts of time—you need to create and schedule high-quality content consistently
- A competitive market (standing out from the rest is necessary)
- Challenges related to transaction security
What platforms should you focus on?
There are multiple sites and apps you could use to sell your products and services. In France, the most popular social media platforms are YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest.
The platforms you choose will depend on the objectives and target market. Is your goal to strengthen existing customer loyalty or access new markets? What do people expect? Each offers a different online experience, and it’s worth being familiar with each one’s characteristics.
YouTube
YouTube is a platform that hosts an endless variety of videos created by professionals and amateurs. To take advantage of this sales channel, publish high-quality content regularly. You can present your products and brand, share advice and user instructions, provide solutions to potential problems, and more.
Facebook is more of a general social media network. You can sell items on Facebook Marketplace or establish your own shop. Leverage this platform to promote your company through posts and images, and run targeted ads to attract new customers.
Instagram specializes in photos and videos, and it has a younger audience than Facebook. With a professional account, you can set up a shop on Instagram. Engagingly present products through a combination of photos, Reels (short clips), and Stories, and don’t forget to include links to the items. As on Facebook, you can also run paid ads to boost visibility.
TikTok
Featuring a younger user base and explosive growth, TikTok’s trends change from one week to the next. To maximize impact on this platform, make short, dynamic videos and invite viewers to participate. You can also create a shop and synchronize your catalog and products.
Pinterest is a discovery platform and a place to sell items, specifically for home decor, fashion, and beauty. Users there are generally looking for inspiration from the images shown. By becoming a verified merchant, you can publish your catalog online, generate traffic to your website, and run targeted ads.
Increasing your visibility
After setting goals and choosing your platforms, it’s important to produce engaging content that incorporates various media types, including photos, videos, testimonials, and livestreams. For example, introduce the team, describe the work process, share information about your offices or workshop, and demonstrate how customers use your products.
If possible, add links to your blog, items, and website, along with share buttons. Interact directly with the community by responding to private messages, asking questions, thanking visitors for their opinions, organizing competitions, and inviting them to participate in polls.
Lastly, consider collaborating with influencers to promote your offerings and gain publicity. You can also invest in paid ads if you’d like.
Selling successfully on social media
Regularly analyze performance. Is the current approach effective and consistent? What’s your conversion rate? Adjust your sales strategy accordingly.
Be sure to offer various payment methods (such as buy now, pay later and installments), as well as exclusive offers for existing customers. By giving shoppers a smooth experience and personalized delivery, you encourage loyalty.
How Stripe Connect can help
Stripe Connect orchestrates money movement across multiple parties for software platforms and marketplaces. It offers quick onboarding, embedded components, global payouts, and more.
Connect can help you:
- Launch in weeks: Use Stripe-hosted or embedded functionality to go live faster, and avoid the up-front costs and development time usually required for payment facilitation.
- Manage payments at scale: Use tooling and services from Stripe so you don’t have to dedicate extra resources to margin reporting, tax forms, risk, global payment methods, or onboarding compliance.
- Grow globally: Help your users reach more customers worldwide with local payment methods and the ability to easily calculate sales tax, VAT, and GST.
- Build new lines of revenue: Optimize payment revenue by collecting fees on each transaction. Monetize Stripe’s capabilities by enabling in-person payments, instant payouts, sales tax collection, financing, expense cards, and more on your platform.
Learn more about Stripe Connect, or get started today.
The content in this article is for general information and education purposes only and should not be construed as legal or tax advice. Stripe does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, adequacy, or currency of the information in the article. You should seek the advice of a competent lawyer or accountant licensed to practise in your jurisdiction for advice on your particular situation.