Meta, for those who aren’t aware, is the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and other social media platforms or services that you use in your daily life. Apart from being a social networking tool for its audience, it’s also a large platform for businesses to advertise their products and services. E-Commerce on Meta is huge and today we will be talking in detail about this.
To discuss Meta’s e-commerce backstory and more, we have Meghna Apparao, Director of E-commerce and Retail (India) at Meta on the Season finale of MSP Tech Pods. Here are the key takeaways.
You can click on the play button at the top of this article and listen to the entire podcast.
Key Areas of Focus For Meta E-Commerce
We started the podcast by asking Meghna what Meta’s e-commerce division does and how it operates. She stated that Meta works with different types of businesses including large-scale, mid-size, and small businesses. The company understands the goals of such companies and helps them in achieving them by guiding them to boost their online presence.
She said Reels are a great way of content consumption and a way for these businesses to advertise their products to a large audience. Furthermore, she said that there are micro and nano influencers, according to geographical conditions, who can make more heart-touching content for people who live in that region.
Meta works with creators and influencers, who know how to represent a product. These creators make reels on how the product will look in real life. That’s another way for businesses to sell their products online.
How is Meta So Accurate in Targeting Consumers With Right Ads?
We all are familiar with how accurately Meta targets ads to the right consumers. For example, if you are planning to buy a smartwatch, you are most likely going to see an ad about a smartwatch within a few hours on Facebook or Instagram.
We asked Meghna more about this and she told us that when a person is consuming the content on Facebook or Instagram, engaging with other people, Meta shows them a product midway. These products are from advertisers who have several filters applied while setting up an ad. The ads are targeted to that user so that the advertisers get the maximum engagement on it.
Similarly, Instagram shows different content to different people based on their behaviour and likings.
Role of Augmented Reality (AR) in E-Commerce?
Augmented Reality is an interactive experience that shows you how a specific thing would look in the real world. Meta recently partnered with GWI for a marketing report that saw that 75 percent of beauty and about 78 percent of fashion consumers make their online purchase decisions by trying on virtual products.
Meghna stated that virtual try-ons using AR filters have made it easy for consumers to make a purchase decision. For example, if you are a business owner and sell lipsticks, you can create an AR filter about your lipstick shade on Instagram or Facebook, and a user can check out the filter to see if it’s perfect for them or not.
And, this is not just for beauty or fashion products. If someone has to buy a washing machine, but they are not sure where it will fit the best, all they have to do is, just open the AR filter of that product and point it toward any corner of your house. The AR filter will show where the washing machine will look best.
It’s no secret that Meta’s targeting of ads has been one of the best in the industry, which is why advertisers prefer putting their money on Facebook and Instagram. The technology that Meta keeps introducing regularly enhances the experience for both consumers and advertisers.
