I moderated a round table at the TFM Keynote Theatre of eShow Barcelona on how social media works for businesses and for users, and on the new trends reshaping it, such as live shopping and social commerce.
eShow Barcelona, TFM Keynote Theatre, Fira de Barcelona
Moderating the round table on social media at the TFM Keynote Theatre, eShow Barcelona.
How brands use social platforms to build audience, generate demand and support sales.
How people use social platforms to discover products, ask questions and decide what to buy.
The new trends turning social feeds and live streams into direct sales channels.
eShow Barcelona is one of the main marketing and eCommerce events in Spain. At the TFM (Technology for Marketing) Keynote Theatre, I had the role of moderator for a round table on social media, looking at it from two sides at once: what it means for the businesses that use it, and what it means for the people who spend their time on it.
The first part of the discussion looked at social media as a business tool. The panel talked about how companies use it for visibility, community and sales, and why a presence on social platforms works best when it is tied to clear business goals rather than posting for its own sake.
We then moved to the user side. People no longer use social platforms only to follow friends or brands: they search, compare, read recommendations and increasingly buy without leaving the app. Understanding that behavior is what lets a business show up at the right moment.
We closed with the trends changing the landscape, in particular live shopping and social commerce, where entertainment, creators and checkout come together in a single experience.
Social media is no longer just where people see a brand. It is increasingly where they discover it, ask about it and buy from it.
Victor de la Fuente
For twenty years my work has focused on where eCommerce strategy meets conversion and emerging channels. Moderating a panel like this one is a good reminder that social media can no longer be treated as a separate branding activity: for many customers it is now part of the buying journey, and eCommerce teams need to plan for it.
Speaking and lecturing at top Spain universities, business schools and international events.
Live shopping and social commerce are often presented as the next big thing, and that excitement can lead brands to treat them as one-off campaigns. A single live stream might bring attention, but attention is not the same as a sustainable sales channel.
The brands that benefit most are those that look at both sides of the equation: what the business needs to achieve, and how users actually behave on each platform. Start from the user experience, connect it to your catalog, checkout and measurement, and test before scaling.
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Social media started as a place to connect and share. Today, many users also use it to discover products, read opinions and complete purchases. As a result, businesses need to think about social platforms as part of the customer journey, not only as a place to publish content.
In short, live shopping and social commerce shorten the path between interest and purchase. Therefore, start with your audience and the platform they use, then connect it to your catalog and checkout. For example, test a small live session with one product category before planning a larger program.
Learn more about social commerce on Wikipedia.
