Let’s be honest. The old way of selling online—static product pages, impersonal carts, and a “hope they click” mentality—is getting, well, old. Customers are craving connection. They’re scrolling through feeds, chatting in DMs, and watching live streams. That’s where the real magic happens now.
This is the world of conversational commerce and social selling. It’s not just a buzzword. It’s the natural, human evolution of e-commerce. And the frontier has moved beyond the familiar giants to a wild array of emerging platforms. The trick is knowing how to play the game when the rules are still being written.
What Exactly Are We Talking About Here?
First, a quick sense-check. Conversational commerce is simply using chat, voice, or messaging apps to sell and support customers. Think WhatsApp for order confirmations, a chatbot that helps style an outfit, or a voice order via a smart speaker.
Social selling, on the other hand, is the art of building relationships and authority on social networks to drive sales. It’s the antithesis of the hard sell. It’s providing value, answering questions in comments, and showcasing your product in the context of real life.
On emerging platforms, these two strategies fuse. The conversation is the storefront. The relationship is the payment gateway.
Why Emerging Platforms? The Saturated Feed Problem
Everyone’s fighting for attention on the big three or four social networks. Ad costs climb. Algorithms shift overnight. It’s exhausting.
Emerging platforms—think audio apps like Clubhouse (or its successors), short-form video hubs like TikTok and Instagram Reels, community-centric spaces like Discord, or even the nascent metaverse environments—offer a fresher, often more engaged audience. The communities are tighter. The content formats encourage raw, authentic interaction. It’s less about broadcasting and more about… well, conversing.
The Core Pillars of Your Strategy
Jumping in without a plan is a recipe for noise. Your approach needs to rest on a few key pillars, honestly.
- Be Native, Not an Invader: You can’t just repost your Instagram ads to a Discord server. Learn the culture, the slang, the content norms of each platform. A TikTok sell is playful and trend-driven. A Discord sell is helpful and community-focused.
- Prioritize Utility Over Promotion: Your primary goal is to be useful. Answer questions. Solve problems. Entertain. The sale becomes a natural byproduct of trust. A skincare brand hosting a live audio chat about ingredient myths will outsell one just posting product shots.
- Embrace Ephemeral & Live Content: Stories, live streams, audio rooms—this content feels urgent, real, and unpolished. That’s good! It invites participation. It’s the digital equivalent of a pop-up shop or a casual Q&A.
- Direct the Conversation to Commerce Seamlessly: This is the technical glue. It’s about using the tools each platform gives you—or clever workarounds—to turn chat into checkout.
Tactical Plays for Different Platforms
Alright, let’s get practical. Here’s how this might look in a few different arenas.
1. TikTok & Instagram Reels: Shoppable Storytelling
Forget the hard sell. Here, you demonstrate your product’s role in a lifestyle. A tool brand doesn’t just show a drill; it shows a quick, satisfying clip of someone effortlessly hanging shelves. Use trending audio, hop on challenges, and crucially, use in-app shopping features like product tags and links in bio. The conversation happens in the comments—respond to every question, even the silly ones.
2. Discord & Telegram: Community as a Sales Channel
This is deep community building. Create a server for your most passionate customers. Offer exclusive previews, host AMAs (Ask Me Anything) with founders, and provide direct support. The commerce happens almost organically—through exclusive promo codes shared in the channel, or by using a commerce-enabled bot that lets users browse and order without leaving the app. It feels like insider access, not a transaction.
3. Audio Platforms & Live Audio: The Intimacy of Voice
Platforms like Clubhouse or Twitter Spaces are fascinating. You can’t hide behind visuals. It’s just your voice, your expertise, and real-time conversation. Host a weekly room about industry pain points. Bring in customers as co-hosts. The sell is subtle—mentioning a solution you offer, offering a special link to listeners in the chat. It builds a powerful, personal connection.
4. The Metaverse & AR: Experiential Commerce
We’re early here, but the principle is key. In a virtual world or through an AR filter, commerce becomes an experience. Try on virtual sneakers for your avatar. Place a 3D model of a new sofa in your actual living room via your phone camera. The conversation is with the environment itself. It’s a blend of play, discovery, and purchase that feels frictionless.
Tools & Mindset Shifts You Can’t Ignore
Pulling this off requires some new tools and, frankly, a new mindset.
| Tool Type | What It Does | Example |
| Chat Commerce Platforms | Unifies conversations from WhatsApp, Instagram DM, etc., into one inbox and enables payments. | Respond.io, ManyChat |
| Social CRM | Tracks interactions and relationships across social platforms, not just email. | Ortto, Sprout Social |
| Shoppable Video & Media | Lets you tag products directly in videos or create interactive media. | MikMak, Instagram Shopping |
| Community Management | Helps moderate, engage, and analyze activity in forums and servers. | Discord itself, Circle.so |
The mindset shift is bigger. You have to move from campaign thinking to always-on conversation. From polished perfection to relatable authenticity. And from measuring just clicks and conversions to tracking engagement depth, sentiment, and community growth. It’s a longer game, but the loyalty it builds is incredibly durable.
The Inevitable Hurdles (And How to Leap Them)
It’s not all smooth sailing. Resources are thin. Measuring ROI on a casual Discord chat can feel fuzzy. And platform risk is real—what if the new hot app cools off?
Start small. Pick one emerging platform where your audience actually hangs out. Dedicate one person to exploring it authentically for 30 minutes a day. Train your team to have a conversational, helpful tone, not a support-script tone. And for measurement, look at metrics like customer lifetime value from community members versus regular customers. The difference can be startling.
At the end of the day, this isn’t about mastering the latest tech fad. It’s about returning to the oldest form of commerce: human connection. The platforms are just new digital town squares, cafes, and market stalls. Your voice, your willingness to listen, and your value are the real currency. The rest is just finding the right room to have the conversation.
